Automation - Turn Heater On Every 2 Hours

Configuration
1

Hi all

I have been trying to get this automation to run correctly, however it seems to turn on every hour instead of every 2 hours.

Am I missing something here? Please help

Thanks

- id: FT Bed Heater Auto On for 30 Minutes Every 2 Hour From 11pm to 6am
  alias: FT Bed Heater Auto On for 30 Minutes Every 2 Hour From 11pm to 6am
  trigger: 
    platform: time
    minutes: '/120'
    seconds: 00
  condition:
  - after: '23:00:00'
    before: 06:00:00
    condition: time
  action:
  - entity_id: switch.ftheater
    service: homeassistant.turn_on
  - delay: 00:30:00
  - entity_id: switch.ftheater
    service: homeassistant.turn_off
3

Anyone? Please halppā€¦

4

Replace minutes: /120 by

hours: /2
minutes: 00
seconds: 00

Not 100% sure though

5

I didnt use HOURS because i thought itā€™s not supported for this automation, hence im sticking with MINUTES.

But I will try and see what happens.

Thanks!

6

Anyway, it should be working with minutesā€¦

1 Like
7

yes i found that and followed that guide, however mine still doesnt work for some reason.
it was turning every hour instead of every 2 hours.

8

I tried with the HOURS, automation didnt fire at all. as of right now I just created 4 separate automation based on AT specific time, until i can figure out why.

cheers

9

Hi,
Did you find how to fix it ?
I would like to use the same solution.

Thank you in advance

10

@mateola, the way I read the code, even though the docs donā€™t say it, the time trigger does support seconds, minutes and hours. So you should be able to do (although I havenā€™t tried myself):

trigger:
  platform: time
  hours: '/2'
  minutes: 0
  seconds: 0

The reason this:

trigger:
  platform: time
  minutes: '/120'
  seconds: 0

doesnā€™t work (i.e., triggers every hour instead of every two hours) is because it does a modulo operation of the current minute with the value provided and triggers if the result is zero. But minute only goes from 0 to 59. So, every time the minute is 0 it will trigger (i.e., 0 % 120 == 0), which happens once every hour.

2 Likes
11

Pretty sure the issue is with your condition not your trigger. First, in your condition, you donā€™t have quotes around your before time. All times need quotes.

I also got rid of your ID. Usually thatā€™s an integer. Not sure what a huge ass string will do in that. Itā€™s also auto populated so you donā€™t need to add it yourself.

- alias: FT Bed Heater Auto On for 30 Minutes Every 2 Hour From 11pm to 6am
  trigger: 
    platform: time
    minutes: '/120'
    seconds: 0
  condition:
  - condition: time
    after: '23:00:00'
    before: '06:00:00'
  action:
  - entity_id: switch.ftheater
    service: homeassistant.turn_on
  - delay: 00:30:00
  - entity_id: switch.ftheater
    service: homeassistant.turn_off

Also, all the talk about the trigger may be correct. Iā€™ve never made this trigger beyond 60 minutes.

EDIT: After reading @pnbrucknerā€™s response, I tend to agree with him about the trigger occuring once an hour due to seconds going from 0 to 59.

12

Itā€™s only auto-populated if the automation editor was used, and it can be any unique value.

1 Like
13

thanks for clearing that up.

14

The docs say that hour:, minute: and second: are supported, and that you can use / notation in any of them.

So,

  trigger: 
    platform: time
    hours: '/2'
    minutes: 0
    seconds: 0

Should work

15

So, I followed the code too and you are 100% correct, /120 wonā€™t work because they are using mod (%) against time. So @mateola final automation should be:

- alias: FT Bed Heater Auto On for 30 Minutes Every 2 Hour From 11pm to 6am
  id: FT Bed Heater Auto On for 30 Minutes Every 2 Hour From 11pm to 6am
  trigger: 
    platform: time
    hour: '/2'
    minutes: 0
    seconds: 0
  condition:
  - condition: time
    after: '23:00:00'
    before: '06:00:00'
  action:
  - entity_id: switch.ftheater
    service: homeassistant.turn_on
  - delay: 00:30:00
  - entity_id: switch.ftheater
    service: homeassistant.turn_off
2 Likes
16

Perfetc !! Thank you guys

17

Using hour throws a config check error for me:

  trigger: 
    platform: time
    hour: '/2'
    minutes: 0
    seconds: 0

Invalid config for [automation]: [hour] is an invalid option for [automation]. Check: automation->trigger->0->hour.

However using minutes doesnā€™t work either (runs every hour regardless of value). Hereā€™s my automation:

- id: speed_tests
  alias: 'Run speed test every 6 hours'
  trigger:
    platform: time
    minutes: '/360'
    seconds: 0
  condition:
    condition: state
    entity_id: sensor.steam_123
    state: 'offline'
  action:
    service: sensor.update_speedtest
18

Itā€™s hours:, not hour:.

2 Likes
19

In case anyone is following this now, in later versions of Home Assistant the time platform has been split into time and time_pattern. See https://www.home-assistant.io/docs/automation/trigger/ .
In this case it would now be:

trigger:
  platform: time_pattern
  hours: xxxx
  minutes: xxxx
  seconds: xxxx
condition:
 ........
6 Likes
20

Thank you! It would have taken me forever to figure this out had I not seen this last comment.

21

the ā€œ/2ā€ patern is clear - for every even hour.
what if I need every odd hour ?

1 Like