What is Heat Pump Balance on Nest?

An automatic mode for heat-pump-with-electric-aux systems: Max Comfort leans on aux heat sooner for warmth, Max Savings leans on the heat pump longer to save money, Balanced sits between them, and Off lets you set your own Compressor lockout and Auxiliary Heat Lockout temperatures. It is not offered on dual-fuel (furnace) systems.

What is Nest compressor lockout?

If you mean the outdoor-temperature setting, it is the temperature below which the heat pump stops (−25 to 32 °F). If you mean "Compressor Lockout Time", that is a different, unrelated setting: a minimum off-time in minutes between compressor cycles, not a temperature.

What temperature should I use for Dual Fuel Breakpoint?

Your heatpump.blue recommendation for a dual-fuel system, rounded up to 10 °F if your number comes in below that — 10 °F is Nest's lowest selectable breakpoint.

Thermostat settings

Google Nest heat pump settings explained

Nest offers an automatic mode (Heat Pump Balance) and, for dual-fuel systems, a direct temperature (Dual Fuel Breakpoint). Here is what each one does and which one to use with a heatpump.blue result.

Where to find it

Google Home app → your thermostat → Settings → Equipment → Heat Pump. On a 3rd-gen Learning Thermostat or Thermostat E device: Settings → Nest Sense → Heat Pump Balance, and Settings → Equipment.

Learning Thermostat (3rd & 4th gen), Nest Thermostat E, Nest Thermostat

Learning Thermostat (3rd & 4th gen), Nest Thermostat E, Nest Thermostat lockout settings
Setting	What it does	Values
Heat Pump Balance	Lets Nest pick the aux lockout automatically. Only for heat pumps with electric aux — not available on dual fuel.	Max Comfort (default), Balanced, Max Savings, Off.
Compressor lockout	Heat pump lockout.	−25 to 32 °F, or Always (−25 °F).
Auxiliary Heat Lockout	Strip heat lockout.	0 to 70 °F, Always or Never (default 40 °F); older 3rd-gen/E guides list 0–90 °F.
Dual Fuel Breakpoint	Dual-fuel switchover: the furnace and heat pump never run together.	10 to 50 °F, Always or Never (default 30 °F).
Alternate Heat Changeover Timer	A time-based changeover alongside the breakpoint, for dual fuel.	1, 2, 4, 8 or 12 hours (default 4 h).

How your heatpump.blue result maps onto this

heatpump.blue finds the outdoor temperature below which your furnace or other heat costs less than running the heat pump, for your weather, your model and your rates. On Google Nest, that number goes into the setting below.

Dual fuel (heat pump + furnace): set Dual Fuel Breakpoint to your heatpump.blue recommendation (Heat Pump Balance is not offered on dual fuel). If your number is below 10 °F, use 10 °F — that is Nest's lowest setting.
Heat pump + electric strips: set Heat Pump Balance to Off to use your own numbers, set Compressor lockout to its lowest value (−25 °F) or your unit's documented limit, and set Auxiliary Heat Lockout a few degrees above the temperature where your heat pump stops keeping up. Or leave Heat Pump Balance on Max Savings if you would rather Nest decide.

Get your Google Nest number

Enter your ZIP, your heat pump model and your rates, and get the lockout temperature that costs you least, with the range it is sensitive to.

Open the tool

Common mistakes

Confusing "Compressor Lockout Time" with a temperature lockout — on Nest it is a minimum off-time between compressor cycles (2.5–10 minutes), not an outdoor temperature, and it is not the setting a lockout recommendation maps onto.
Looking for Heat Pump Balance on a dual-fuel system — Nest only offers it for electric-aux systems; dual fuel uses Dual Fuel Breakpoint instead.
Setting the aux/furnace lockout below the compressor lockout. That leaves a band of outdoor temperatures where nothing is allowed to run. Keep the aux/furnace lockout at or above the compressor lockout.
Changing the setting without writing down the factory default first. These are installer menus; changing them is safe, but you may want to undo it.
Assuming the factory default is the cheapest setting for your home. It is a generic default, not calculated for your climate, your model or your energy rates.
Forgetting the setting needs an outdoor temperature source (a wired sensor, a communicating outdoor unit, or internet weather) to do anything at all.

Questions

What is Heat Pump Balance on Nest?: An automatic mode for heat-pump-with-electric-aux systems: Max Comfort leans on aux heat sooner for warmth, Max Savings leans on the heat pump longer to save money, Balanced sits between them, and Off lets you set your own Compressor lockout and Auxiliary Heat Lockout temperatures. It is not offered on dual-fuel (furnace) systems.
What is Nest compressor lockout?: If you mean the outdoor-temperature setting, it is the temperature below which the heat pump stops (−25 to 32 °F). If you mean "Compressor Lockout Time", that is a different, unrelated setting: a minimum off-time in minutes between compressor cycles, not a temperature.
What temperature should I use for Dual Fuel Breakpoint?: Your heatpump.blue recommendation for a dual-fuel system, rounded up to 10 °F if your number comes in below that — 10 °F is Nest's lowest selectable breakpoint.

Sources

Checked against the manufacturer’s own documents on 2026-10-08. Firmware and documents change; your model’s current installer manual wins over this page.