diff --git a/esphome/components/output/__init__.py b/esphome/components/output/__init__.py
index dd2b5e93729..4f6c8943f5e 100644
--- a/esphome/components/output/__init__.py
+++ b/esphome/components/output/__init__.py
@@ -59,8 +59,9 @@ async def setup_output_platform_(obj, config):
     if CONF_MIN_POWER in config:
         cg.add_define("USE_OUTPUT_FLOAT_POWER_SCALING")
         cg.add(obj.set_min_power(config[CONF_MIN_POWER]))
-    # Only emit (and pull in the scaling field) when explicitly enabled — the
-    # C++ default initializer covers the False case, saving 4 B per instance.
+    # Only emit when zero_means_zero is actually enabled. The schema defaults to False
+    # so this key is always present; emitting unconditionally would force
+    # USE_OUTPUT_FLOAT_POWER_SCALING on for every output, defeating the gate.
     if config.get(CONF_ZERO_MEANS_ZERO):
         cg.add_define("USE_OUTPUT_FLOAT_POWER_SCALING")
         cg.add(obj.set_zero_means_zero(config[CONF_ZERO_MEANS_ZERO]))
diff --git a/esphome/components/output/float_output.cpp b/esphome/components/output/float_output.cpp
index f6c75fbef6e..35629c828af 100644
--- a/esphome/components/output/float_output.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/output/float_output.cpp
@@ -9,11 +9,11 @@ static const char *const TAG = "output.float";
 
 #ifdef USE_OUTPUT_FLOAT_POWER_SCALING
 void FloatOutput::set_max_power(float max_power) {
-  this->max_power_ = clamp(max_power, this->min_power_, 1.0f);  // Clamp to MIN>=MAX>=1.0
+  this->max_power_ = clamp(max_power, this->min_power_, 1.0f);  // Clamp to min_power <= max <= 1.0
 }
 
 void FloatOutput::set_min_power(float min_power) {
-  this->min_power_ = clamp(min_power, 0.0f, this->max_power_);  // Clamp to 0.0>=MIN>=MAX
+  this->min_power_ = clamp(min_power, 0.0f, this->max_power_);  // Clamp to 0.0 <= min <= max_power
 }
 #endif
 
diff --git a/esphome/components/output/float_output.h b/esphome/components/output/float_output.h
index e0a7a9530f6..3e1bd839686 100644
--- a/esphome/components/output/float_output.h
+++ b/esphome/components/output/float_output.h
@@ -27,11 +27,14 @@ namespace output {
  * makes using maths much easier and (in theory) supports all possible bit depths.
  *
  * If you want to create a FloatOutput yourself, you essentially just have to override write_state(float).
- * That method will be called for you with inversion and max-min power and offset to min power already applied.
+ * That method will be called for you with inversion already applied. When USE_OUTPUT_FLOAT_POWER_SCALING is
+ * enabled (set automatically by Python codegen if any output uses min_power/max_power/zero_means_zero or the
+ * matching runtime actions), the value will additionally have max-min power scaling and offset to min_power
+ * applied; otherwise only inversion is applied.
  *
  * This interface is compatible with BinaryOutput (and will automatically convert the binary states to floating
  * point states for you). Additionally, this class provides a way for users to set a minimum and/or maximum power
- * output
+ * output (gated on USE_OUTPUT_FLOAT_POWER_SCALING).
  */
 class FloatOutput : public BinaryOutput {
  public:
@@ -57,6 +60,31 @@ class FloatOutput : public BinaryOutput {
    * @param zero_means_zero True if a 0 state should mean 0 and not min_power.
    */
   void set_zero_means_zero(bool zero_means_zero) { this->zero_means_zero_ = zero_means_zero; }
+#else
+  // Compile-time guards for users calling these methods from lambdas (documented usage at
+  // https://esphome.io/components/output/#output-set_min_power_action). When power scaling
+  // is compiled out, these template stubs fail to compile with an actionable error pointing
+  // at the user's lambda. Templating on a default-false bool means static_assert only fires
+  // on instantiation (i.e. when the user actually calls the method), not on every parse.
+  template<bool _use_output_float_power_scaling = false> void set_max_power(float max_power) {
+    static_assert(_use_output_float_power_scaling,
+                  "set_max_power() requires USE_OUTPUT_FLOAT_POWER_SCALING. "
+                  "To enable it, add 'max_power: 100%' (or any value) to one output entry in your YAML — "
+                  "the codegen will then keep the scaling fields. "
+                  "See https://esphome.io/components/output/ for details.");
+  }
+  template<bool _use_output_float_power_scaling = false> void set_min_power(float min_power) {
+    static_assert(_use_output_float_power_scaling,
+                  "set_min_power() requires USE_OUTPUT_FLOAT_POWER_SCALING. "
+                  "To enable it, add 'min_power: 0%' (or any value) to one output entry in your YAML — "
+                  "the codegen will then keep the scaling fields. "
+                  "See https://esphome.io/components/output/ for details.");
+  }
+  template<bool _use_output_float_power_scaling = false> void set_zero_means_zero(bool zero_means_zero) {
+    static_assert(_use_output_float_power_scaling,
+                  "set_zero_means_zero() requires USE_OUTPUT_FLOAT_POWER_SCALING. "
+                  "To enable it, add 'zero_means_zero: true' to one output entry in your YAML.");
+  }
 #endif
 
   /** Set the level of this float output, this is called from the front-end.