Activity detected in the home, but there isn't any

[MattMoo44]

For the past 4 days my home constantly switches to Home mode when there is no activity at all. Checking the activity log shows 'activity detected in the home'.

Even if I turn off mobile location and all of the devices so that nothing is contributing to the Home/Away status.... Set it to Away. After about 20 minutes, it switches back to Home mode. The same thing appears in activity history 'activity detected in the home'.

This is causing the heating to run constantly when there in no one home.

Support told me to buy a new one. But it's clearly a software problem. Even when I turn Home/Away assist off, the mode changes to Home on it's own. 

[Alexandra16671]

Yes but that is still not working as it should. We buy these expensive thermostats to have the use of the features. Home/away assist is an important feature for me and if it’s not working it’s not a properly provided service 

[Speigal]

Suggested fix for home being activated when no one at home

I contacted Google Nest support via Instant Messenger which proved useful for response and their continuing interest.  Their "fix":

1. Turn home assist off via the Nest App > Thermostat > Settings > Home away assist
2. Also under "Who decides if your home" Turn all products to No. Leave mobile phone location on but check that other people phones connected are not using the app on their phones or deactivate them. 
3. Turn off auto schedule.Nest App > Thermostat > Settings > Auto Schedule.
4. Go back to the thermostat on the app and select the schedule. delete the schedule. 
5. Check location services are set to always (instructions on how to do this click your mobile in the list under "who decides" and then follow instructions to enable phone. 
6. Test it over a few days. I found it settled down with the odd glitch and now working normally. 
7. You then need to turn on home assist, products and enable auto-schedule. It will have to relearn the schedule.
8. If this does not work then try a rest of the NEST. 

The consensus is all the above is probably useless as it is a bug in the app and requires a Google update to fix, however it worked for me. 

[kalanbays]

I did not try this fix, however as of about two days ago, the system began working correctly as before on both my single residential thermostat, and my 5 business thermostats at another location.  Prior to this, they were malfunctioning.  Could be they found the system wide issue and fixed it.  Glad yours is working too.

[Speigal]

Agree it is a bug in the system and perhaps someone has fixed it. We will monitor the situation. Shame Google will not reach out. 

[thegios]

This is ridiculous!!!

[Speigal]

Does not sound correct.  This is affecting many users and appears to be a recent problem. Google should be collating reports and looking at their app/ cloud computing support for a possible glitch. This response would make me consider an alternative manufacturer. They should at least offer you a discount on a new product.

[MattMoo44]

I eventually got my case escalated to a senior agent and they are investigating. Awaiting a reply by email.

I would urge any of you that haven't managed to escalate it to a senior agent to keep trying. 

They are still trying to tell me this isn't a wider issue. I've pointed them to look at this post. 

I got to a senior agent on live chat but it took multiple attempts to get them to do it. 

Just refusing to troubleshoot and repeating 'please transfer the chat to a senior agent' did eventually work. But they disconnected the chat the first 3 times and I really had to make a fuss. 

[Fil0083]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Please keep us posted if they come back with a recommendation other than 'purchase a new thermostat.'

Your advice on escalating to a senior agent is helpful—if anyone else has managed this or received alternative suggestions, please share!

[thegios]

​Hi and thanks.

Listen, honestly what you are asking me to do is totally useless: you have to realise this is not a problem affecting me only, this is not a hardware problem, this is not a configuration problem of my apps(phone(environment/devices. THIS IS A GLOBAL PROBLEM THAT MANY OF US ARE FACING AS OF FEW DFAYS AGO, FIND BELOW A LINK TO A FEW THREAD SOF USERS COMPLAINING ABOUT THE SAME:

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Thermostats/Nest-thermostats-switching-to-Home-when-no-o...

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Thermostats/Activity-detected-in-the-home-but-there-isn-...

​https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Thermostats/Hom-Away-Nest-Thermostat/m-p/670594#M131119

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Thermostats/Thermostat-turns-on-even-if-both-phones-are-...

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Thermostats/Thermostat-shows-Home-on-app-even-when-manua...

I urge you to collect all those complaints and admit there is a global server side issue on Google Nest Servers.

Many of us already have tried a combination of the following: soft/hard reset the thermostat, remove thermostat from apps and put it back, create a new home environment etc. so please stop suggesting all of us to follow useless steps and providing useless information, instead talk internally to the tech and product owner and report to them our complaints to make them aware you have a server side issue.

[Willowsauntie]

It's been a week now. I've done everything recommended and still not working.  I'm not getting a new thermostat,  it's not that old. Definitely a software issue

[jrawle]

I'm glad to find this thread. I've had the same issue for the last few days. The thermostat switches to Home a few minutes after switching to Away, claiming there is activity in the house. (Nest 3rd gen, located in England.) I have found if I remove the thermostat from "What decides if you're home", it will stay on Away. I tried restarting, and resetting the away data several times, but it made no difference. I did contemplate buying a new thermostat if the sensor was faulty, but I had a suspicion it's software/network related, then found this thread.

This is not the first time I've had issues with Home/Away over the years. It makes me rather wary of relying on cloud services, so I think ultimately I'll look for a home-grown solution for detecting whether I'm at home. I hope they fix it soon, though. In the past, issues have gone away after a few weeks, when I suspect someone spotted the bug and fixed it, although they never admit there was a problem.

[thegios]

I have a Nest Thermostat 3rd gen and a Next  Camera.

In Google Home app I have a routine to turn camera on and thermostat off when away (and the other way around when st home).

Usually all is working fine but today a few minutes after I left home and away routine ran, even if both phones where detected as away, the next app marked both phone as at home and therefore the at home routine ran and thermostat was turned on, keeping camera on. I switched manually to away on Google home app but a few minutes later next app marked both phones as at home and again at home routine ran and thermostat was turned on. The whole day.

[Gizbug]

Everyone was gone today from 11am - 430pm.  I noticed on the google home app that at 245pm the system was "preheating" for my 330 comfort schedule.  again no one was home.  Shouldn't the nest STAY in eco mode regardless of schedule, until someone arrives home?  Seems dumb that you can only have ONE comfort setting for eco to work correctly....

[Derickf]

Hi @Gizbug,

Thanks for reaching out to the Google Nest Community. I'm sorry to hear that your Nest Thermostat is not following the away routines and not turning on the Eco mode when you are not at home. Don't worry; help is here.

Before we start, I have some questions:

• What type of thermostat do you have?
• Does the Google Home app have permissions to use your location?
• Have you set an eco temperature when setting up the thermostat?

In the meantime, you can take a look at the following article: Nest Home and Away not working.

 I’ll be waiting for your reply.

Best regards,

Derick.

[Gizbug]

2 nest gen 4

yes

yes

[Gizbug]

I guess the question is, If I have MORE THAN 1 comfort setting during the day, and I am GONE during the day, should the Google Nest 4 STAY in ECO MODE the whole day?  Or is it normal to try to adhere to EACH comfort schedule whether someone is home or not?

[Derickf]

Hey there!

Thanks for your reply. You are right; the thermostat should switch to Eco mode when nobody is at home. We can try something; having 2 comfort schedules could affect the Eco mode. Please delete one of them, and also I recommend you take a look at the following article: Learn about Eco Temperatures, Auto Eco and how to change settings

I’ll be waiting for your reply. 

Regards, 

Derick. 

[Gizbug]

Having 1 comfort setting for the day, and being gone, keeps ECO mode engaged.  The issue is when there are 2 or more comfort settings for a day (unplanned going into work day for example).  Kind of dumb logic that we are forced to use ONE comfort schedule if we want ECO to turn on for a day we are gone......

I've read the article you've referenced many times, some key takeaways:

" When everyone has left, your thermostat will wait a short while to make sure nobody’s coming back, then automatically switch to Eco Temperatures."  That it does, until a new comfort schedule is introduced.

[Derickf]

Hi there!

Thanks for your reply. I’m happy to hear that you have found the solution for the issue you were experiencing after removing one comfort schedule. 

Please don't hesitate to keep posting if you still need help.

Regards,

Derick.

[Gizbug]

I guess you never really answered the original question  simple YES or NO

If I have MORE THAN 1 comfort setting during the day, and I am GONE during the day, should the Google Nest 4 STAY in ECO MODE the whole day?  Or is it normal to try to adhere to EACH comfort schedule whether someone is home or not?

[Ismailh]

I am experiencing the same issue since 15th of January this year. 

Thanks to google I came across this community. I tried all the 'solutions' described here for a week but unfortunately nothing works.

- resetting nest

- powercycling modem/complete house power off/on

- rebooting phone. 

The house stays on 'home' while no one is there. If I manually set it to away it jumps to home after 9 minutes.

I am from the Netherlands.

[Gizbug]

Mine goes into eco however if there is a schedule (comfort of custom) set while I’m gone it follows the schedule even if no one is home (ie heating the home up to the schedule temp even when house is empty).  Shame eco doesn’t work as advertised 

[Matthad]

Same issue here in UK. Started last week.

[thegios]

Been in contact via email to Google Tech Support: as expected and as many of you have already experienced, they are useless. They keep on asking useless questions as if the problem is only mine, even if I pointed them to all the threads in this community. I told them I refuse to answer to any other useless questions like "where you on the phone when arriving home" 😂

My suggestion to all of you is that you write via Facebook Chat to "Made by Google" and force them to get in contact with tech support: once you ate contacted, point them to all the threads here complaining, and make them aware it's a global issue 

[thegios]

@Derickf 

Any solution that requires a workaround and turning off features IS NOT a solution.

Thermostat must work as expected, without disabling scheduling or presence sensing.

All

Been in contact via email to Google Tech Support: as expected and as many of you have already experienced, they are useless. They keep on asking useless questions as if the problem is only mine, even if I pointed them to all the threads in this community. I told them I refuse to answer to any other useless questions like "where you on the phone when arriving home" 😂

My suggestion to all of you is that you write via Facebook Chat to "Made by Google" and force them to get in contact with tech support: once you ate contacted, point them to all the threads here complaining, and make them aware it's a global issue .

[mikedavies]

This identical problem has been reported by multiple users across a number of threads as others have pointed out. One thing that isn’t clear is the geographic nature. Is it confined to Europe or is it global? That might be significant since the problem is clearly systemic.

I’m conducting a very rudimentary survey by asking anybody who wishes to do so (and has not already responded in another thread) to post the country or countries in which the affected Nest stats are located. I know it will not be conclusive, if for no other reason than language, but it may just provide the basis to push Google in the right direction.

So far we know that the problem exists in the U.K., Italy and the Netherlands. Any advances on that?

[Speigal]

Nest located in UK. I followed all the instructions by support team, switching off assist, movement detection and deleting schedule. Certainly less frequent but still switching to him. Interestingly it is nearly always 28 mins or 58 mins past the hour suggesting a bug. My plan is to rest the Nest but if a server fault this will not help. 

[GoogleNestTeam]

Hey all,

We're aware of the issue with Home and Away - the team is actively investigating. We'll keep you posted as we learn more and when you can expect a fix.

Thank you for your patience.

[thegios]

@GoogleNestTeam any news here?

This morning problem seemed solved but this evening it's back: I left home 30 minutes ago, set manual to away but now thermostat is back on.

[thegios]

@GoogleNestTeam good to know, but tell tech support to stop asking us if we reset device or if we were on the phone when entering home 😂

Anyhow, thanks for letting us know and pls pls pls keep us updated here

[thegios]

Problem seems solved for me without any updated to Google home, which means Google eventually fixed at server side.

Speaking of which I have a question for those relying on location and/or presence sensor to put Thermostat in eco, instead of doing it manually.

I have both a nest thermostat and camera, both using location and presence sensor to detect if I'm home or not: when away, thermostat goes to eco and camera turns on.

I realized that once I am away, camera takes a few minutes to turn on while thermostat takes almost 45 minutes to go in echo.

Anyone else with the same behavior?

[jrawle]

Away seemed to work again as usual for me today!

My thermostat typically takes an hour to switch after I've left the house. I remember when I first had it some years ago, it would switch within 15 minutes, but it's taken about an hour for a long time now. I guess it's to make sure you have really gone away, rather than just popped out for a few minutes, to avoid cycling the heating system unnecessarily.

[thegios]

@jrawle well 15 minutes should be enough, 1h it's a little to much...

[Biffo]

Thanks for the Heads Up. My U.K. based Nest has remained on Away since I set it 5 hours ago.

[Speigal]

If on auto turning on Eco when leaving the house it is programmed to take some time to switch to Eco so as to make sure you are comfortable. I read this in the manual somewhere. 

[thegios]

No way, I am out and thermostat turned on again! This morning it worked, this afternoon still problem.

[Fil0083]

I have turned my thermostat back to the automatic sensor settings this morning and it seems to be working as it should so far

[kalanbays]

I think this may have been fixed, my thermostats are working correctly again after about 5 days of mafunctioning.

[thegios]

I need some more testing, for me yesterday twice worked and once didn't. I believe that it doesn't work  if you have true radiant and you reach a scheduled temp change after you set it to away.

For exams, say you have the following schedule:

- 08:00 > 19 degree

- 16:00 > 19.5 degree

- 20:00 > 20 degree

- 23:00 > eco

If you set to away at 10:00 it will automatically (and wrongly) turn on around 15:00 to pre-heat the house so that at 16:00 temp reaches 19.5 degree as scheduled, even if no one is at home.

This is the feeling I have but must test today.

Everyone pls report back if they experience the same.

@GoogleNestTeam please report back if issue is solved since you admitted you were aware of it thanks.

[Biffo]

This happened to me yesterday but I discovered my Home/Away Assist setting had changed to “On Away - Do nothing’. I guess this happened while I was trying to fix the original problem. I changed it to automatically enter eco mode and it has been in eco for the last 17 hours. It correctly ignored my heating schedule which says 19 degrees from 8-11.