Thermostat does not detect movement when I am away.

[Gromit1234]

Hi all.

 When I leave the house, my thermostat goes to Away and Eco, even if there is someone in the house in front of the thermostat. Activity sensors are switched on. 

I have noticed something which may or may not be relevant. If I go to Google Home and go into presence setting and turn on Phone Location, the Nest app will then switch off Phone Location. And if I then switch the phone location back on in the Nest app, Google Home will switch the phone location off. It’s one or the other - I cannot have both on at the same time. So effectively the only way in which Home and Away even works, is for me to delete Google Home which is what I’ve now done, but that still does not solve the issue of my thermostat not sensing any presence.

This issue has gone on for two years since I first had the Nest thermostat installed and I’m currently on my fourth unit. The telephone support people are a disappointment and only suggest replacement of the thermostat - I’m on my forth. 

For the purpose of trying to simplify and isolate matters, my wife has deleted the Nest app and Google Home from her phone entirely so I am currently the only user.

Any ideas please?

[GabrielaG]

Hi @Gromit1234,

Thanks for reaching out to the Google Nest community. I'm sorry to hear your Nest Thermostat is not working as expected and does not detect movement when you are away, but there's no need to worry; I'm happy to help you right now.

To get a better understanding of the situation, please help me out by answering the following questions:

• What type of Nest Thermostat do you have?
• When did the issue first occur?
• Have you tried any troubleshooting steps? If so, can you list them?

Any additional details you can provide will be helpful.

Regards,

Gabriela

[Gromit1234]

• Hi Gabriela

Thanks for responding. I have a third generation learning thermostat.

The issue has always been there since the thermostat was fitted over two years ago. I’m currently on my fourth thermostat. Replacement has never made a difference. I’ve deleted and reinstalled both Nest and Google Home apps. Never made a difference. The thermostat does respond to movement: if I stand in front of it, it lights up. But if I am out and someone without Home & Away assist is in front of the thermostat it will still show Away and go to Eco. This means that people are cold at my house when I am away unless they manually cancel Eco and set a temperature. 

What is your theory as to what is happening?

kind regards 

David 

[GabrielaG]

Hi @Gromit1234,

Thank you for your reply and the information you provided me. I appreciate the time you took to respond to my questions. I'm happy to continue assisting you.

The Nest app and the Home app complement each other perfectly. You can use both apps or just one. Phone location can only be shared from one app (Nest or Google Home app) at a time. If you turn on phone location sharing from the Google Home app, you'll see that phone location from the Nest app’s Home/Away Assist settings will be automatically switched off.

For the Nest Learning Thermostat 3rd gen, I recommend using the phone location in the Nest app. You can check that in the Home and Away Assist settings by following the steps below:

Nest app:

• Go to Settings.
• Home Away Assist. 
• Find the device listed under When you are home.
• If the device shows No change.
• Tap the device name and enable the toggle for the device to respond to Home and Away.

Please check this article to learn more about How Home/Away Assist uses your phone’s location.

Feel free to keep us posted if you have more questions.

Best regards,

Gabriela

[Gromit1234]

Hi Gabriela

Thanks for your reply. I have always only ever had my phone location shared from only my Nest app. I only have the Google Home app for my other Google devices. 

But that isn’t my problem. My problem is with my Nest 3rd gen learning thermostat (currently on my fourth replacement). If I go out and someone is in the house who doesn’t have the Nest app with Home & Away, the thermostat switches to Away and goes to Eco, thus switching off the heating. I hav experimented by having someone stand in front of the thermostat but it remains showing Away.

The thermostat definitely reacts to movement, as it switches on when approached. But it remains as Away when I am out. But according to Google the thermostat uses a combination of phone location and sensors to determine if someone is home. 
What do you think is happening?

kind regards 

[GabrielaG]

Hi @Gromit1234,

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate your time to respond to my post and the information you provided me. I'm happy to continue assisting you.

We need to check some settings in the Google Home app and in the Nest app; please follow the steps below:

• Make sure that the address for each home you're using Home & Away Routines with is accurate if you plan to use your phone's location to contribute to presence sensing.
• Check the General Location settings on your device and allow all the permissions for both apps.
• Restart your phone.

Feel free to keep us posted if you have more questions.

Regards,

Gabriela

[Gromit1234]

Hi Gabriela

Further to your last post, I have completely deleted Google Home as this isn’t contributing anything to the Nest. I have checked all settings which are correct, and I have restarted my phone. As mentioned, although the thermostat does detect somebody in front of it, which is proven by it lighting up, it goes to Away when I leave, even if someone is in the house and in front of the thermostat. 
What do you suggest the problem might be? Could it be the wiring?

Kind regards

[GabrielaG]

Hi @Gromit1234,

I appreciate your response. Thank you for taking the time to work through the troubleshooting steps with me. I'm sorry to hear that the problem hasn't been fixed. I'm happy to continue assisting you.

I need to know more information to help you with more troubleshooting steps. Please help me out by answering the following questions about your Home/Away Assist settings and accounts.

• Do you have multiple devices signed into the same account?
• Is there another home member using their phone location? 
• Did another home member change the settings? 
• Are there other devices (Thermostat, Protect, Nest speakers, and Displays) contributing to Home and Away? 

I'll look forward to your response.

Regards,

Gabriela

[Gromit1234]

Hi Gabriella

Thanks for coming back to me.

Originally my wife was on my account. I also used to have Google speakers connected to Google Home. But several weeks ago I deleted Google Home from my wife’s phone as well as mine and deleted the Nest app from my wife’s phone. I did this to eliminate any possibility that something was interfering with something else and to simplify things. This has not made anything better or made anything worse - it has had no effect either way. 

Kind regards 

[GabrielaG]

Hi @Gromit1234,

Thank you for your reply and the time you are taking to work through the troubleshooting steps with me. I'm sorry to hear that the problem hasn't been resolved. I'm glad to continue helping you.

The Home Away settings are not related to the Nest Thermostat wiring; we need to check the Nest Home Away settings in your account and your home member account. Please follow the steps below:

• Open Nest App

• Settings 

• Home/Away Assist

• Look for What decides if you’re home.

Feel free to keep us posted if you have more questions.

Best regards,

Gabriela

[Gromit1234]

Hi Gabriela

I have checked all the settings and all are set correctly. What do you think the problem could be?

kind regards