Boost water heater

Use this action to turn on boost mode on a Matter water heater for a set period. A common use is to heat extra water ahead of time, for example before everyone gets up for a morning shower.

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 boost a water heater from an automation or a 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 setting up a new automation, add a trigger in the When section. Scripts don’t need a trigger. They run when something else calls them.
4. In the Then do section, select Add action.
5. Select what you want to control. Under By target (see Targets), select the water heater you want to boost.
6. From the actions shown for that target, under Matter, select Boost water heater.
7. Set the Duration of the boost.
8. Optionally, turn on Emergency boost or set a Temporary setpoint for the boost period.
9. 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. For how an automation or a script is built in YAML, refer to Automations in YAML and Scripts.

In YAML, refer to this action as matter.water_heater_boost. A basic example looks like this:

action: matter.water_heater_boost
target:
  entity_id: water_heater.hot_water
data:
  duration: 3600

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 Matter water heater behind that target.

• Entity: one specific Matter water heater, such as water_heater.hot_water.
• Device: every Matter water heater that belongs to a device.
• Area: every Matter water heater in a room or area.
• Floor: every Matter water heater on a floor.
• Label: every Matter water heater 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.

More examples

Real scenarios where this action shows up in automations and scripts. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup. In the visual editor, select the UI options listed in the example or paste the YAML code.

Automation: boost hot water before the morning shower

Heat extra water shortly before your household gets up, so there is plenty of hot water ready.

• Trigger: Time
  • At time: 06:00
• Action: Matter: Boost water heater
  • Target: Hot water
  • Duration: 3600

alias: "Boost hot water in the morning"
triggers:
  - trigger: time
    at: "06:00:00"
actions:
  - action: matter.water_heater_boost
    target:
      entity_id: water_heater.hot_water
    data:
      duration: 3600

Good to know

• Boost mode runs for the duration you set and then stops on its own. You do not need to turn it off manually.

Still stuck?

To test the action on its own, run it in the automation editor with Run action, and check the message that it shows. To see what the action did when the automation ran, open the trace of that run. For details, refer to Testing automations. For common problems and their solutions, refer to Troubleshooting automations.

If that doesn’t help, 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.