CircadiaOSShort answer: in the Google Home app, you can add temperature setpoints at specific times overnight to build a multi-phase sleep schedule on your Nest thermostat. Most people do not, because it takes manual effort and does not adjust when your bedtime shifts. CircadiaOS connects to your Nest and sends a four-phase schedule every evening, automatically.
How Nest handles sleep today
Google Nest thermostats (Nest Learning, Nest E, and the 2020 Nest Thermostat) support time-based temperature schedules through the Google Home app. You can add a setpoint at any time — say, 10:30 p.m. at 66°F — and the thermostat will hold that target until the next setpoint.
If you use Nest's home and away routines, you can set a "sleep" temperature that activates when you tell Google you are going to bed, or at a scheduled time. Either way, the result is a single hold: one temperature from bedtime to morning.
Nest's Learning Thermostat also builds a schedule from your manual adjustments over time. If you turn the thermostat down at 10 p.m. and up at 6 a.m. often enough, Nest learns to do it for you. But that still produces one nighttime hold, not a curve.
Why one setpoint is not enough
Your core body temperature drops as you fall asleep, reaches its lowest point during deep sleep, and rises gradually in the hours before you wake. A room that holds 66°F all night is slightly too warm during deep sleep and slightly too cool in the pre-dawn hours, which is when people wake up cold and restless.
The ideal is a curve: cooler as you fall asleep, coolest in early night, slightly warmer in late night, warmer still before the alarm. The research behind 60–67°F and the overnight curve.
How to build a multi-phase schedule on Nest
Nest does support multiple overnight setpoints. You just have to add them manually. Here is a practical approach.
- Open the schedule in Google Home. Go to your Nest thermostat in the Google Home app, tap the schedule, and switch to the day you want to edit.
- Add four setpoints. Place them at the start of each phase. For example: 10:30 p.m. at 66°F (pre-sleep), 11:00 p.m. at 64°F (deep sleep), 3:00 a.m. at 65°F (late night), and 5:30 a.m. at 67°F (pre-wake). Adjust the times to match your actual sleep window.
- Copy to other days. If your schedule is consistent, copy the same setpoints across the week. If your weekend bedtime is later, shift the times accordingly.
- Turn off auto-schedule if it overwrites your changes. The Nest Learning Thermostat may adjust or remove your manual setpoints over time. If you find your overnight schedule changing on its own, turn off the learning feature in the thermostat's settings and manage the schedule manually.
Where this breaks down
A manual schedule is fixed to clock time. If you go to bed an hour later on a Friday, the thermostat has already been cooling an empty room. If you want to test a slightly cooler deep-sleep setpoint, you have to remember to change it, track the outcome, and revert if it does not help. And Nest's auto-schedule feature can silently overwrite manual setpoints, which means the curve you carefully built may not be the curve running a week later.
What CircadiaOS does with your Nest
CircadiaOS connects to your Google Nest account and sends a fresh four-phase temperature schedule every evening, timed to your actual sleep window. If your bedtime shifts, the schedule shifts with it. The four phases follow your body's overnight needs: a pre-sleep cooldown, a deep-sleep trough, a late-night rise, and a pre-wake warm-up.
On Premium, CircadiaOS also reads your wearable — Oura, Whoop, Apple Watch, Garmin or Fitbit — and runs controlled experiments on the schedule. It changes one setpoint at a time, holds that change for one to two weeks, and keeps it only if your sleep data confirms the improvement. The whole process runs without manual input. Full method.
Nest features that keep working
CircadiaOS manages the overnight period. Your Nest's daytime schedule, home/away routines, Eco Temperatures, and any Google Home automations continue as normal. If you have Nest temperature sensors in other rooms, those still work for daytime comfort. CircadiaOS only takes over the thermostat during your sleep window.
Questions
Does Google Nest have a sleep mode?
Nest does not have a dedicated "sleep mode" like ecobee's comfort setting. It uses time-based schedules and optional home/away routines. You can set a bedtime temperature, but it holds that one number until the next setpoint. For a multi-phase overnight curve, you need to add multiple setpoints manually or use CircadiaOS.
What temperature should I set my Nest to for sleep?
Start around 65–66°F at bedtime and drop to 63–65°F for the deep-sleep window. A single hold at 66°F is a reasonable starting point if you want one number, but a four-phase schedule that warms slightly before your alarm tends to produce better results.
Does CircadiaOS work with Google Nest?
Yes. CircadiaOS connects to your Google Nest account and sends a four-phase overnight schedule. It works with the Nest Learning Thermostat, Nest E, and the 2020 Nest Thermostat. Full list of supported thermostats.
Will Nest's auto-schedule overwrite CircadiaOS?
CircadiaOS sends a fresh schedule each evening, so even if Nest's learning feature adjusts setpoints during the day, the overnight curve is rebuilt before bed. For the cleanest results, you can turn off Nest's auto-schedule and let CircadiaOS handle the overnight period entirely.
Related guides
- Smart thermostat sleep schedule — the four-phase approach for any thermostat brand.
- ecobee sleep mode — how ecobee handles sleep and how to go further.
- Oura Ring + thermostat — make your wearable data drive your overnight schedule.