Home/Away Assist, returning home always stuck in eco mode

[Dawdie]

So I have 2 nest thermostats which are controlled with Home/Away. Whenever I go out the thermostat goes into eco as expected. Whenever I return home the app shows "Home" and so does the log so it defintatly knows I have returned, but the thermostat however is still stuck in "Eco" mode till I manually turn it off.

I have all the "learning" stuff off (Auto Schedule/True Radiant) so I have no idea what I need to do to fix this aside from just turning home/away off and putting the old thermostats back in.

Potential fix (using google home not the nest app) https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Thermostats/Home-Away-Assist-returning-home-always-stuck...

[Hughk]

Such fantastic work being done by the community on this. Well done everyone 👏🏾  

I’ve now had enough of playing silly beggars to Google. Yesterday ECO didn’t switch out for 2hrs when we got in. Ridiculous. So I want to put in place SST. 

My two questions as I’ve not seen it referenced, does SST work with iPhones or is it solely Android devices??

Also, is their an idiots guide to the set up of SST?

[Iany1954]

Works with both (referenced many times in this thread), BUT iPhone must be on 15.3. It’s straightforward to set up, many have done it in this community. Good luck.

[Hughk]

Thanks. Will get on it

[heshie75v]

I am also looking for that idiots guide to SST, I am getting confused between “scene” and “:routine”  in St.

need help.

thanks

[Midjet76]

It's the routine you need to use. I tried to create an idiots guide but failed miserably. I'm going to try again when i have time and then develop it with any feedback. 

In the interim here a video of my setup i think best if you download on a PC to watch...https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-M67h1ZMgvC18w1TlN9Pgi9mHLcAgsap/view?usp=sharing

[islandniles]

I’ll need to keep an eye on SST but I’ve run into problems since adding my wife’s phone yesterday. It had been running flawlessly with just my phone, but didn’t run the routine to switch to Eco this morning when we were both out, and then didn’t run the routine to switch to Heat when one of us got back. The notifications section of the app shows that the last time any routine ran was yesterday afternoon. SIGH.

[Iany1954]

I’ve been using SST with two iPhones for several weeks and absolutely no problems. If an error follows a change it’s likely that the change is at fault. Good luck finding the problem.

[Midjet76]

Checkout my video link above, it might help. You might need to download the MP4 it might not play direct from the internet.

Hopefully you've only configured 2 routines, one for Home and One for Away, not 2 for each of you.

To add Nest Thermostat to SST

Go into SST>Devices>+Add Device>select from list of devices>By Brand>Nest> Select your nest and that should then connect to the thermostat. I'm assuming this needs to be done while you're at home.

HOME ROUTINE

IF +

WHO both your phones listed

WHERE your home address

WHEN, ANY phones or tablets AT your address

THEN+

CONTROL DEVICES, Select your Nest from devices list, then next, Select mode,  HEAT

Optional extras

Send notification to members, this will notify you that it has been actioned.

Change this locations mode. HOME

AWAY ROUTINE

IF+

WHO both your phones listed

WHERE your home address

WHEN, ALL phones and tablets AWAY from your address

THEN+

CONTROL DEVICES, Select your Nest from devices list, then next, Select mode,  ECO

Optional extras

Send notification to members, this will notify you that it has been actioned.

Change this locations mode. AWAY

Apologies, if this is teaching you to suck eggs, but I'm hoping you had one of these configured slightly wrong.  

Also, if you have got the settings above the same, then you might be like me where you have to disable location in the Nest app. 

Also, dunno if you've got Google Home running too, if so delete it. 

If both phones are connected directly to SST, if you change the Routines on one phone they're also changed on the other phone.

[islandniles]

No, I appreciate the help. That’s exactly how I have it set up, but for some reason it hasn’t run. However, I’ll check what happens when we both go out tomorrow. I disabled and then enabled the routines earlier, so I’ll just see what happens.

[steve99uk]

I found it easier to initially set up routines that just sent notifications when either of the phones were away from the home and when either of the phones returned home. If that all works then you can be as confident as you can that the NLT switching will work as well. 

[islandniles]

Just discovered my wife’s phone is still running iOS 15.2.1, so I’m updating it to 15.3.1 now and hopefully that’ll resolve things!

[Iany1954]

That will do it!

[heshie75v]

I want to,thank you, your directions worked!

if you can, if you have any other tips or directions, please pass them on.

thanks again

[Midjet76]

Not sure what else you need. As @Iany1954  and @steve59 point out just leave Your very original Nest settings as they were and just let SST switch between Heat/Eco.  

For me though I have to turn location by phone off in the Home away assist section for it to work 95% effectively. By turning this off it now will missreport the Home/Away status on Nest. BUT, if you configure the optional extras as above then it will report Home/Away correctly in SST.

[Midjet76]

We're back in business, well done everyone who spoke out. 

And thanks to @ChristianC for listening, obviously we would be eternally grateful if Google could now resolve the actual issue. 😊

[JoyR]

I was having success using Smart Things for about a week.  Went out yesterday evening, app went to Away and Eco.  Came home, old problem.  App showed Home, but still Eco.  I left it as it was shortly due to go to Eco according to the schedule.  But, horror of horrors, the heating failed to come on this morning according to the schedule.   I had to set it manually, and when I went out today the same thing happened.  It set to Away and Eco perfectly, but stuck on Eco when I came home,   This is not a joke, and I’m getting really fed up having to check what is going on all the time.  Even using SST it’s not working properly.  

[Midjet76]

Just had a minor setback here too. Working fine when we both go out but i went out this afternoon and it recorded us both as away.... So switched to eco, however when i returned it switched back to heat. So still relatively ok here, but far from perfect.

[fkyougoogle]

SST was working perfectly for me until last Friday and then it stopped detecting when I left home and came back. It seems to be a problem with the software update 1.7.81.22 (lots of people having issues according to the Samsung forums and twitter) but I've noticed my Android phone updated overnight to 1.7.82.23 and it's worked perfectly today.

Samsung tech support are equally as frustrating and incompetent as Google, but they do seem to fix things quickly behind the scenes

[steve99uk]

Interestingly I have also had an issue with SST. On my iPhone it always detects me home/away but on  my wife's once she somehow got signed out of the Samsung account and yesterday it just didn't seem to detect she was home until I went into the SST app and checked that she was logged in (which she was). All OK now but does make me think that SST now not 100% reliable sadly.........  

[Nontechmike]

My SST is also not as reliable as it once was.  I run android and do have the latest SST build loaded.  It detects us coming home but does not detect us leaving.  However once out of range of home it often triggers when I open the App despite it already being set to always open/never sleep.  So now I'm back to not having a reliably working system again 😒 

[Steve59]

My SST goes into Eco if I leave the area and my wife stays home, even though it’s set to only change if both our phones leave the area, any ideas, we are both on iOS 15.3.1 

[Midjet76]

Unfortunately, I discovered exact same thing today.  Given that my wife is fully retired and me only working 2 days a week, having just returned today after 4 weeks off on hols and minor surgery.

So, I changed it back, again to just my wife as main account/user as she's home more than me and I think i've practically disabled everything in Nest app atm and it worked correctly every time for her coming and going today.  Initially when I realised that it was in Eco despite her being home I reset it to Heat mode manually while at work, then deleted the routines with the both of us and made new Home?away routines just for her.  The first time she was away it didn't detect her being away according to the notifications but it picked her up returning, then after that worked perfectly for 2 further trips away and back home...Her phone had auto updated to latest SST this morning, mine is blocked from updating so dunno if that makes any difference, I will update kine tomorrow and experiment again. 

@Nontechmikeyou might want to roll back to one user and build from here....

[Ugly_Bloke]

1) Bizarrely, my Eco/Home status has been switching pretty quickly this week using the Nest app.   However, it has behaved itself on previous occasions only to start playing up again a few days later so I'm not getting my hopes up! 

Again, the pattern seems to be it works better when the weather is milder.   It's quite mild here in the UK (albeit windy) and it's also half term which means less people coming and going from their home.   This is obviously reducing the load on Nest's servers resulting in it now temporarily working correctly.   

If things stop working again when the cold returns and people go back to work, it clearly points to Google's servers not being able to cope with the volume of Eco/Home transactions.  

2) I've finally had a response from Google for my open ticket.  Surprise, surprise, they asked me for information I've already provided several time.  I really do give up with these guys.  Very frustrating.

[Midjet76]

I know you've hinted at this previously, so if you're correct then we're never gonna get this resolved unless they upgrade their servers etc.  Soooooo frustrating if that is the case.

[DavidE]

---

@Ugly_Bloke wrote:

...   This is obviously reducing the load on Nest's servers resulting in it now temporarily working correctly.   

If things stop working again when the cold returns and people go back to work, it clearly points to Google's servers not being able to cope with the volume of Eco/Home transactions.  

---

Hi - good idea but I have to say this does seem at all a likely issue to me. (I do work in IT.)

Firstly they are Google, they virtually run the internet, they have no shortage of server resources.

Secondly the processing power needed to switch one thermostat in/out of heating mode is tiny, there are not that many Nest thermostats around, each has only a handful of transactions per day, and the event times will be relatively well distributed, as people go home/away at different times and have different schedules.

This is something which used to work correctly, and the problem appeared for most people, it seems, around November, so it seems much more likely they introduced a logic problem with an update to either the app or thermostat software.

[jrawle]

Mine has also been behaving perfectly this week. I was hoping they might have fixed something. After all, just because customer services are useless doesn't meant their programmers aren't aware and  trying to fix bugs; there's just no communication between the two teams. (As with most proprietary tech firms, customer services only really deal with things the user is doing wrong which can be solved by following a pre-written script. They can't escalate technical issues. This is why I prefer open source where possible!)

I'm also sceptical that it's a capacity issue. All Nest operations have to go via the cloud. It doesn't make sense that it would be able to switch to Away but not to ECO.

If it is a capacity issue, perhaps it helps that so many people have switched to using SST instead! 😉

[Hoosierphilly]

  I fixed my problem in the one bedroom thermostat that died (from my original nest install of 4 thermostats: ZQAT20 nest IC 9754A-T20 which I loved).    Easiest solution is that I just reinstalled the original installed old Honeywell programable thermostat that takes batteries.  The only time I need that room to change is if we go away and set the house to an away temperature.  Easiest just to do that room manually.   I returned the nest (cheap model  G4cVZ)  Now a Nest tech in Phillipines says I don't need  a power connecting put on my furnace on zoning board install
one hvac and 4 thermo so have zoning system so have a relay or zoing board
is zone 1 2 and 3 and 4 so figure out which zone is the that thermo so need to install it on that zone.bed this one a 2020 needs C wire if heat only or 2 wire
recomend a nest learning thermosate doesn't need a connecting C wire (model
$249). try to exchange or install power connector instead.

[sboden2315]

I turned my Nest learning in and got a plain Nest thermostat and it appears that all my issues are resolved and home/away works.  Its controlled by the home app not the nest app.  I have an android phone.  It does need a c wire but it has all the features I need and I was never going to trust turning on learning ever again.  

[Midjet76]

Sorry @Hoosierphilly I may be speaking out of turn here but your setup seems far more complex than most of us on this thread, I think most of us are only working with 1 , maybe 2 at best, but also I am trying to see the relevance posting on this particular thread.

[Hughk]

For those in the Uk, I think we are ALL going to have follow the path that one of us has already followed - we need to report it to the consumer affairs programme Watchdog. 

Google just reached out to me and THEIR solution was to let the thermostat work off the schedule only. I could not believe it 🤬 

The Consumer Goods Act 2015 should offer protection as the goods are not operating as defined and is not fit for its purpose. 

If we all bring this up with Watchdog, they may take note. Pointing to this forum kind of works but it’s an international form so we are going to have log with Watchdog individually.  Will do mine in next 30mins

[Midjet76]

So their solution is to use it as a dumb thermostat but pay them almost £200, whereas a dumb one is s fraction of the cost. Along with then telling us it can take up to 3 hours to switch in and out of Heat/Eco mode and that's with normal parameters, when it's supposed to be an energy saving device. They truly are unbelievable. 

[Hughk]

Watchdog compliant filed. I suggest all UK users do so too. Takes 10mins. Need to shine the spotlight of the media on Google. The more voices of discontent, the more chance of the voices being heard by BBC and the media.  

[BrianDarby]

Sad that in this day and age that’s what it would take to get support from big tech 

[LifeonMars]

Nest App version 5.66,0 worked perfectly in iOS in the UK , however when it got updated to version 5.67.0  for iOS around 1st November 2021 it stopped working correctly causing the current problems.

If only there was a way around to get the previous version back on to the iPhone.

[jrawle]

This is possible on Android. However, some posters reported trying it only to find it still behaved as badly. Likewise, owners of thermostats that did not receive an update in November also report problems. That suggests the problem lies with Nest's servers, rather than the app or thermostat software version.

[sboden2315]

This is very helpful.  This thread is starting to lose its utility, as the hope was that it would spur Google to action and to date it has not.  Having lived with the Nest Thermostat for a week here is what I believe the situation is in summary:

The Nest Learning Thermostat is controlled by the Nest app.  In November of 2021 there was a software update to the Nest app that now prevents consistent control over the Home/Away sensing causing an automatic switching in and out of Eco Mode.

For those of you on ios, there appears to be a workaround using SST.  But you paid for a Google solution and that should still be the desired outcome.

While not optimal, if you do chose to operate the system manually (i.e. switching your thermostat to eco yourself through the Nest app when you leave the home) it works, but of course that is not what was sold to you and for $249 you should get what was sold to you.

The Nest Thermostat is not controlled by the Nest app.  It is controlled by the Home app.  It does require a C wire,  The Learning Thermostat does not.  For those of you that do not have a C Wire with your furnace this is therefore not a choice.  But if you do....

I have now lived for a week with a system that works 100% of the time and does what it promised.  While initially an attractive feature I would now NEVER turn on the learning portion of the Nest Learning thermostat, so if you don't use it the Nest Thermostat has all of the features you want and is controlled remotely.

It's $129 in the US.  Perhaps Google can be convinced to refund the $129 as opposed to the $249.  I'm still holding on to my Learning Thermostat as I like the design better, in the hopes that this software issue will be fixed.  But I now believe it has nothing to do with cloud server capacity and it has nothing to do with the thermostat hardware.  It is 100% a Nest app software bug that we have no idea if or when Google will fix.

[NU654]

Agreed that the learning feature has always been useless. Now that the home/away feature is broken, the ridiculous thing that stops me from replacing my NLT is that I really like the metal spinny design. I just can't stand everything being downgraded to touch controls. 

[BrianDarby]

Nothing to do with the app - as third party apps and APIs were also affected.

What was broken was the link between Home/Away and Heat/Eco (or Cool/Eco if you live somewhere hot, perhaps). That's done on Google's server end. 

[Midjet76]

SST working for me today with 2 phones, both on latest Android version of SST, with most stuff disabled in Nest.

[JoyR]

mine also worked today,  went to Away and Eco soon after I left home, and stopped Eco as soon as I came back, although the Nest App still stated “Away”!