Water heater operation mode

The Water heater operation mode condition passes when a water heater 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] is set to one of the operation modes you select. Use it when you want an automation to run only while a water heater is in a specific mode, like Eco or Performance.

When you target more than one water heater, the condition’s Condition passes if option controls how the check combines results. You can require any targeted water heater to match the selected mode, or demand that all of them do.

Using this condition from the user interface

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

To use Water heater operation mode in an automation:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation, or select Create automation > Create new automation.
3. In the And if section, select Add condition.
4. Select what you want to check. Under By target (see Targets), pick the area your water heater is in, or select a device, a specific entity, a floor, or a label.
5. From the conditions shown for that target, select Water heater operation mode.
6. Under Operation mode, select one or more modes to check for. Only modes supported by the targeted water heater are shown.
7. Under Condition passes if (see Behavior), pick Any or All.
8. Under For at least, enter how long the water heater must stay in the selected mode before the condition passes.
9. Select Save.

Options in the UI

Using this condition 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, Water heater operation mode is referred to as water_heater.is_operation_mode. A basic example looks like this:

condition: water_heater.is_operation_mode
target:
  entity_id: water_heater.utility_room
options:
  operation_mode: eco

This passes when water_heater.utility_room is currently in eco mode.

To check for more than one mode:

condition: water_heater.is_operation_mode
target:
  entity_id: water_heater.utility_room
options:
  operation_mode:
    - eco
    - heat_pump

Options in YAML

YAML sometimes provides additional options for more complex use cases that are not available through the UI.

Targets of the condition

This condition requires a target. The target is the object that Home Assistant will check. You can point the condition 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 evaluate 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 condition. For example, you can add a specific entity and an area as targets in the same condition to check both of them at once.

Behavior with multiple targets

When you target more than one entity (or select an area, floor, or label that contains several), the Condition passes if option controls how the results combine:

• Any (default): the condition passes if at least one of the targeted entities matches. For example, if you check three smoke sensors and only one of them detects smoke, the condition still passes. This is useful for questions like “is there smoke anywhere in the house?”
• All: the condition passes only when every targeted entity matches. For example, if you check the same three smoke sensors, the condition passes only once all three report cleared. This is useful for “is the entire house safe now?” checks, so your automation does not send an all-clear while one room still has a reading.

Good to know

• The available operation modes depend on the device. Home Assistant only shows modes that the targeted water heater supports.
• unavailable and unknown are not offered as selectable modes.
• With Any, unavailable and unknown water heaters are skipped. With All, they make the condition fail.
• To react when the mode changes instead of checking the current mode, use Water heater operation mode changed.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Go to Settings > Automations & scenes, open an automation, and add this condition. Trigger the automation with and without the condition met, and watch whether it continues or stops.

More examples

Real scenarios where this condition gates an automation. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup.

Automation: run recirculation only in performance mode

When the kitchen motion sensor detects activity, run the hot water recirculation pump only if the utility room water heater is already in Performance mode.

• Trigger: State: Kitchen motion changes to on
• Condition: Water heater operation mode
  • Target: Utility room water heater
  • Operation mode: Performance
• Action: Turn on switch

alias: "Run recirculation only in performance mode"
triggers:
  - trigger: state
    entity_id: binary_sensor.kitchen_motion
    to: "on"
conditions:
  - condition: water_heater.is_operation_mode
    target:
      entity_id: water_heater.utility_room
    options:
      operation_mode: performance
actions:
  - action: switch.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: switch.hot_water_recirculation

Automation: send a reminder when all targeted water heaters stay in Eco mode

Every evening, check whether all targeted water heaters have stayed in Eco mode for 5 minutes. If they have, send a confirmation message.

• Trigger: Time: 21:00:00
• Condition: Water heater operation mode
  • Target: Water heaters with the energy label
  • Operation mode: Eco
  • Condition passes if: All
  • For at least: 00:05:00
• Action: Send a notification message
  • Target: My Device (notify.my_device)

alias: "Confirm Eco mode each evening"
triggers:
  - trigger: time
    at: "21:00:00"
conditions:
  - condition: water_heater.is_operation_mode
    target:
      label_id: energy_water_heaters
    options:
      operation_mode: eco
      behavior: all
      for: "00:05:00"
actions:
  - action: notify.send_message
    target:
      entity_id: notify.my_device
    data:
      message: "All targeted water heaters have stayed in Eco mode for 5 minutes."

Still stuck?

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

Related conditions

These conditions work well alongside this one:

• Water heater is on: Tests if one or more water heaters are on.

• Water heater is off: Tests if one or more water heaters are off.

• Water heater target temperature: Tests the temperature setpoint of one or more water heaters.