Presets

A preset is a named target temperature. Switching from none into a preset applies that preset’s temperature and remembers the target you had; switching back to none puts that target back. No preset name carries a schedule or a timer behind it, so away and sleep differ only in the number attached to them. Boost is the one preset that does more than carry a temperature, and only on one calibration type; see Boost is the one exception.

The shipped defaults

Preset	Default
Away	16 °C
Sleep	18 °C
Eco	19 °C
Home	20 °C
Comfort	21 °C
Activity	22 °C
Boost	24 °C

These are starting values, not fixed meanings. Set Away to 12 °C and Away becomes a 12 °C preset, as long as 12 °C is inside the thermostat’s own range.

Choosing which presets appear

Presets are opt-in per thermostat. Open Settings → Devices & Services → Better Thermostat → Configure and tick the ones you want under Enabled Presets. A new configuration starts with Eco alone.

Home Assistant validates the preset name before Better Thermostat sees it, so calling climate.set_preset_mode with a preset you have not enabled fails with Preset mode <name> is not valid and leaves the thermostat untouched.

Changing a preset temperature

Every enabled preset gets its own number entity in the Configuration section of the Better Thermostat device, named after the preset: an enabled Eco preset gives you an Eco number, typically number.<your_thermostat>_eco. Write to it and the preset applies that temperature from then on. Writing it while its preset is already active retargets the thermostat straight away.

The value survives a restart. Home Assistant refuses a write outside the thermostat’s own minimum and maximum, and activating a preset clamps the target into that range, so a preset can never ask for a temperature the device cannot reach.

With a cooler configured, each preset has two numbers instead of one: <Preset> Min carries the heating target and <Preset> Max the cooling target.

Saving and restoring

The save happens on the way into a preset, and only from none:

• From none into any preset, the current target is stored and the preset temperature applied.
• Between two presets, nothing is stored again, so the value kept is still the target you had before the first preset.
• Back to none, the stored target is restored and forgotten.

The stored value is published as the preset_temperature state attribute and read back at startup, so a restart in the middle of an away period does not lose your normal target.

Boost is the one exception

Every other preset is only a temperature. Boost also changes how the valve is driven, but only where Better Thermostat can drive it directly: with calibration type Direct Valve Based, Boost holds the valve at its Valve Max Opening (100 % unless you have capped that TRV) for as long as the room is below target, rather than modulating towards it. On the other calibration types Boost is its temperature and nothing more.

Coming from the old save and restore actions

The three Better Thermostat actions that set and restored a temporary target were removed in 1.8.0, and the mechanism above replaces them. Schedule and night mode lists each retired action next to what to call instead.