Actions for a specific Amount of Time

Configuration
1

I have a garage door sensor that when tripped after 2045 I would like certain lights to come on and stay on for 10 minutes. I didn’t see a previous post about this, so posting the code I have so far. Any help is appreciated

- id: '1640117523093'
  alias: Lights at Odd Hours
  description: Turn on lights after 2045
  trigger:
  - type: opened
    platform: device
    device_id: 88a19c87170706d5fe217531196f99ef
    entity_id: binary_sensor.garage_door_sensor
    domain: binary_sensor
  condition:
  - condition: time
    after: '20:45:00'
  action:
  - service: light.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id:
      - light.livingroom
      - light.pc
      - light.hallway
      - light.bedroom
  - duration: 10 minutes
  - service: switch.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: switch.double_plug_left
  - duration: 10 minutes
  mode: single

So far, this hasn’t worked for the specific time, the lights come on, but then they stay on until I manually turn them off. What am I missing?

2

This would be the simplest way to achieve this course of actions:

action:
  - service: switch.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: switch.plug_5
  - delay:
      hours: 0
      minutes: 10
      seconds: 0
      milliseconds: 0
  - service: switch.turn_off
    target:
      entity_id: switch.plug_5

The first action is to turn the switch on, the there’s a 10min delay, and then the second action is to turn the switch off - without the last piece, the switch will just stay on.

3

So all of that action will happen with the opening of the garage door sensor? Is this how it should be written?

- id: '1640117523093'
  alias: Lights at Odd Hours
  description: Turn on lights after 2045
  trigger:
  - type: opened
    platform: device
    device_id: 88a19c87170706d5fe217531196f99ef
    entity_id: binary_sensor.garage_door_sensor
    domain: binary_sensor
  condition:
  - condition: time
    after: '20:45:00'
  action:
  - service: light.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id:
      - light.livingroom
      - light.pc
      - light.hallway
      - light.bedroom
  - delay:
      hours: 0
      minutes: 10
      seconds: 0
      milliseconds: 0
  - service: switch.turn_off
    target:
    entity_id:
    - light.livingroom
    - light.pc
    - light.hallway
    - light.bedroom   
  - service: switch.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: switch.double_plug_left
  - delay:
      hours: 0
      minutes: 10
      seconds: 0
      milliseconds: 0
  - service: switch.turn_off
  target:
    entity_id: switch.double_plug_left
    mode: single
4

You need to match your service to your domain here:

  - service: switch.turn_off
    target:
    entity_id:
    - light.livingroom
    - light.pc
    - light.hallway
    - light.bedroom

i.e. use light.turn_off instead of switch.turn_off

And indentations are not 100% either, especially in the last 3 lines.
Doing the whole automation in the visual editor will avoid these issues.

5

Made the switch but still getting an error about the light.turn_off. This was done in the visual editor…

- id: '1640117523093'
  alias: Lights at Odd Hours
  description: Turn on lights after 2045
  trigger:
  - type: opened
    platform: device
    device_id: 88a19c87170706d5fe217531196f99ef
    entity_id: binary_sensor.garage_door_sensor
    domain: binary_sensor
  condition:
  - condition: time
    after: '20:45:00'
  action:
  - service: light.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id:
      - light.livingroom
      - light.pc
      - light.hallway
      - light.bedroom
  - delay:
      hours: 0
      minutes: 10
      seconds: 0
      milliseconds: 0
  - service: light.turn_off
    target:
    entity_id:
      - light.livingroom
      - light.pc
      - light.hallway
      - light.bedroom  
  - service: switch.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: switch.double_plug_left
  - delay:
      hours: 0
      minutes: 10
      seconds: 0
      milliseconds: 0
  - service: switch.turn_off
  target:
    entity_id: switch.double_plug_left
    mode: single
6

If you compare the indentation after light.turn_on with the indentation after light.turn_off you’ll notice a difference.

The last 3 lines are still out of whack as well.

7

Now I see the issue, it was with the entity line above. This is why I never became a coder…my eyes start to hurt looking the screen, even with the rainbow tabs…

- id: '1640117523093'
  alias: Lights at Odd Hours
  description: Turn on lights after 2045
  trigger:
  - type: opened
    platform: device
    device_id: 88a19c87170706d5fe217531196f99ef
    entity_id: binary_sensor.garage_door_sensor
    domain: binary_sensor
  condition:
  - condition: time
    after: '20:45:00'
  action:
  - service: light.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id:
      - light.livingroom
      - light.pc
      - light.hallway
      - light.bedroom
  - delay:
      hours: 0
      minutes: 10
      seconds: 0
      milliseconds: 0
  - service: light.turn_off
    target:
      entity_id:
      - light.livingroom
      - light.pc
      - light.hallway
      - light.bedroom  
  - service: switch.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: switch.double_plug_left
  - delay:
      hours: 0
      minutes: 10
      seconds: 0
      milliseconds: 0
  - service: switch.turn_off
    target:
    entity_id: switch.double_plug_left
  mode: single
8

You might still have the same issue with the 2nd to last line, tough.

And yes, I had the same issues when I started - that’s why I mostly rely on the visual editor now and fiddle with the raw yaml only when absolutely necessary :grin:

9

I’ll make that change.

Appreciate the help greatly!

1 Like
10

Made the changes, however the event doesn’t trigger if I come through the door at say 2100, it appears to only take effect at 2045 on the dot?

11

We can now use sequences. The following turns a light on for a period of time.

alias: PIR Turn Turn Light On When Leaving In The Dark
triggers:
  - entity_id:
      - binary_sensor.pir1_motion
    from: "off"
    to: "on"
    trigger: state
conditions:
  - condition: sun
    before: sunrise
    after: sunset
actions:
  - sequence:
      - action: switch.turn_on
        metadata: {}
        data: {}
        target:
          entity_id: switch.plug2
      - delay:
          hours: 0
          minutes: 2
          seconds: 0
          milliseconds: 0
      - action: switch.turn_off
        metadata: {}
        data: {}
        target:
          entity_id: switch.plug2
mode: single