Nest Thermostat Eco mode ignored

[Jumpinernie]

Hi, does anybody know why my Nest is doing the following.

When in Eco mode it sometimes decides to follow the schedule, even when I'm not at home?

Why doesn't home and away work properly, as the heating again follows Schedule and comes on when I'm not at home?

I've now decided to turn off Auto learning on my schedule as this doesn't really help.

I'm just being frustrated by being away from home to find my house is heated to 21⁰c

[Jhonleanmel]

Hi Jumpinernie

Thanks for posting ― let's get this sorted out.

A few questions: what Nest Thermostat do you have? Check this link to know what thermostat you have. Since when has this been happening? Also, what other troubleshooting steps have you done so far?

Best,
Mel

[Jumpinernie]

Hey Mel,

Its thermostat model 3.7, software 5.9.5-2

I've not tried any troubleshooting, just getting frustrated by having to turn on Eco constantly so as to stop the schedule turning on when I'm not at home.

[AlexD]

Thank you for all the information @Jumpinernie and @Stevie2. I am sorry for the later reply, your thread only now crossed my path.

Do you still need assistance with your thermostats? If so, make sure to let me know. 

[Jumpinernie]

Hi @AlexD . I've been having less of an issue when putting on Eco mode. I've decided to turn the nest learning off as this just didn't work for me. The home/away assist again today hasn't worked. I work at least 10 miles away from my home, yet my heating came on as scheduled, even though it's meant to work out where my phone is and come on in anticipation of me arriving home.

I'm just hav

[AlexD]

I would be happy to try and assist. The Auto-Schedule and other learning features should not have any influence over the Home/Away part, those will affect your schedule when it is in the regular heat mode. 

How long has the thermostat been installed before you first noticed this behavior? Also, let us have a look at some settings. From the Nest app tap on the cogwheel in the upper right corner of your home structure to go into Settings> Home/Away assist> What decides... and take a screenshot of all the devices and their settings you see there. 

Once done go back and access Settings> Home/Away assist> Activity history and check a few of the past days where it did not behave as expected. Tap on them and you should get a detailed report of all events recorded that day. Take a screenshot of the general overview and then some of the detailed view on some of the days where it did not behave as expected. 

[Jumpinernie]

Hi @AlexD

As requested, see the screen shots from the home/away meau. Today's example is one where the heating was already on to heat before I left work today at 15:45, yes I assume the nest was getting to temp. based on the schedule, yet I was still not at home or nearby.

The nest was installed last year Jan 22, but I've only just been noticing these issues since staying away from home more frequently.

 

 

 

[Jumpinernie]

Sorry @AlexD 

History of today

 

[AlexD]

No worries. Thanks for all the information. Let us first try this. Go back to the What decides... page in the Nest app. Select the thermostat there and set it to No. Sometimes if the thermostat and the phone location try to set the home state odd behavior can occur. By only having one device setting the home state we narrow down the factors we have at once to check for now at least.

Once done, next time you leave the location check before you leave if the thermostat is in the usual heat mode, for whatever temperature it is set, and then check it later, once you have been away for some time and are some distance away, if the thermostat has gone into Eco and the home into Away mode. 

Do make sure the phone is not in battery saver mode, phone location is enabled and the Nest app is allowed to run in the background without any battery optimisation and access to the phone location information. 

Let me know after that day how it behaved, and make sure once the day is logged to check the activity history logged you leave and coming back as expected. 

[AlexD]

Hi, I wanted to check in. How has it been going so far? Make sure to let me know once you get some chances to leave the location and test. 

[Vladut]

Hi there, as you haven't replied, we're just gonna go ahead and close the case. Let us know if you need anything else. Have a great day ahead!
 

[Jumpinernie]

Hang on @Vladut ..........I've not had long to collect any data to analyze. It was only Monday that I made the changes.

[Paul_R]

Hi there @Jumpinernie, thanks for getting back in touch. I'm sorry for the created confusion but if we don't get any replies from you in a few days it's procedure that we need to close the case. It would be great if you can give us an update in the next few days, but to make sure the case stays open, keep an eye on the thread in the meantime. Let me know if I can assist you with anything else until then.

[AlexD]

Hi, just wanted to check in. How has it been going so far?

[Jumpinernie]

Hi @AlexD it seems to have done the trick 👍🏻 there is obviously a conflict when you do have home/away assist set as mobile and thermostat. Since turning the to Thermostat to No, it has followed my mobile, so schedules will not come on if I'm not at home.

Brilliant solution and maybe one for the Nest team to look at for their software development.

Thanks for the support 😊

[AlexD]

I am very happy to hear things are back on track. Thank you for all the troubleshooting done and feedback. I will go ahead and close down this thread. If anything else comes up, make sure to open up a new one. Have a great weekend ahead!

[Stevie2]

I had the same issue when I am away and Nest requires me to be in front of the device to make changes which is difficult as it is 1000 miles away and I won't be there for months.  Turning off heat is not an option.