Automation using the old_state of an entitiy

Configuration
1

Hello,

I want to realize a notification based on the current power of a switch.
My working automation which triggers if the current power is below a threshold:

automation dryer: 
  trigger: 
    platform: state 
    entity_id: switch.dryer 
  condition: 
    platform: numeric_state 
    entity_id: switch.dryer 
    value_template: '{{ states.switch.dryer.attributes.current_power_mwh }}' 
    below: 100 
  action: 
    service: notify.mypushetta 
    data: 
      message: "Dryer stopped because current power is {{ states.switch.dryer.attributes.current_power_mwh }}"

But it triggers everytime the state changes and is below 100 mwh. What I really need is that it only triggers once when the old_state was above 100 mwh and the new_state is below 100 mwh. Even after hours of trying I did not find an easy way to do that.

A workaround would be to use a variable within a template - is that necessary or can someone give me a hint for an easy solution?

2

The numeric state trigger does exactly that

3

As balloob said, you should use numeric_state trigger:

automation dryer: 
  trigger: 
    platform: numeric_state 
    entity_id: switch.dryer 
    value_template: '{{ states.switch.dryer.attributes.current_power_mwh }}' 
    below: 100 
  action: 
    service: notify.mypushetta 
    data: 
      message: "Dryer stopped because current power is {{ states.switch.dryer.attributes.current_power_mwh }}"

So once it gets below 100, action will be triggered.

4

Thanks for your replies!
I was trying to realize it with the numeric state before, but never got a message out of my rule. Copy paste from my configuration file:

automation dryer:
  trigger:
    platform: numeric_state
    entity_id: switch.dryer
    value_template: '{{ states.switch.dryer.attributes.current_power_mwh }}'
    below: 100
  action:
    service: notify.mypushetta
    data:
      message: "Dryer stopped because current power is {{ states.switch.dryer.attributes.current_power_mwh }}"

One state change from yesterday where it should trigger, but (in contrast to the automation rule with the condition from my first post) did not result in a message using the numeric state:

16-04-24 12:43:33 INFO (ThreadPool Worker 9) [homeassistant.core] Bus:Handling <Event state_changed[L]: old_state=<state switch.dryer=on; current_power_mwh=2890.0, friendly_name=dryer @ 2016-04-24T14:42:11.206536+02:00>, new_state=<state switch.dryer=on; current_power_mwh=40.0, friendly_name=dryer @ 2016-04-24T14:42:11.206536+02:00>, entity_id=switch.dryer>
5

My snippet is different than the one you wrote in the first post.

6

Sorry, I should have written it more clearly. The snippet in my latest post is from my configuration file and seems to be exactly the same you posted. I tested it yesterday and did not get a message from it.

7

Try using double quotes ( " ) at value_template and below, just to test.

value_template: "{{ states.switch.dryer.attributes.current_power_mwh }}"
below: "100"
8

Thanks for your reply, but it didn’t work :sweat:

Event:

16-04-26 05:46:03 INFO (ThreadPool Worker 5) [homeassistant.core] Bus:Handling <Event state_changed[L]: old_state=<state switch.dryer=on; friendly_name=dryer, current_power_mwh=3080.0 @ 2016-04-26T07:44:41.327096+02:00>, new_state=<state switch.dryer=on; friendly_name=dryer, current_power_mwh=40.0 @ 2016-04-26T07:44:41.327096+02:00>, entity_id=switch.dryer>

Extract from my configuration file:

automation dryer:
  trigger:
    platform: numeric_state
    entity_id: switch.dryer
    value_template: "{{ states.switch.dryer.attributes.current_power_mwh }}"
    below: "100"
  action:
    service: notify.mypushetta
    data:
      message: "Dryer stopped because current power is {{ states.switch.dryer.attributes.current_power_mwh }}"

automation dryer2:
  trigger:
    platform: state
    entity_id: switch.dryer
  condition:
    platform: numeric_state
    entity_id: switch.dryer
    value_template: '{{ states.switch.dryer.attributes.current_power_mwh }}'
    below: 100
  action:
    service: notify.mypushetta
    data:
      message: "Dryer 2 stopped because current power is {{ states.switch.dryer.attributes.current_power_mwh }}"

I only receive the “Dryer 2 …” message. The change for double quotes in the “value_template” and “below” sections did not change that.

Any suggestions how to proceed?

Thanks in advance,
Daniel

9

If that’s an actual extract of your config, try joining that two into one automation tag only.

automation:
- alias: "dryer 1"
  trigger:
  ...
- alias: "dryer 2"
  trigger:
  ...
10

Descibing the automations as alias did not change the strange behaviour. I receive a message from “dryer 2” but not from “dryer 1”:

automation:
  - alias: "dryer1"
    trigger:
      platform: numeric_state
      entity_id: switch.dryer
      value_template: "{{ states.switch.dryer.attributes.current_power_mwh }}"
      below: 100
    action:
      service: notify.mypushetta
      data:
        message: "Dryer stopped because current power is {{ states.switch.dryer.attributes.current_power_mwh }}"
  - alias: "dryer2"
    trigger:
      platform: state
      entity_id: switch.dryer
    condition:
      platform: numeric_state
      entity_id: switch.dryer
      value_template: '{{ states.switch.dryer.attributes.current_power_mwh }}'
      below: 100
    action:
      service: notify.mypushetta
      data:
        message: "Dryer 2 stopped because current power is {{ states.switch.dryer.attributes.current_power_mwh }}"
11

Implemented a workaround using a binary_sensor template which only triggers once:

binary_sensor:
  platform: template
  sensors:
    dryer_running:
      value_template: '{{ states.switch.dryer.attributes.current_power_mwh > 100}}'
      friendly_name: 'Dryer running'

automation:
  - alias: "dryer"
    trigger:
      platform: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.dryer_running
      from: "on"
      to: "off"
    action:
      service: notify.mypushetta
      data:
        message: "Dryer stopped (current power: {{ states.switch.dryer.attributes.current_power_mwh }})"

I do not understand why the numeric_state triggers does not work, but the benefit of the workaround is that as addition to the push message there is now a visual feedback in the frontend visualising that the dryer is running.

Thanks for the help!

12

Hey
I have similar trouble using the numeric state trigger. I tried to work around with a template sensor, but that didn’t work out jet either. My guess is, that the numeric state trigger doesn’t work, because the return of the value_template is actually a string and not a number. Can this be or is that excluded?

13

Due to the fact, that the comparision in the value_template of the binary_sensor works (my last post), I conclude that it is a number and not a string.

14

But the code in the comparison is a string:

automation:
  - alias: "dryer"
    trigger:
      platform: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.dryer_running
      from: "on"
      to: "off"

As far as I see it, the state changes from “on” to “off” and not from 1 to 0.

Edit:
Ah now I see what you mean, you meant the: [quote=“byte-bender, post:11, topic:804”]
value_template: ‘{{ states.switch.dryer.attributes.current_power_mwh > 100}}’
[/quote]
Anyhow I think this are two different situations. Here we have a value_template and the comparison is done within the value_template. This works yep, but what is not working, is

automation:
  - alias: "dryer1"
    trigger:
      platform: numeric_state
      entity_id: switch.dryer
      value_template: "{{ states.switch.dryer.attributes.current_power_mwh }}"
      below: 100
      ...

I think, here HA evaluates the value_template first and then in a second step does the comparison. This then does not work, because now it checks if the return of the value_template is above 100 or not, but the return is a string and a string cant be compared to a number.

This might be wrong, its just what I think is happening.

If opened a ticket in the issue tracker numeric_state trigger with attribtes · Issue #2065 · home-assistant/core · GitHub. Lets see what the others say.