MQTT Type of Entity

Configuration
1

Hi All (relative newbie here)

I have managed to setup an MQTT Service and Device and Entity that retrieves a value from another server.

Whilst it successfully retrieves the value it only works if the Type of Entity is Text. If I use number (which I want it to be) then it just returns Unknown.

The format returns is 12345 or -12345 (for example). It is essentially the power in Watts.

I presume this has something to do with Value Template. Should I use Type of Entity Text (and if so how do I convert it to an number) OR should I use Type of Entity Number (and if so how do I stop it returning “Unknown”)?

The connection itself seems to work - just the last step in getting this in the right format.

Here is an image showing the value returned from the remote server:

image
image656Ă—227 15.5 KB

Any help / pointers appreciated.

2

It would help if you would share the YAML or whatever code you are using to create the sensor. Generally speaking, all HA stuff is technically text, but if you add a unit of measure to it, then it will get treated like a number.

1 Like
5

Solved - thank you so much - was missing unit of measure.