If you went all-in on Google’s smart home solution for managing your home’s heating, you were probably left with some useless plastic and circuits when the Gen 1 and Gen 2 Nest thermostats were retired.
But while Google may have essentially killed these Nest thermostat models through the curse of forced obsolescence, it is now possible to revive them.
This is thanks to an experimental custom firmware update, appropriately named No Longer Evil.
Hold on, these aren’t Matter-compatible!
The important thing to note is that these are not Matter-compatible thermostats – so, why are we talking about this?
Well, it’s an important to recognize that Matter is an opportunity to ensure that hardware is not retired when it reaches an age where it is considered outdated. Retired tech serves no purpose. One of the driving factors of Matter is to force hardware developers to produce devices that we can keep using, reducing the amount of smart home tech that ends up in landfill.
The Nest Gen 1 and Gen 2 thermostats were retired due to a lack of support for modern standards like Matter. But they didn’t have to be, and the No Longer Evil firmware shows that old tech can be revived – and that smart homes should not be relying on third party cloud infrastructure.
This is a problem we’ve seen with Samsung SmartThings (although this is changing) and, you guessed it, Google Home. It’s not a sustainable situation, and doesn’t fit with Matter’s aims.
But Matter or not, a revived Nest Gen 1 or Gen 2 thermostat should work with Home Assistant.
What is the No Longer Evil custom firmware?
Developed by Cody Kociemba who is aiming at the FULU bounty (a crowdfunded incentive with a strong right to repair ethos), the No Longer Evil custom firmware is strictly in an “experimental/testing phase” which means you shouldn’t use it on heating-critical devices.
Google retired these older Nest thermostats (the 1st gen was released in 2011, the 2nd in 2012) in order to focus on newer models, stating that “it has become increasingly challenging to continue to update these products given the early hardware.”
So, why bother reviving the Nest Gen 1 and Gen 2 thermostats? Well, look at it this way: detached from Google’s servers, which the firmware ensures, the thermostats still work. As Kociemba explains:
"This project gives you the tools to flash a custom firmware update onto your Nest Gen 1 and Gen 2 thermostat. Rip it free from Google's cloud bullshit. No more dependencies, no more forced obsolescence, no more corporate overlords deciding when your hardware stops working. It's your device. You paid for it. Now you actually control it."
If you fancy spending some time reactivating a Nest Gen 1 or Nest Gen 2 thermostat with the No Longer Evil custom firmware, you can find this open source project on GitHub.
Alternatively, if you're frustrated by Google's enforced obsolescence, several other Matter-compatible thermostats are available.
