diff --git a/cmd/ipfs/daemon.go b/cmd/ipfs/daemon.go
index 7b51d902240..c35b2f178dc 100644
--- a/cmd/ipfs/daemon.go
+++ b/cmd/ipfs/daemon.go
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ const (
 	routingOptionDHTClientKwd = "dhtclient"
 	routingOptionDHTKwd       = "dht"
 	routingOptionNoneKwd      = "none"
+	routingOptionDefaultKwd   = "default"
 	unencryptTransportKwd     = "disable-transport-encryption"
 	unrestrictedApiAccessKwd  = "unrestricted-api"
 	writableKwd               = "writable"
@@ -150,7 +151,7 @@ Headers.
 	Options: []cmdkit.Option{
 		cmdkit.BoolOption(initOptionKwd, "Initialize ipfs with default settings if not already initialized"),
 		cmdkit.StringOption(initProfileOptionKwd, "Configuration profiles to apply for --init. See ipfs init --help for more"),
-		cmdkit.StringOption(routingOptionKwd, "Overrides the routing option").WithDefault("dht"),
+		cmdkit.StringOption(routingOptionKwd, "Overrides the routing option").WithDefault("default"),
 		cmdkit.BoolOption(mountKwd, "Mounts IPFS to the filesystem"),
 		cmdkit.BoolOption(writableKwd, "Enable writing objects (with POST, PUT and DELETE)"),
 		cmdkit.StringOption(ipfsMountKwd, "Path to the mountpoint for IPFS (if using --mount). Defaults to config setting."),
@@ -300,6 +301,22 @@ func daemonFunc(req *cmds.Request, re cmds.ResponseEmitter, env cmds.Environment
 	}
 
 	routingOption, _ := req.Options[routingOptionKwd].(string)
+	if err != nil {
+		re.SetError(err, cmdkit.ErrNormal)
+		return
+	}
+	if routingOption == routingOptionDefaultKwd {
+		cfg, err := repo.Config()
+		if err != nil {
+			re.SetError(err, cmdkit.ErrNormal)
+			return
+		}
+
+		routingOption = cfg.Routing.Type
+		if routingOption == "" {
+			routingOption = routingOptionDHTKwd
+		}
+	}
 	switch routingOption {
 	case routingOptionSupernodeKwd:
 		re.SetError(errors.New("supernode routing was never fully implemented and has been removed"), cmdkit.ErrNormal)
diff --git a/cmd/ipfs/init.go b/cmd/ipfs/init.go
index ab6bf17ed65..ee4171871a0 100644
--- a/cmd/ipfs/init.go
+++ b/cmd/ipfs/init.go
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ Available profiles:
         running IPFS on machines with public IPv4 addresses.
     'test' - Reduces external interference of IPFS daemon, this
         is useful when using the daemon in test environments.
+    'lowpower' - Reduces daemon overhead on the system. May affect node
+        functionality - performance of content discovery and data fetching
+        may be degraded.
 
 ipfs uses a repository in the local file system. By default, the repo is
 located at ~/.ipfs. To change the repo location, set the $IPFS_PATH
diff --git a/docs/config.md b/docs/config.md
index 33dc9d3aae4..e89a8fc9fd5 100644
--- a/docs/config.md
+++ b/docs/config.md
@@ -197,6 +197,12 @@ Default: `true`
   -  `Interval`
 A number of seconds to wait between discovery checks.
 
+- `Routing`
+Content routing mode. Can be overridden with daemon `--routing` flag.
+Valid modes are:
+  - `dht` (default)
+  - `dhtclient`
+  - `none`
 
 ## `Gateway`
 Options for the HTTP gateway.
diff --git a/repo/config/config.go b/repo/config/config.go
index ac7c1152b77..719170baad8 100644
--- a/repo/config/config.go
+++ b/repo/config/config.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	Addresses Addresses // local node's addresses
 	Mounts    Mounts    // local node's mount points
 	Discovery Discovery // local node's discovery mechanisms
+	Routing   Routing   // local node's routing settings
 	Ipns      Ipns      // Ipns settings
 	Bootstrap []string  // local nodes's bootstrap peer addresses
 	Gateway   Gateway   // local node's gateway server options
diff --git a/repo/config/init.go b/repo/config/init.go
index 26ac8e6ccf4..54d17f7b7bf 100644
--- a/repo/config/init.go
+++ b/repo/config/init.go
@@ -38,10 +38,16 @@ func Init(out io.Writer, nBitsForKeypair int) (*Config, error) {
 		Datastore: datastore,
 		Bootstrap: BootstrapPeerStrings(bootstrapPeers),
 		Identity:  identity,
-		Discovery: Discovery{MDNS{
-			Enabled:  true,
-			Interval: 10,
-		}},
+		Discovery: Discovery{
+			MDNS: MDNS{
+				Enabled:  true,
+				Interval: 10,
+			},
+		},
+
+		Routing: Routing{
+			Type: "dht",
+		},
 
 		// setup the node mount points.
 		Mounts: Mounts{
diff --git a/repo/config/profile.go b/repo/config/profile.go
index 74383cda63f..b20382ef4ed 100644
--- a/repo/config/profile.go
+++ b/repo/config/profile.go
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package config
 
+import "time"
+
 // Transformer is a function which takes configuration and applies some filter to it
 type Transformer func(c *Config) error
 
@@ -73,6 +75,15 @@ var Profiles = map[string]Transformer{
 		c.Datastore.Spec = DefaultDatastoreConfig().Spec
 		return nil
 	},
+	"lowpower": func(c *Config) error {
+		c.Routing.Type = "dhtclient"
+		c.Reprovider.Interval = "0"
+
+		c.Swarm.ConnMgr.LowWater = 20
+		c.Swarm.ConnMgr.HighWater = 40
+		c.Swarm.ConnMgr.GracePeriod = time.Minute.String()
+		return nil
+	},
 }
 
 func appendSingle(a []string, b []string) []string {
diff --git a/repo/config/routing.go b/repo/config/routing.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e601cd5e8d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/repo/config/routing.go
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+package config
+
+// Routing defines configuration options for libp2p routing
+type Routing struct {
+	// Type sets default daemon routing mode.
+	Type string
+}
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0020-init.sh b/test/sharness/t0020-init.sh
index 65f811bc6c8..ffaa71152c8 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0020-init.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0020-init.sh
@@ -167,6 +167,20 @@ test_expect_success "clean up ipfs dir" '
   rm -rf "$IPFS_PATH"
 '
 
+test_expect_success "'ipfs init --profile=lowpower' succeeds" '
+  BITS="1024" &&
+  ipfs init --bits="$BITS" --profile=lowpower
+'
+
+test_expect_success "'ipfs config Discovery.Routing' looks good" '
+  ipfs config Routing.Type > actual_config &&
+  test $(cat actual_config) = "dhtclient"
+'
+
+test_expect_success "clean up ipfs dir" '
+  rm -rf "$IPFS_PATH"
+'
+
 test_init_ipfs
 
 test_launch_ipfs_daemon