How to make a template sensor

Configuration
1

I am trying to make a sensor that I can use in an automation. I got the code from Home Assistant - Alert.

I used the Developer section to make sure I got the parameters correct.

Here is my code:

binary_sensor:
  - platform: template
    sensors:
      tilt_battery_low:
        value_template: "{{ state_attr('zwave.ecolink_garage_door_tilt_sensor', 'battery_level') < 50 }}"
        friendly_name: "Tilt battery is low"

I get an error in the log stating there is an error in this code. The error text doesn’t provide any clue to me, other than something is wrong.

I appreciate any help!

2

Please try this as template.

{{ state_attr('zwave.ecolink_garage_door_tilt_sensor', 'battery_level') | int < 50 }}

This makes the state_attr a int to compare with 50

3

The important thing to know is that the state of entities in Home Assistant are always strings and you can’t compare a string to a number.

So before doing the comparison you must convert the string to a number. We have two filters to do this:

| int converts the string to an integer (no decimal/fractional part), ('1.234' ) | int == 1

| float converts the sting to a floating point number, (has a fractional part). ('1.234' ) | float == 1.234

Attributes of entities in Home Assistant recently obtained the ability to be more types than just string.

4

Thanks for the quick and perfect assistance! Converting to int did the trick!

1 Like