Don’t Sign up to an energy saving program if you have an Amazons Echo dot. Once you sign up you will be unable to use voice control on your Nest.
When I tried to use the voice control Alexa said “Cannot change mode during energy-saving events”.
In Nests API pages online it says you will get this message if an energy-saving event defined by a Nest energy partner is in effect. API calls are not accepted until the energy-saving event ends.
And so I find the energy saving programmes part in Nest and ‘Opt out’.
I thought this would be the end of it.
I left it for a day so things could reset, but still no voice control.
I contacted Nest using chat and they understood, but were unable to help as chat is in the USA, and they can not call or communicate with their UK offices!!!
And so I called the UK Nest by phone and spent 25 minutes explaining the problem, and they said it was Npowers problem.
And so I called Npower and spent 57 minutes explaining the problem, and they kept saying call Nests Technical helpline.
The lady was understanding but was not familiar with what an Echo was!
They said they will refer it but will take 10 days!! Great customer service.
My concern here is how many people rely on the voice for their heating to be turned on/off. Bed bound people use it, disabled, blind and others who cant change it by hand.
Alexa (echo) communicates usually by IFTTT to Nest but this is set up directly within the Alexa App, which has now been hijacked by Npower and even when you ‘opt out’ you lose this facility.
No one at Nest knows who’s responsible, no one at Npower knows who’s responsible, and so the customer is now forever without the use of voice control through Alexa.
Please Nest, Npower work together, and resolve this.
P.S I deleted all smart devices, and reinstalled the NEST skill and reonnected the device, but it was still the same. this time Alexa said she had changed the temperature but Nest was unchanged.
More information
Seasonal savings info from NEST
