Set water heater away mode

Use this action to turn away mode on or off for a water heater, for example to save energy while you are away from home.

Using this action from the user interface

If you prefer building automations and scripts visually, Home Assistant walks you through this action step by step. You pick what to target, tweak a few options, and save. No YAML knowledge required.

To set away mode from an automation or a script:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation or script, or select Create automation > Create new automation.
3. If you’re setting up a new automation, add a trigger in the When section. Scripts don’t need a trigger. They run when something else calls them.
4. In the Then do section, select Add action.
5. Select what you want to control. Under By target (see Targets), select the water heater you want to set.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Set water heater away mode.
7. Turn Away mode on or off.
8. Select Save.

Options in the UI

Using this action in YAML

If you work directly in YAML, or you want to know exactly what Home Assistant does under the hood, this section has the technical reference. It lists the field names you use in YAML, their types, and which ones are required.

In YAML, refer to this action as water_heater.set_away_mode. A basic example looks like this:

action: water_heater.set_away_mode
target:
  entity_id: water_heater.demo
data:
  away_mode: true

This turns away mode on for water_heater.demo.

Options in YAML

Targets of the action

This action requires a target. The target is the object of the action. You can point the action at a single entityAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more], a device, an area, a floor, or a label, and Home Assistant will run the action on every matching water_heater entity behind that target.

• Entity: one specific water_heater entity, such as water_heater.living_room.
• Device: every water_heater entity that belongs to a device.
• Area: every water_heater entity in a room or area.
• Floor: every water_heater entity on a floor.
• Label: every water_heater entity that shares a label.

You can also select different target types in one action. For example, you can add a specific entity and an area as targets in the same action to run the action on both of them at once.

Good to know

• This action only works with water heater entities that support away mode.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Open Developer tools > Actions, search for this action, fill in the fields, and select Perform action. You see what happens on your actual entitiesAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more] without writing a line of YAML.

More examples

Real scenarios where this action shows up in automations and scripts. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup.

Automation: enable away mode when everyone leaves

Turn on away mode for a water heater when the last person leaves home.

• Trigger: State: Person changes to not_home
• Action: Set water heater away mode
  • Target: Utility room water heater
  • Away mode: on

- alias: "Enable water heater away mode when everyone leaves"
  triggers:
    - trigger: state
      entity_id: person.alex
      to: "not_home"
  actions:
    - action: water_heater.set_away_mode
      target:
        entity_id: water_heater.utility_room
      data:
        away_mode: true

Still stuck?

The Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with the action you’re calling and what you expected to happen, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.

Related actions

These actions work well alongside this one:

• Set water heater target temperature: Sets the target temperature of a water heater.

• Set water heater operation mode: Sets the operation mode of a water heater.

• Turn on water heater: Turns on a water heater.

• Turn off water heater: Turns off a water heater.