I have built a GUI based on sliders to pick a time (hours, minutes) for my sprinklers to start. After that I am concatenating the values into a string using this:
sensor sprinkler time:
platform: template
sensors:
sprinklertime:
friendly_name: ‘Sprinkler Time’
value_template: ‘{{ states.input_number.sprinklerhour.state | int }}:{% if states.input_number.sprinklerminutes.state | length == 3%}0{% endif %}{{ states.input_number.sprinklerminutes.state |int }}’
The value renders correctly as confirmed by the template GUI: 19:00:00
But when trying to create a time triggered automation, the config does not validate:
This is the start of the automation:
- alias: ‘Sprinkler Schedule’
initial_state: true
trigger:
- platform: time
at: “{{ states.sensor.sprinklertime.state }}:00”
You can’t use a template with a time trigger, you need to use a template trigger 
I also tried that but as per the docs, you can not use “now()” in a template trigger
value_template: '{{ (as_timestamp(now()) | int | timestamp_custom("%H:%M")) == states.sensor.sprinklertime.state }}'
Rendering templates with time ( now() ) is dangerous as trigger templates only update based on entity state changes.
Yes, use the time sensor in the template 
2 Likes
Thanks @anon43302295, I was finally able to set it up using the time sensor hackaround. It seems like its being used already for other examples around the forum but I did not know it was not part of the standard “sensors”
I will like to describe the solution for other fellas:
Create a “time based sensor” that will hold the current time
- platform: time_date
display_options:
- 'time'
- 'date'
- 'date_time'
- 'time_date'
- 'time_utc'
Note that you will only need the “time” display option but the others are handy
Create an automation with a “template” trigger type:
- alias: 'Sprinkler Schedule'
initial_state: true
trigger:
platform: template
value_template: "{{ states('sensor.time') == (states.input_datetime.sprinklers_start_time.attributes.timestamp | int | timestamp_custom('%H:%M', False)) }}"
Do NOT use the “at” type with a template as @anon43302295 already told us
1 Like
I can not seem to get this time based template trigger to work…
I set up my Time sensor, which seems to work fine (displays correctly in Lovelace):
- platform: time_date
display_options:
- 'time'
- 'date'
- 'date_time'
And I set up my automation like this:
- id: '1578424590085'
alias: Doorbell Chime Off
description: ''
trigger:
- platform: template
value_template: '"{{ states(''sensor.time'') == (states.input_datetime.doorbell_chime_off.attributes.timestamp | int | timestamp_custom(''%H:%M'', False)) }}"'
condition: []
action:
- entity_id: switch.doorbell_chime
service: switch.turn_off
Still will not fire 
After playing around in the Template editor, I confirmed that a few variations seem to work fine there, but neither will trigger the automation.
If anyone has any ideas as to why this isnt working, I would love to hear them. Thanks!
Hello do you solve the problem? I have the same issue!
To add to this, be careful with the automation editor in the GUI.
I built my automation there, and it added a few extra quotes in unnecessary places, which can be seen in my previous post.
Opening the automation.yaml file and editing manually solved this for me.
Before I corrected it:
- id: '1578424590085'
alias: Doorbell Chime Off
description: ''
trigger:
- platform: template
value_template: '"{{ states(''sensor.time'') == (states.input_datetime.doorbell_chime_off.attributes.timestamp | int | timestamp_custom(''%H:%M'', False)) }}"'
condition: []
action:
- entity_id: switch.doorbell_chime
service: switch.turn_off
And after I corrected it:
- id: '1578424590085'
alias: Doorbell Chime Off
description: ''
trigger:
- platform: template
value_template: "{{ states('sensor.time') == (states.input_datetime.doorbell_chime_off.attributes.timestamp | int | timestamp_custom('%H:%M', False)) }}"
condition: []
action:
- entity_id: switch.doorbell_chime
service: switch.turn_off
It is now triggering perfectly and working like a charm.
