Assistance with Automation Based on Days of Month or Months in a Year

Configuration
1

Hi there
I’d like to setup an automation that is triggered by a virtual button and then based on time of year (for example, January to June) turns on certain lights (and their associated effects) then with the same button (ideally same automation) pressed in July through September each year sets a different number of lights with different effects.

I’ve already setup how the light strips and bulbs will react color and effect wise through the button but scratching my head on how to take range of months in a year within the automation. I believe Template may be the way to go but not sure how to get started with this. Can anyone offer assistance or a script/template ?

Thanks so much

2

You can use a Choose statement with template conditions to do different things in different months. For instance, this template would be true for January through June (inclusive)

{{ now().strftime("%m") | int < 7 }}
3

@atlflyer
Thats great so I could have the button stay the constant (on or off) and then use the choose statement for 3-4 different times of year to change to the specific lighting ?

How do I add day of month into that template example and also how would you straddle years (Dec through Jan) etc ?

Thanks

4

Also if you wanted a specific day so for example 4th July for 1 light scene but jan through July 3rd for another, 5th July through November 22nd another etc etc

5

Something like this for a date selection but what about specific dates etc, 1 off date if you will ?
{{ (1,10) <= (now().month, now().day) <= (10,31) }}

6

Choose actions check the options’ conditions sequentially, so put more specific options first:


actions:
  - variables:
      now: '{{ now() }}'
      day: '{{ now.day }}'
      month: '{{ now.month }}'
  - action: choose
      - alias: 4th of July
        conditions:
          - condition: template
            value_template: '{{ (month, day) == (7, 4) }}'
        sequence:
          - action: scene.freedom_hell_yeah_lights
      - alias: St Patrick's Day
        conditions:
          - condition: template
            value_template: '{{ (month, day) == (3, 17) }}'
        sequence:
          - action: scene.lights_of_the_irish
      - alias: Jan-July
        conditions:
          - condition: template
            value_template: '{{ month <= 7 }}'
        sequence:
          - action: scene.jan_july_lights
1 Like
7

Thats fantastic. Thanks so much both.
One last question. This is more integration specific but I am using the Kasa integration and there is a specific entity/ action that I can setup using an automation to layout color options etc BUT does not show up in Scenes therefore not able to capture the colors, timing etc. As mentioned I can easily do this in the automation but though that it would benefit from a Scene type of approach since then I can always adjust the color, timing centrally rather than in each automation.

What can be done in situations like this where a Device Action or Entity is not show in the Scenes setup, are there better ways to trap current specifics of a device ?
Thanks again

9

Full example of what is working for me

- id: "456789012345"
  alias: Seasonal Front Lights Sunset Trigger
  description: Turns on holiday scene duing specific date ranges, and Normal scene the rest of the year.
  mode: single

  # 1. Trigger: Run every day 30 minutes before official sunset
  trigger:
    - trigger: sun
      event: sunset
      offset: -00:30:00
    - trigger: state
      entity_id:
        - binary_sensor.front_lights_input_0_input
      from:
      to:
  conditions:
    - condition: device
      type: is_off
      device_id: 28305aa57406cccdfefe308ef07452f6
      entity_id: de26e071bc1a008a5068101eaab02ed7
      domain: light

  action:
    # Set a variable for the current month number (1 for Jan, 10 for Oct, etc.)
    - variables:
        current_month: "{{ now().month }}"
        current_day: "{{ now().day }}"

    - choose:
        # CHOICE 1: It is October (month 10)
        - conditions:
            - condition: template
              value_template: "{{ current_month == 10 }}"
              #Example useing month and day: value_template: '{{ (current_month, current_day) == (7, 4) }}'
          sequence: 
            - action: scene.turn_on
              target:
                entity_id: scene.halloween
              data: {}

        # DEFAULT: Used anytime no condtions above match
      default:
        - action: scene.turn_on
          target:
            entity_id: scene.normal_front_lights
          data: {}