Sorry for the delay John. Here’s all the parts together in one place.
I’m going to try to rewrite it today to use the Template Sensor component for interpreting the backdoor state from Alarm.com as that will be, I think, a cleaner/simpler implementation. If that works out, I’ll repost the updates.
configuration.yaml includes two input items:
backdoor tracks open/closed
ecobee_mode tracks the previous state of the Ecobee thermostat and is updated each time the automation turns off the HVAC system.
@JohnB The template sensor was actually really easy and it eliminates the automation whose only job was to stuff values into input_text fields. Here’s the new layout…
configuration.yaml - My backdoor is on Zone 6, so Alarm.com shows “Z6 SLIDERS is Open” whenever the backdoor is open. The value_template searches AdC’s sensor_status field for the text. The icon_template changes the icon based on state.
automations.yaml - the only change was to reference the correct object in the trigger – sensor.alarm_backdoor
- id: '1551557141866'
alias: Home - Ecobee Off When Backdoor Open
trigger:
- entity_id: sensor.alarm_backdoor
for: 00:05:00
platform: state
to: open
condition: []
action:
- service: input_text.set_value
data_template:
entity_id: input_text.ecobee_mode
value: '{{ states(''climate.home'') }}'
- service: climate.set_operation_mode
data_template:
operation_mode: 'off'
entity_id: climate.home
- id: '1551559523000'
alias: Home - Ecobee On When Backdoor Closed
trigger:
- entity_id: sensor.alarm_backdoor
for: 00:00:30
platform: state
to: closed
condition: []
action:
- data_template:
operation_mode: '{{ states(''input_text.ecobee_mode'') }}'
entity_id: climate.home
service: climate.set_operation_mode
I extended beyond just the backdoor by also capturing AdC’s state for each of the zones – all the other doors, windows and motion sensors. I now have one page on my HA dashboard to show the current state of all AdC zones. Adding them to automations will be a snap now.
Hopefully that’s enough to go on for your project. If you use the States Developers Tool, you can get the text you need for the search strings. Then it’s just a matter of getting the triggers and actions correct.
@FlyGuy62N great job! This is just what I’m looking for. Unfortunately I’m having a hard time getting my configuration.yaml working. I took your example and tried modifying it for my environment. Here’s what I have so far.
Since I already had a “sensor:” section in my file, I added your code under it.
@JohnB Have you tried using a template binary sensor? Does the same thing, but you don’t have to declare an icon template, instead it is a device class that translates the boolean on/off to make it pretty for the front end.
@walrus_parka I’m still pretty new to HA. By using binary_sensor, with device_class: door, it looks I could’ve gotten there too. Thanks for the pro-tip.
Thanks for the help and advice. I tested both options and they worked in my environment! I tested the my office window and got some interesting results.
I used the Lovelace UI to test the sensor status change when the window is opened and closed.
It took ~2 minutes for the UI to recognized the window being opened from a close state
It took 20 seconds for the UI to recognized the window being closed from an opened state
For my needs I wished these numbers were reversed.
@FlyGuy62N - Are you seeing similar numbers in your environment?
I’m not sure looking at the Lovelace UI is the best way to test sensor updates. The UI may have a delay and things are happening under the hood in real-time.
Is there a better test I should use to test status changes?
Is there a way to speed up the notification for item 1 (opened from a close state)?
Just a small correction to @walrus_parka’s code above. With the is_state_attr call, it requires three parameters – the last one being the value to check against. However, we want to use a regex expression, so instead of is_state_attr, use just state_attr instead.
Also, since the value_template is just one line, I dropped the >- syntax for enclosing it in quotes. It cleans it up a little more in configuration.yaml.
binary_sensor:
- platform: template
sensors:
alarm_window:
friendly_name: "Backdoor"
device_class: door
value_template: "{{ state_attr('alarm_control_panel.alarm_com', 'sensor_status')|regex_search('Z6 SLIDERS is Open', ignorecase=TRUE) }}"
@JohnB, @FlyGuy62N have you had any success on adding silent arming to the HA alarm.com alarm panel? I’ve had the sensors up and running for a while now, but haven’t figured out how to get a night of silent arming feature set up. Any attempts or thoughts on this?
Hi Scott,
I followed the basic instructions room the alarm.com doc. I get the ARM Home and ARM AWAY items on the main page. When I select ARM Home the system says something like System Armed to Stay. I too would love to figure out a way to silently arm the system at night.
I’m using “alarm_arm_home” in an automation every night. Not quite sure what you mean by “silently”, but the panel doesn’t beep and with “alarm_arm_home”, the motion sensor is ignored just like it would be on the panel. It will only activate the siren if the back door or any of the windows are opened.
The condition ensures that it won’t override an “alarm_arm_away” state in the event we’re gone for the weekend or whatever.
There’s a corresponding rule to “alarm_disarm” each morning, but only if one of us is home (again, for the weekend away or whatever).
Is that what you were looking for?
- id: '1548901316524'
alias: Home - Alarm Auto-Arm Home at Bedtime
trigger:
- at: '22:30:00'
platform: time
condition:
- condition: state
entity_id: alarm_control_panel.alarm_com
state: disarmed
action:
- data:
entity_id: alarm_control_panel.alarm_com
service: alarm_control_panel.alarm_arm_home
initial_state: true
- id: '1548902404127'
alias: Home - Alarm Disarm at Wakeup
trigger:
- at: '07:00:00'
platform: time
condition:
- condition: state
entity_id: group.people_ha
state: home
action:
- data:
entity_id: alarm_control_panel.alarm_com
service: alarm_control_panel.alarm_disarm
- data:
entity_id: lock.garage_door_lock
service: lock.unlock
initial_state: true
Thank you very much FlyGuy62N, I was able to add the alarm.com sensors based on your information without the thermostat function for now.
I share JohnB’s issue of a delay between the Home Assistant UI and the sensor state from the alarm.com config. Do you experience delays between the sensor and UI?
I get the following
sensor.alarm_office_window (CLOSED)
binary_sensor.office_window (OFF)
Playing around with them and neither one shows when the window is open.
I am making myself very confused.
Can someone help me sort out what I need to do.
Thanks
carltonb
Test your value template by pasting it into the template tool in developer tools. For me, I forgot to update alarm_control_panel.alarm_com to the name of my actual alarm_control_panel entity, and it too me a while to realize that was my problem.
First thing would be to replace “alarm_control_panel.alarm_com” in the value template with whatever your alarm_control_panel entity is. You can go to Developer Tools > States, and find the entity name there. For example, the name of my alarm panel entity is “alarm_control_panel.cpi_security”.
Once you’ve got the value template the
Way you think it should be, go to Developer Tools > Template and paste it in there. It should reconcile to either True or False.
All of these templates are awesome, I got all my sensors monitored from alarm.com
Unfortunately the “True Silent” mode still does not work. There are 3 ways you an arm alarm.com - but it seems that, at least for me, I can only call 2 of them.
They are at a high level:
Arm Away (Start constant beeping at panel for 2 min)
Arm Home (Start constant beeping at panel for 2 min)
There is a third option, through the alarm.com website, and the app itself that home assistant seems unable to call:
Arm Home Silent (Beep Once at invocation, beep a second time after 2 min)
Using Home Assistant to call the alarm at bedtime is a no-go for me, as my wife goes to bed earlier than I do, and the arming process causes the alarm panel to beep constantly for 2 min before it arms. It seems impossible to call the system without the beeping.
I tried some of the calls here in this thread, but alarm_arm_home and armed_home both put the panel into constant-beep-mode.
There must be a secret sauce way of making this work, or finding out what the app is calling.
This has been a very useful thread, thanks! I am still new to Home Assistant and feel like I’m missing something. The main thing is how do I know what to regex_search for each sensor type? Some of my sensors are working and some are not and I don’t understand enough to trouble shoot. For example the driveway sensor is set to type “motion” and looking for “Driveway is Active” but never triggers - how can I tell if this is the correct search string? Thanks in advance.
Try using the States tool (under Developer Tools) and then open a door. Wait for HA to get the update from Alarm.com’s website and note what it says in the States tool. That’s your search string to use in the Regular Expression (RegEx).
