Oscillate fan

The Oscillate fan action is useful when you want to spread airflow across a wider area. Use it to turn oscillation on when more people are in the room, or turn it off when you want air aimed in one direction.

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 use this action in an automation or 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 creating an automation, add a trigger in the When section.
4. In the Then do section, select Add action.
5. Select what you want to control. Under By target (see Targets), pick the fan you want to control. You can also select an area, a floor, a device, or a label.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Oscillate fan.
7. Under Oscillating, choose whether oscillation should be 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 fan.oscillate. A basic example looks like this:

action: fan.oscillate
target:
  entity_id: fan.living_room
data:
  oscillating: true

This turns oscillation on for fan.living_room.

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 fan entity behind that target.

• Entity: one specific fan entity, such as fan.living_room.
• Device: every fan entity that belongs to a device.
• Area: every fan entity in a room or area.
• Floor: every fan entity on a floor.
• Label: every fan 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 is available only for fans that support oscillation.
• It changes only the oscillation setting. It does not turn the fan on or off by itself.
• To start the fan and set other options, use Turn on fan.

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: turn oscillation on when dinner starts

If several people are in the dining room, wider airflow can make the room feel more comfortable.

• Trigger: Time: 18:30
• Action: Oscillate fan
• Target: Dining room fan
• Oscillating: On

alias: "Dining room fan oscillation on"
triggers:
  - trigger: time
    at: "18:30:00"
actions:
  - action: fan.oscillate
    target:
      entity_id: fan.dining_room
    data:
      oscillating: true

Automation: turn oscillation off during a video call

If the fan points papers around your desk, you can stop oscillation before a scheduled meeting.

• Trigger: Time: 09:00
• Action: Oscillate fan
• Target: Office fan
• Oscillating: Off

alias: "Office fan oscillation off for calls"
triggers:
  - trigger: time
    at: "09:00:00"
actions:
  - action: fan.oscillate
    target:
      entity_id: fan.office
    data:
      oscillating: false

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:

• Turn on fan: Turn on a fan. Optionally set the speed or preset mode at the same time.

• Turn off fan: Turn off a fan.