How to accumulate the time of a condition?

DJI · February 7, 2024, 11:27am

I feel a bit foolish asking for help with this but here goes. I want to know for how long each month the tide is below a certain height. I thought I could create a helper-timer and just start/stop it but that does not accumulate. This is what I tried (2 automations):

alias: SLWrestrictedTimerStart
description: Starts timing when height is restricted
trigger:
  - platform: numeric_state
    entity_id:
      - sensor.tide_height_now
    below: input_number.tide_low_restriction
condition: []
action:
  - service: timer.start
    target:
      entity_id: timer.slwrestrictedtimer
    data: {}
mode: single

and stopping it

alias: SLWrestrictedTimerStop
description: Stops timing when height is no longer restricted
trigger:
  - platform: numeric_state
    entity_id:
      - sensor.tide_height_now
    above: input_number.tide_low_restriction
condition: []
action:
  - service: timer.pause
    target:
      entity_id:
        - timer.slwrestrictedtimer
    data: {}
mode: single

I have a supicion there is simple way of doing this built-in to HA somewhere… Somethng to do with the statistics integration maybe?

Troon · February 7, 2024, 11:38am

Template binary sensor with state template:

{{ states('sensor.tide_height_now')|float(0) < states('input_number.tide_low_restriction')|float(0) }}

Then a history_stats sensor tracking how long that is on.

DJI · February 7, 2024, 11:59am

Thanks, I knew there would be a neat solution I can learn from the experts!
Does this look right to you? I’m asking becuase it will take weeks to accumulate any results:

sensor:
    - name: SLWisrestricted
      unique_id: slwisrestricted
      state: "{{ states('sensor.tide_height_now')|float(0) <= states('input_number.tide_low_restriction')|float(0) }}"

  - platform: history_stats
    name: SLW restriction last month
    entity_id: sensor.slwisrestricted
    state: true
    type: time
    start: "{{ now().replace(day=1, month=now().month-1, hour=0, minute=0, second=0, microsecond=0) }}"
    end: "{{ now().replace(day=1, hour=0, minute=0, second=0, microsecond=0) }}"

Troon · February 7, 2024, 12:10pm

You appear to have created a sensor. Create it in the UI unless you desperately want to use YAML. Under Helpers:

Then the history_stats entity should be binary_sensor.slwisrestricted.

DJI · February 7, 2024, 1:22pm

Thanks so much Troon. Fingers crossed - it won’t turn true until next week for a few hours.

Troon · February 7, 2024, 1:27pm

Just be aware of the need to extend your recorder duration for the history_stats sensor, as on the page. As a test, you could also record the amount of time that the sensor is off to make sure it’s accumulating.

DJI · February 7, 2024, 1:30pm

Thanks - Like this?

recorder:
  purge_keep_days: 61

DJI · February 7, 2024, 1:45pm

I’ve now got this is configuration.yaml but neither sensor is visible in developer tools: states after reloading all YAML configuraion. Is this because time has to pass?

sensor:

  - platform: history_stats
    name: SLW_restriction_last_month
    entity_id: binary_sensor.slwisrestricted
    state: on
    type: time
    start: "{{ now().replace(day=1, month=now().month-1, hour=0, minute=0, second=0, microsecond=0) }}"
    end: "{{ now().replace(day=1, hour=0, minute=0, second=0, microsecond=0) }}"

  - platform: history_stats
    name: SLW_not_restriction_this_month
    entity_id: binary_sensor.slwisrestricted
    state: off
    type: time
    start: "{{ now().replace(day=1, hour=0, minute=0, second=0, microsecond=0) }}"
    end: "{{ now() }}"

Edit: I see history stats sensors need a restart before they get created.

DJI · February 7, 2024, 2:07pm

Hmm. The one that is supposed to be accumulating the off time is still reading zero 5 mins after creating it.
Also, the binary_sensor gets switched on during a YAML reload or system restart, until sensor.tide_height_now gets a value. It’s only a short time, but it would be good to stop this.

Troon · February 7, 2024, 2:10pm

Change the number in the float(0) to something higher than the input number. The unavailable from the sensor is being turned into 0.

You might need someone else to help with the history_stats: I have very little experience with that.

There’s also the Statistics sensor:

123 · February 7, 2024, 3:52pm

Your database will now store 61 days worth of activity for every entity in your system. That’s not the most efficient way to keep a record of a month’s worth of tide height.

In addition, you have configured your History Stats sensor to use last month’s data … which doesn’t exist yet because you (probably) haven’t been recording it for such a long time period (until today when you changed the retention period).

I suggest you:

Revert purge_keep_days to its original value (default is 10 days).
Re-configure the History Stats sensor to record just one day’s total time.

    start: "{{ today_at() }}"
    end: "{{ now() }}"

Use the Utility Meter integration to create daily/weekly/monthly/yearly sensors (your choice). It stores its data in a database table that’s never purged.

I provided an example here for another user who wanted to record total heating time on a daily/monthly/yearly basis.

The suggested solution is far more efficient and will record tide height data starting from today (i.e. you can’t go backwards in time to access data that was never recorded).

DJI · February 7, 2024, 4:50pm

Thanks for that. It’s only been running a short while but I’m getting a small number despite the sensor being “off”. This is what I’ve got now:
configuration.yaml:

sensor:
  - platform: history_stats
    name: SLW_restriction_accum
    unique_id: slw_restriction_accum
    entity_id: binary_sensor.slwisrestricted
    state: "on"
    type: time
    start: "{{ today_at() }}"
    end: "{{ now() }}"

  - platform: history_stats
    name: SLW_not_restriction_accum
    unique_id: slw_not_restriction_accum
    entity_id: binary_sensor.slwisrestricted
    state: "off"
    type: time
    start: "{{ today_at() }}"
    end: "{{ now() }}"

binary_sensor.slwisrestricted was created with a helper as above. Then I created a new utility meter

SLW restriction monthly
7 minutes ago
Last changed:7 minutes ago
Last updated:7 minutes ago
0.00034447305732303 h

Does this mean I’ve got something wrong?

123 · February 7, 2024, 5:33pm

What leads you to believe something is wrong?

DJI · February 7, 2024, 5:36pm

The fact that there are non zero values where i was exoecting zero. The number is tiny though.

123 · February 7, 2024, 5:45pm

What is the state value of sensor.slw_restriction_accum?

DJI · February 7, 2024, 6:05pm

Tiny, but puzzlingly non-zero

sensor.slw_restriction_accum
SLW_restriction_accum
0.00193005839983622	state_class: measurement
unit_of_measurement: h
device_class: duration
icon: mdi:chart-line
friendly_name: SLW_restriction_accum

123 · February 7, 2024, 6:17pm

0.00193005839983622 * 60 * 60 is about 7 seconds.

It’s reporting that binary_sensor.slwisrestricted has been on for about 7 seconds today (more precisely, “today” starts at the time when the History Stats sensor was created).

If binary_sensor.slwisrestricted has been on for longer than 7 seconds (since the History Stats sensor was created) then, yes, there may be a problem with how you have configured it.

DJI · February 7, 2024, 6:20pm

Thanks. I’ll monitor for a few days before worrying. It’s predicted to be true for about half an hour on thursday night so fingers crossed.

123 · February 7, 2024, 6:31pm

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DJI · February 7, 2024, 6:33pm

sorry 123 Taras