Nest thermostats switching to Home when no one in property

[Alexandra1667]

I have three holiday cottages in the uk. Each has a nest thermostat that are set to use home away assist (without phone location). In the last few days ALL three thermostats have stopped working and they keep switching to Home even though there is no one in the properties. This can’t possibly be the thermostats not working, it must be a network of update issue because all the thermostats are in different properties. The only thing that links them is they are all 3rd gen and all on my account, 

I have noticed other people reporting the same issue with their thermostats. Has  there been a botched update at Google that has messed up these 3rd gen equipment? 
Ive had the usual customer service advice to reset etc but thus is £750 worth of kit that is no longer working. It’s not acceptable to make out it’s my issue. 

[Yorkie754]

Exact same issue in our holiday cottage. Started 14th Jan. Activity in house when nobody there. 

It's like when we first migrated across to google and the home/away feature wouldn't work. 

[Alexandra1667]

Mine started around same time as well. There is clearly an issue with a Nest update or something like that rather than it being a specific thermostat problem however, Google do not seem willing to look into it 

[thegios]

Same problem since two or three days ago, no words from Google. Others are complaining of the same problem.
Is it solved for you?

[Fil0083]

It seems this issue has been affecting several users since last week. There's another open thread discussing it here:
Re: Activity detected in the home, but there isn't... - Google Nest Community

[mikedavies]

I have had exactly the same problem since 14 January. The Nest Learning Thermostat in our second home keeps switching to Home (“Recent activity”) even though nobody is there. Even if I remotely reset it to Away, it changes back to Home within 10 minutes. The only saving grace is that it isn’t switching on the heating, which remains set to Eco, or the hot water

I’m using only the Nest device motion sensors (plus phone location) rather than Google presence setting.

I can only conclude that there must have been a problem with an update.

[Alexandra1667]

Please.report this to Google asap

[mikedavies]

I have done so but, of course, they need me to be at the property to go through the diagnostic steps. I cannot do that until next week.

i have made them aware that I believe this problem to be systemic rather than individual but they still need me to be there😐.

i will let you know if and when there is any progress on a resolution 

[Alexandra1667]

Please insist that you don’t need to be there. I insisted they escalate it to a senior tech. This is not a specific thermostat issue. Send th a copy of this thread avcvithers to show then this is a network issue 

[Yorkie754]

I have done a soft reset and a factory reset and it's made no difference. 

For me the home or away feature has disappeared from Google home.

It is definitely a problem at their end and nothing wrong with our equipment. 

[Alexandra1667]

If you haven’t done already report to Google and insist  it be sent to a senior tech for investigation. Send a copy of this thread to them to show lots of other people having sane issue that started at sane time 

[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.

[mikedavies]

I think thegios has made that pretty clear on this thread with his latest missive!

One thing I did wonder is, although this is most definitely not an individual problem given that there are so many reports, is it global or regional or even country specific?

May I ask where all you guys are? I’m in U.K.

[Alexandra1667]

Uk, Cotswolds, midlands 

[thegios]

Italy here

[Fil0083]

UK, London!

[PiersonAustin]

Edinburgh (the two properties with the issues are in Hay on Wye, Wales and the other is in the Outer Hebrides)

[goingdownhill]

Midwest USA, having same issue

[mikedavies]

Ok, so definitely a European problem. Wonder if it’s affecting US users? If not, might explain why Google are in no hurry to resolve it but that’s just speculation.

Not much else we can do except hope that they get their finger out and give us some help.

[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.

[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 

[Fifi16]

My home/away setting is unreliable. Nest will correctly identify when I go away but if I am away for several days it reverts to believing I am home on the following and subsequent days. Last weekend , which was cold and snowy I was away from Thursday morning to Sunday night. Thursday shows me as away, for the next 3 days heating was on fire 12 hours a day. What can I do? 
sometimes it doesn’t recognise I am away, sometimes it changes its mind each day. I have never observed it believing I am away when I am in the house. Only 2 of us in the house, no pets, only one phone is signed into the app. 

[kcruzgonzalez]

Hi Fifi16,

Thank you for posting in the community. I'm sorry that you're having troubles with the Home and Away detection on your Google Thermostat. I understand how frustrating this can be. I'm here to help.

Before I begin, I need to ask a few questions for further assistance:

1. What model of thermostat do you have? 
2. When did this issue start?
3. Have you tried any troubleshooting steps?

For your concern, please try the below steps:

1. Check what devices are set to contribute to Home and Away.
2. Make sure location services are turned on for any contributing mobile devices.
3. Check to see if the app recorded any activity in history view.
4. Nest App
   • Go to Settings. Home/Away Assist Activity History
   • Select the date that Home and Away did not work as expected.
5. Home App
   • Go to Activity
   • Scroll or filter to the date that Home and Away did not work as expected.

Please keep me posted. I'll look forward to your response.

Regards,

Kevin

[Fifi16]

Many thanks. I am currently away, I left on Sunday 19 Jan. Nest recognised I had left and turned off heating. It stayed off on Monday 20 Jan but on Tuesday 21 Jan it turned the heating on for 9.5 hours. The home/assist activity history records no events. This morning the home page shows me as away but the heating is turned on, pre-heating to 18.5, but was at 13.5 when I checked at 8 am.  The eco setting I have is 9, so it is unlikely the heating was triggered by that temperature. I have turned the heating off remotely now. Yesterday I checked at 8:00am but the heating did not turn on until 11:00. Screen shots below. 

 

 

[Fifi16]

My problem predates the 14th Jan update that others are concerned about. I reported it in December, but my problem goes back to at least May 2024. The second way my concern differs from this new thread is that my home/away is linked to my phone whereas these concerns are all about detecting activity in the building when there is nobody there. I don’t believe the decision to merge my thread with this new thread is helpful. 

[PiersonAustin]

Yes I have exactly the same issue with two holiday home, one with 6 thermostats, and the other holiday home with one thermostat - constantly changing to Home when no one is there. Again I beleive this started on the 14th January or there about.

[PiersonAustin]

I just spoke to Nest support (15:48) and they've said they are aware of the issue and are trying to get a technical fix and have suggested turning the thermostats to "Off" rather than "EcO"  in case they get triggered when the Nest switches to Home.

[Yorkie754]

Received a Google home update yesterday and this morning Nest went to away on its own. Fingers crossed they have rectified the issue. 

[thegios]

Which version do you have now?

Mine is still

3.28.1.7

com.google.android.apps.chromecast.app

[DyslexicDan]

My Nest thermostat is version 5.9.5-2. And there is no version to update to apparently. 

[DyslexicDan]

I have Google Home app 3.28.102 on my iPhone.  It is 2 weeks old apparently.  Is this the cause of the problem? There is no later version available at present. 

[DyslexicDan]

How do you receive a Google Home update? Is this on the Nest Thermostate, your phone or somewhere else?

[Yorkie754]

On play store for android. Click on your profile, manage apps and device, any updates will be listed. Not sure about apple. 

[Ismailh]

I also see that my status is now not home since this morning. Looks like it's fixed. Will keep monitoring a couple of days.

[Alexandra1667]

Me too! Thermostats now show Away but I’m still not convinced until I see them working correctly for a few days.

well done everyone for pushing this with Google!! I knew it wasn’t just my issue! 

[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?

[Alexandra1667]

Hold fire! I e just come to my property abc though I’m stood in front of the thermostat it’s still set as AWAY

[thegios]

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

[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 th

[Letoatreides]

When I’m away from home, and manually set the Home app to Away, it goes into Eco mode right away as it should when nobody else is home, but then 5 mins later it would go back to being home again. And it would attribute it to the thermostat itself. Why? I’m pretty sure it’s not an actual ghost and even if they were real, I doubt they’re so consistently punctual at 5 mins. 

it doesn’t do this when I let it go into Away mode by itself, but this usually take a few hours. Occasionally, it never happens. Typical poor compatibility from Google/Nest even after all these years. 

My guess is the Nest device throws off a signal that the Google Home app is misinterpreting as actual usual interaction with the thermostat. How about a firmware update after all these years Google?