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Nest Learning Thermostat Motion Sensing for Home/Away Status/Eco Mode

Michael11
Community Member

Hi Everyone, 

 

I am wondering how long it takes the Nest Learning Thermostat to determine the home is empty/you are away, when the thermostat is only relying on its motion sensors. 

I don't have my phone connected for tracking purposes. I would like to put a Nest thermostat (any kind) in a few of my rental units to help save energy, but if the devices have too much trouble/are not reliable in determining whether people are home when relying only on the motion sensing I may not bother. 

 

I really appreciate the help!

 

Thanks,

 

Mike

6 REPLIES 6

MplsCustomer
Bronze
Bronze

@Michael11 

"Home and away" and eco mode is determined by "presence sensing", which uses your phone's location; it does NOT use motion sensors. If you were going to use it in your rental units, it would have to use your tenants' location(s) and they would have to be members of the "household" for each thermostat, and they would have access to home/away and eco mode settings.

https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/10071816?hl=en#zippy=

https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/10000312?visit_id=638080091650020071-3257609928&p=routi...

Thank you for your help. I find it a little confusing because on the Nest app, when you select the thermostat, theres a section that says "Should this thermostat use its activity sensors to figure out if anyones home?" with an "on/off" button, which leads me to believe the thermostat can use both your phones location AND activity sensors built into the thermostat itself to detect if anyone is home or not. 

@Michael11 

I guess I was mistaken. I always thought Home/Away was based just on phone location. Actually, you're right; the setting you referenced--using the thermostat's activity (motion?) sensors--is a second way.

In this thread, one customer who had this setting turned on on the thermostat, and also had Home/Away turned on on the parent phone, recounted this:

Their kids come home from school (parent not home). The thermostat switches to "Home". The kids go to their rooms and the thermostat switches to "Away".

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Cameras-and-Doorbells/Nest-Thermostat-changes-to-Away-mode-wh...

I don't know how the two settings work together, and haven't found a clear explanation.

Jake
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there,

 

Thanks for the help MplsCustomer.

 

I wanted to check in and see if you are still in need of any help. Please let me know, as I would be happy to assist, and answer any questions you may have.

Best regards,
Jake

Jake
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there,

 

I wanted to follow up and see if you had any questions from here. Let me know, as I would be happy to take a closer look and assist you further. 

Best regards,
Jake

EmersonB
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi everyone,

@Michael11 just one quick final check in here since activity has slowed down. We'll be locking the thread in the next 24 hours, but if you still need help, I would be happy to keep it open. If there's more we can do, just let me know.

I appreciate the help, MplsCustomer and Jake.

Thanks,
Emerson