Create a following sensor for a smart lightbulb

Configuration
1

I would like to create an input_boolean that is a following sensor for a smart light. When the light is in state on, the boolean is true. When light is in state off, the boolean is false. And here is the thing I can’t figure out…if the light has had power turned off (like at a wall switch), i.e. no connectivity, the boolean is false.
If there are multiple solutions based on network technology, I have both ZigBee (and by extension MQTT) and Wi-Fi bulbs.
Too bad there is not a sticky_input_boolean that you could set a default state for.

2

You should try out a template with the sensor and filter out the unwanted states ( e. g. “unavailable”). I’m not on a proper PC, so I can’t point you to a recipe. I’ll circle back later.

3

Here is a sample from my sensors.yaml.

#Make the Watering sensor show Today, Tomorrow or Later
      watering_indication_sensor:
        friendly_name: "Water Indication"
        unique_id: "When_to_Irrigate"
        value_template: >-
          {% if is_state('sensor.watering_days', '0') %}
            Today
          {% elif is_state('sensor.watering_days', '1') %}
            Tomorrow
          {% else %}
            Two_Days
          {% endif %}

you could modify to something like this

#Make the state a Boolean
      Boolean_Light_sensor:
        friendly_name: "my_light_boolean"
        unique_id: "My_Unique_ID_to_Track_Light"
        value_template: >-
          {% if is_state('sensor.mylight', 'on') %}
            true
          {% elif is_state('sensor.mylight', 'off') %}
            false
          {% else %}
            false
          {% endif %}

I haven’t tested the modified on my system but the I know the watering days from my sensors.yaml works.

4

Thanks for the help, BTW, I have it working for one group. This approach works fine on my WiFi bulbs, which go to Unavailable less than a minute after being forcibly turned off. Not for my Zigbee/MQTT ones. They never change state when power is removed. I am running Zigbee2MQTT, is there a way to force a LWT or something when communication is lost? I assume that is where I need to look.

5

The LWT on Zigbee2MQTT is only for the coordinator, not for individual devices. Have you set ‘report : true’ ?