Hi, i’m new to automations.
I want to start my sprinkler every day at 6:30 for 30 minutes when weather is not predicting rain.
What I did: I have created a sensor with the weather forecast. Works so far. But the automation trace tells me the condition is not working.
Any ideas?
Sorry I am only allowed to add one picture
Replace the Numeric State Condition with this Template Condition.
- condition: template
value_template: "{{ 0 <= state_attr('sensor.weather_prediction', 'precipitation') | float(0) <= 0.5 }}"
It checks if the value of precipitation, which is part of sensor.weather_prediction’s attributes, is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 0.5.
So if its value is 0 then it should pass the Template Condition.
Go to Developer Tools > States, find the sensor in the list and confirm its attribute is spelled precipitation. If it’s spelled Precipitation then you must correct the example I posted.
Similarly, confirm the sensor’s entity_id is correct because it’s truncated in the screenshot you posted. I made an assumption it’s sensor.weather_prediction
Will try out as soon as the kids are sleeping.
Cheers
You can test the template in the Template Editor.
Copy-paste the following template into Developer Tools-> Template.
{{ 0 <= state_attr('sensor.weather_prediction', 'precipitation') | float(0) <= 0.5 }}
It will report True if the value of precipitation is between 0 and 0.5, inclusively.
If it reports False then check precipitation’s value
with this template:
{{ state_attr('sensor.weather_prediction', 'precipitation') }}
Haha, works! Thanks @123
But one question. Why do I have to use “template”?
sensor.weather_prediction is a sensor and a sensor is an entity.
It seems that I do not understand the concept of “template” here.
How to decide when to choose theh correct type within automations?
You could use the Numeric state condition without the above component… unless precipitation can report negative numbers it shouldn’t cause any false positives.
- condition: numeric_state
entity_id: sensor.weather_prediction
attribute: precipitation
below: 0.5
In your original condition, the issue was that 0 isn’t above 0, so the condition failed. Taras’ template condition provides for “>=” where the Numeric state condition only provides “>”.
Thanks @123 This is good to know.
More important - forgot to ask:
Is it a good practice to turn the automation off with the delay? Or is there a more secure way to implement it?
Generally speaking, I minimize the use of delay or, when I do use it, ensure it is a very short delay (less than a few minutes).
The reason is because if Home Assistant is restarted while the delay is counting down, all automations are immediately terminated. That means your automation wouldn’t execute the switch.turn_off command.
For your application, simply create two Time Triggers, one for 06:30 and the other for 07:00. Identify each one with a trigger id.
The following example turns on the switch at 06:30, and off at 07:00, but only if precipitation is less than or equal to 0.5.
alias: example
triggers:
- id: 'on'
trigger: time
at: '06:30:00'
- id: 'off'
trigger: time
at: '07:00:00'
conditions:
- condition: template
value_template: "{{ 0 <= state_attr('sensor.weather_prediction', 'precipitation') | float(0) <= 0.5 }}"
actions:
- action: switch.turn{{ trigger.id }}"
target:
entity_id: switch.bewasserung_ven
You screenshot doesn’t show the switch’s complete entity_id so my example uses only what’s visible (switch.bewasserung_ven).
Looks so easy. Thanks. Will do it Like that.
This was also my concern that it could happen that the sprinkler will run forever. What I did was to create a security mechanism: at 9am just send a turn off to the sprinkler.
You don’t need to wait for 2 hours of water being wasted before turning it off. At the very least, you can set the sprinkler to turn off at 07:10 in your separate automation.
Otherwise just set the automation to turn off your sprinkler if it’s been on for 40 mins.