ecobee Smart Away turns on by itself

Why does the ecobee think nobody is home?

Smart Away looks at occupancy, as detected by the thermostat's built-in occupancy sensor or, on some models, by paired SmartSensors. ecobee's rule is that Smart Away overrides your schedule when it detects no occupancy for two consecutive hours during a scheduled Home period, or while Smart Home is active.

So the ecobee does not know you are home. It only knows whether its sensors detected anyone. Two hours without detection in the rooms that have sensors looks the same as an empty house. Common situations that fit that pattern:

• You spend the afternoon in a room with no sensor, such as a basement office or a bedroom down the hall.
• Everyone is reading, napping or watching a film and moving very little.
• The thermostat sits in a hallway that people pass through rarely.

ecobee also notes that the feature follows your ecobee schedule. Smart Away acts on scheduled Home periods, and Smart Home acts on scheduled Away periods.

Which models do this?

ecobee says Smart Home & Away works on thermostats that have a built-in occupancy sensor. On some lighter models it needs at least one SmartSensor.

ecobee thermostats with Smart Home & Away, according to ecobee

Thermostat	Occupancy source
Smart Thermostat Premium	Built-in sensor
Smart Thermostat Enhanced	Built-in sensor
SmartThermostat with voice control	Built-in sensor
ecobee4	Built-in sensor
ecobee3	Built-in sensor
ecobee3 lite, Smart Thermostat Essential, Smart Thermostat Lite	Only when paired with one or more SmartSensors

If you own one of the models in the last row and have no sensors paired, Smart Away cannot be the reason for an Away you did not set. Look at the schedule and at holds instead.

What does the thermostat do in Smart Away?

It does not jump to your Away comfort setting. ecobee says Smart Away sets a temperature from which the Home comfort setting can be reached within 30 minutes once occupancy is detected or you cancel Smart Away. In practice that is a gentler setback than a scheduled Away period.

There is one more change you may notice. During Away activities, and in a custom comfort setting marked "Someone is usually Away", ecobee adds an extra 1°F of temperature differential before it calls for heating or cooling. The house drifts a little further from the setpoint than usual before the system starts.

How do you get it back to Home?

ecobee describes two ways out: occupancy is detected again, or you cancel Smart Away yourself. Either way, the 30 minute recovery target above is what lets the house get back to Home comfort fairly quickly.

The reverse feature, Smart Home, can switch you out of a scheduled Away period when it senses people. ecobee attaches two conditions: the Away or Custom Away comfort setting must have been active for a minimum of one hour, and "Smart Home has not been active for a minimum of two hours." That is why coming home early does not always bring the house back to Home at once.

How do you stop it from happening?

You have two choices.

Make the sensing more accurate. Put a SmartSensor in the rooms where people spend long stretches. More sensors give Smart Away more places to see motion. Which temperature the ecobee uses when sensors are involved is a separate question, covered in room sensors vs the thermostat sensor.

Turn the feature off. On the thermostat, go to Main Menu > General > eco+ > Smart Home & Away. In the ecobee app, tap the thermostat, then Menu > eco+ > Smart Home & Away. ecobee's article describes turning the feature on from that screen with Enable, so that is the screen to check if you want it off.

If you would rather the thermostat follow fixed times only, set Away in the schedule yourself. Our page on ecobee comfort settings explains how Home, Away and Sleep are defined, and schedule vs geofencing weighs a fixed schedule against presence-based switching.

Is it Smart Away, or something else?

An unexpected Away is not always Smart Away. ecobee also offers Autopilot, available with an ecobee Smart Security subscription or an ecobee SmartCamera with voice control, which ecobee says makes Smart Home & Away respond to comings and goings more quickly. A scheduled Away period you forgot about, or a change made from another app, can look similar. Thermostat geofencing explains how phone-location features on other brands make the same kind of switch.

What should you check now?

Was the schedule in a Home period when it switched?

• Yes

  Had the rooms with sensors been empty or still for about two hours?

  • Yes

    That is Smart Away. Add a SmartSensor where you spend time, or turn off Smart Home & Away under eco+.

  • No

    Check whether someone changed the comfort setting from the app or a connected service.

• No

  The schedule itself set Away. Change the schedule times if they no longer fit your week.

For more ecobee messages and settings, see the ecobee hub.