Issues with new automation action feature "choose"

Configuration
1

I thought I’d take a shot at turning two automations into one by using the new automation action choose. First, it isn’t listed in the interface, so I wrote this automation manually:

- id: 'freezer_automation'
  alias: Freezer
  description: Run the freezer during the day when solar power may be available
  trigger:
  - above: '9'
    entity_id: sun.sun
    platform: numeric_state
    value_template: '{{ state_attr(''sun.sun'', ''elevation'') }}'
  - below: '12'
    entity_id: sun.sun
    platform: numeric_state
    value_template: '{{ state_attr(''sun.sun'', ''elevation'') }}'
  condition: []
  action:
  - choose:
    - conditions:
      - condition: numeric_state
        entity_id: sun.sun
        value_template: '{{ state_attr(''sun.sun'', ''elevation'') }}'
        above: 9
      sequence:
      - service: switch.turn_on
        entity_id: switch.sonoff_1_relay
    - conditions:
      - condition: numeric_state
        entity_id: sun.sun
        value_template: '{{ state_attr(''sun.sun'', ''elevation'') }}'
        below: 12
      sequence:
      - service: switch.turn_off
        entity_id: switch.sonoff_1_relay
  mode: single

It worked this morning to turn on the relay. It also shows up as having triggered in the evening, however, the relay was never turned off. The code looks good to me. Any thoughts? Back to two separate automations? Thanks in advance!

2

What does home-assistant.log say about what happened?

EDIT: Wait! 12 is above 9. Think about it. You need to use the trigger variable.

1 Like
3

Try this:

- id: 'freezer_automation'
  alias: Freezer
  description: Run the freezer during the day when solar power may be available
  trigger:
  - above: '9'
    entity_id: sun.sun
    platform: numeric_state
    value_template: '{{ state.attributes.elevation }}'
  - below: '12'
    entity_id: sun.sun
    platform: numeric_state
    value_template: '{{ state.attributes.elevation }}'
  condition: []
  action:
  - choose:
    - conditions:
      - condition: template
        value_template: "{{ trigger.above == 9 }}"
      sequence:
      - service: switch.turn_on
        entity_id: switch.sonoff_1_relay
    default:
    - service: switch.turn_off
      entity_id: switch.sonoff_1_relay
  mode: single
4

Thank you so much Phil! I spent so much time trying to figure this out but your hint and recommended solution totally cleared things up for me. I’ll give it a test today. Thanks again for your fresh pair of eyes and going a step further with some proposed code!

1 Like
5

FYI, this part:

      - condition: template
        value_template: "{{ trigger.above == 9 }}"

will work as is, but really should be:

      - condition: template
        value_template: "{{ trigger.above is not none }}"

I didn’t say this right away because I wanted to keep it a simple as possible. But, doing it this way will allow you to change the above value in the trigger and not have to worry about making the same change in the condition to make sure they match. As long as the trigger with the above fires, then this condition will be true.

1 Like
6

Thanks again! I’ll apply that to other automations too to make everything more maintainable and D.R.Y.