Away mode
Home/Away switches automatically based on the family’s phone locations, or manually. Away mode steers rules, schedules and predictive heating in the background when nobody is home.
When should you use this?
- Turn on Location automation in the mobile app so Home/Away switches on its own when the family leaves or comes home.
- Turn Away mode on when the home will be empty for a longer period and you want automations to run in a savings-oriented mode.
- Set the Away temperature only as low as is safe for the home and building structures.
- Check Away coverage at the end so you can see which heating devices can actually use the mode.
What is Away mode?
Away mode is a global state that affects how background automations (rules, schedules and predictive heating) make decisions. You can manage it on the "Automation state" page.
- Away mode especially affects predictive heating comfort targets and reports Away coverage
- Away temperature is a global set-back temperature for Away mode
- Away coverage lists heating devices that cannot be evaluated (e.g. no temperature data and no active rules)
- This mode does not immediately force devices on/off — it influences automation decisions in the background
Where to find Away mode and how to enable it
Away mode is available on the "Automation state" page.
- Open the "Automation state" page
- Enable "Away mode"
- Set "Away temperature (°C)" if needed
- Save by clicking "Save"
Away temperature (°C)
Away temperature defines the global set-back temperature that automations can use.
- Allowed range is 5–35°C
- Invalid values are blocked and the app shows an error
- After changing the temperature, remember to save
- Away temperature is a global setting (not per-device)
Away coverage (heating devices)
The Automation state page shows Away coverage: whether heating devices have enough automation coverage for Away control.
- If coverage is missing, the list typically shows devices without a temperature reading and without an active rule
- Fix coverage by adding temperature data (sensor) and/or creating an active rule for the device
- Coverage is a report: it helps ensure Away mode is actually useful in practice
- You may also see fields like "Away valid until (UTC)". The web Automation state page saves the state without an end time; you can choose a duration in the mobile app (step 7).
Automatic Home/Away based on phone location
The mobile app notices when you leave or come home and switches the state for you. You do not need to keep the app open.
- In the mobile app, open Settings → Location automation and turn it on
- Set the home area by tapping "Use current location" while you are at home
- Set the location permission to "Allow all the time". Without background location the state changes only when you open the app
- Android: set battery optimization for Optimaatti to "Not optimized" (the button is on the same page). Some phones, such as OnePlus, Xiaomi and Samsung, otherwise stop background apps
- Normally the state changes within a few minutes. "Fast detection" notices leaving and arriving in about a minute, but uses slightly more battery and shows a persistent notification on Android
- Each family member turns on location automation on their own phone
The whole family is taken into account
The home switches to Away automatically only after every counted member has left. One person at home keeps the home in Home mode.
- The owner chooses whose location counts in the mobile app under Settings → Household
- Adults are counted by default. A child is counted if location automation is on in their phone
- If a counted adult has no location automation, the home does not switch to Away automatically. Turn on the automation on their phone or clear the "Counted" option
- If a member’s phone has not been heard from for a long time (for example, it is switched off), the home waits before switching to Away. The Home view shows who it is waiting for
- If Away does not activate after leaving, open the explanation on the Home view. It tells you whether the home is still waiting for a counted member’s location status.
- Viewers are never counted
Setting Away manually and for how long
On the Home tab of the mobile app you can set Home or Away manually, for example when leaving for a holiday.
- Tap Away and choose a duration: until someone comes home, one day, 3 days or a week
- A manual Away ends when someone comes home or the chosen time runs out. After that the state is automatic again
- A manual Home ends the next time someone leaves or arrives, so the next departure is not missed
- "Resume automatic (by location)" ends the manual state immediately
- A child can only report their own presence ("I'm home" / "I left"), not the state of the whole home
Lowering the heating while away
Lowering the heating automatically when everyone has left is a separate option and is off by default.
- Turn it on in the mobile app under Settings → Household: "Lower heating automatically when everyone is away"
- When you set Away manually, the heating is lowered to the Away temperature regardless of this option
- When someone comes home, heating returns to normal automatically
- Away can also start a scene: in the web scene editor, choose a location trigger and, if you like, the family members whose departure or arrival starts it