The part that failed is not on your wall. A 2nd gen Nest Learning Thermostat still clicks the furnace on at the hour you set years ago. What broke sits in Google's data centre: since the Nest end of support date, 25 October 2025, the thermostat has been unpaired from the app and cut off from updates, and its Nest Protect shut-off no longer runs. Owners have three exits. Only one is really about money.
Key Takeaways: An old Nest can stay; spend money only if a Nest Protect relied on its shut-off or you want the app back.
- The schedule and on-device settings keep working; the app and Home/Away Assist do not.
- A Nest Protect alarm no longer cuts the heating, the one safety reason to act.
- Blocking the thermostat at your router is free and stops the logs Google still collects.
- Replacing to save energy is slow: even ENERGY STAR's best case needs about two years.
Will a thermostat still work after Nest end of support?
Yes: a 1st or 2nd gen Nest Learning Thermostat keeps running its pre-set schedule and every setting on the device, but anything that reached it through Google's servers stopped on 25 October 2025.
Google's end-of-support page lists what went: app status and remote control, notifications, third-party assistants, Home/Away Assist and multi-device Eco. That last pair hits the bill: an empty house now stays heated until somebody sets Away by hand.
Two lines there matter more. Protects disconnect and, in Google's words, "emergency shut off will no longer run", so a carbon monoxide alarm sounds but the furnace keeps going. And the units "continue to report logs for issue diagnostics" while getting no "software or security updates".
Four numbers frame the decision: Google's cut-off and model list, and offer amounts from 9to5Google's 25 April 2025 report, since Google says only that owners were emailed an offer.
Days Without a Security Fix
370 days
Derived: all unpatched on Wi-Fi
Canada Net Price, 4th Gen
CA$219.99
Derived: CA$379.99 list less offer
Nest Models Cut Off
3 models
Third gen and E unaffected
US List Price Covered
46%
Derived: you pay the rest
The unpatched stretch keeps growing. That is exposure, not a known attack: any flaw found from now on stays open for as long as the unit sits on your network.
Our view: a company still collecting diagnostic logs from a thermostat it no longer patches owes its owners either the patches or a switch that stops the logs.
On TechSpot's forum thread about the April 2025 announcement, one commenter called replacing a thermostat every ten years "ABSOLUTELY unacceptable". We agree with the instinct, if not the capitals: this thermostat's life was set by a server, not by wear. It echoes Microsoft's extended security updates for Windows 10, minus any option to pay, and the EU right-to-repair duties that began on 31 July 2026 help little, because nothing here is broken.
Three exits, matched to the house you have
The right exit depends on facts you can check in minutes: which Nest generation is on the wall, whether a Nest Protect is paired to it, and whether you own a Mac or a Linux computer.
Find the first row that describes your home. Google lists only 1st and 2nd gen models; check yours with the guide its support page links.
| If you | Do this | Because |
|---|---|---|
| Have newer Nest | Nothing; you are not affected | Only 2011, 2012 and 2014 models listed |
| Own Nest Protect | Plan a replacement; confirm shut-off first | A CO alarm no longer cuts heating |
| Miss the app | Replace at the emailed offer price | Energy payback is 2+ years at best |
| Own Mac or Linux | Flash NoLongerEvil and keep a spare | Remote control back; can brick |
| None of these | Keep it; block its Wi-Fi | $0; schedule runs, logs stop |
No row says buy for the energy bill, and the sum below shows why.
Worked example: take a US home at the more than $900 a year in heating and cooling that ENERGY STAR's smart thermostat page cites (retrieved 30 October 2026). Assume the old Nest now wastes the full 8% an ENERGY STAR technical bulletin credits a smart thermostat with, an estimate dating from the label's 2017 launch. Pay the US offer price as of April 2025: $279.99 less $130, so $149.99. The saving is $900 x 0.08 = $72 a year; payback is $149.99 / $72 = 2.1 years, or 3.9 at full price. That 8% is a ceiling, since your schedule still runs. Halve it and the offer price takes 4.2 years. Your own bill is on your utility's annual statement; set the first slider to it.
A 2011 or 2012 Nest got 13 to 14 years of updates, so this choice is about control, not a worn-out device. Dates come from Google, 9to5Google and AndroidHeadlines; the spans are our arithmetic.
What can go wrong with each exit?
Every exit trades one risk for another, and the trade is sharpest with NoLongerEvil: remote control without Google, set against a real chance of bricking the thermostat you meant to save.
The NoLongerEvil GitHub repository, at v1.0.1 as of 30 October 2026, needs macOS or Linux with Node.js 18 or later; Windows cannot flash it. It warns that improper firmware can brick the device, and its firmware and server code "will be open sourced soon", so you cannot yet audit what you install. AndroidHeadlines reported on 4 November 2025 that the developer advises trying it only with a backup thermostat.
The hosting choice matters too. NoLongerEvil's cloud swaps one company's server for another's; the Home Assistant add-on keeps control at home, which a second TechSpot commenter suggested via a Raspberry Pi of about £40. Only that version fixes the problem rather than moving it. Well, most of it.
Replacing has small print too. The discount came by email; Google's page tells anyone who missed it to contact Google Support. Canadians were offered $160 off and Europeans half off a tado X kit, as 9to5Google reports no new Nest thermostats for Europe. Any new connected thermostat faces its own cut-off, so, as with a Google Photos Takeout export, keep locally what you can.
- After blocking Wi-Fi, check the displayed time stays right for a few days.
- Google does not say whether a newer thermostat restores the Protect shut-off; ask Google Support before buying for that.
- No end date is published for the offer, so do not assume it will wait.
Check these before you choose
- A Nest Protect shares the thermostat's Google account.
- You have changed the schedule less than once a season.
- You own a Mac or Linux machine and a spare thermostat.
- Google's offer email is in your inbox or spam folder.
Our call: the decision is control, not energy. Keep the thermostat and block it at your router this week, unless a Nest Protect relied on that shut-off; then price a replacement and have Google Support confirm the shut-off works with it before you pay. Flash NoLongerEvil only with the computer and the spare in hand. Replace for comfort only if you miss the app.
How we checked this
We read Google's End of support for Nest Learning Thermostats page as of 30 October 2026, the NoLongerEvil-Thermostat repository at v1.0.1 on the same date, and 9to5Google's report of 25 April 2025 for the offer amounts. The worked example assumes ENERGY STAR's average bill, its saving ceiling and the US offer price. No thermostat was tested or flashed hands-on for this article. Last verified: 30 October 2026.
Edited by G Ragu, reviewed after publication. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will correct it.
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