Smarter Thermostat with Home Assistant

A smart thermostat was one of the first connected devices I purchased when I started building our smart home. I wanted automatic presence detection so the thermostat could set an away mode when we leave and "we're home" mode without us having to do anything. Never mind the fact that Rachelle and I both work from home and are both homebodies. On the rare occasion that we're both away from home, the house knows it, automatically! ;) Throughout the year, I'd find myself fiddling with the set points though. 68°F (20°C) in February feels different than 68°F in August. So twice a year, as the seasons started to tip over into warmer or colder weather, I'd change the upper and lower bounds. It feels weird to run the AC in winter or the heat in summer. We sleep with the thermostat set at 65°F (18°C). Our preference for day time temp is 68°F to 72°F (20°C to 22°C). So when we wake up, and toggle sleep mode off in Home Assistant, the thermostat sets itself to the day time values and turns on the…