Pause and restart a device based on state change of a second device

Configuration
1

Dear community,

recently, we got a a new heat pump water heater. (is that the correct english term?)
grafik

In the same room in the basement, we have our washing machine and an air de-humidifier to dry the clothes.

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I track the energy consumption of both, water heater and air de-humidifier, via Sonoff POW R2 devices. (I created a boolean sensor based on the energy consumption, which show, if the device is on or off.)

As both, water heater and de-humidifier, dry the air, I don’t want them to run at the same time.

use case 1:
de-humidifier is running → water heater starts → de-humidifier should pause, until the water heater switches off

use case 2:
de-humidifier is off → water heater starts → when the water heater stops, the de-humidifier must not start

Question: what is the best/easiest way to implement this? Any input is very much appreciated.

What do you think of my current idea: I create a boolean helper sensor “restart water heater TRUE/FALSE”. Then, I write an automation:

  • If de-humidifier is running AND water-heater switches “on” → set helper to TRUE → switch off de-humidifier.
  • If helper is TRUE, de-humidifier is “off” and water-heater switches to “off” → set helper to FALSE → switch on de-humidifier.
    (Can I capture the state of a sensor and the state change of a sensor in the conditions of an automation?)

best regards from Switzerland,
Chris

2

my current dashboard for that room:

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[1] current energy consumption
[2] history of when device was “on” or “off”
[3] daily energy consumption
[4] monthly energy consumption

3

I tried to build an automation - but it does not work.
The issue seems to be…

  • that the automation is triggered by changes in two sensors.
  • that I cannot define, for which sensor the trigger-on-state-change will be calculated.

How do I get around this?

I want to check if sensor [A] is in state “on” and if sensor [B] changes state - and vice versa.

not working automation:

alias: Bautrockner restart
description: >-
  pausiert den Bautrockner, wenn der Boiler sich einschaltet, bis der Boiler
  wieder abschaltet.
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id:
      - binary_sensor.boiler_status
      - binary_sensor.bautrockner_status
    from: null
    to: null
condition: []
action:
  - choose:
      - conditions:
          - condition: and
            conditions:
              - condition: state
                entity_id: binary_sensor.bautrockner_status
                state: "on"
              - condition: template
                value_template: >-
                  {{ trigger.from_state.state == 'off' and
                  trigger.to_state.state == 'on' }}
                alias: Boiler schaltet ein
        sequence:
          - service: input_boolean.turn_on
            data: {}
            target:
              entity_id: input_boolean.bautrockner_restart
          - service: switch.turn_off
            data: {}
            target:
              entity_id: switch.sonoff_100142a7d7
      - conditions:
          - condition: and
            conditions:
              - condition: state
                entity_id: input_boolean.bautrockner_restart
                state: "on"
              - condition: template
                value_template: >-
                  {{ trigger.from_state.state == 'on' and trigger.to_state.state
                  == 'off' }}
                alias: Boiler schaltet ab
        sequence:
          - service: input_boolean.turn_off
            data: {}
            target:
              entity_id: input_boolean.bautrockner_restart
          - service: switch.turn_on
            data: {}
            target:
              entity_id: switch.sonoff_100142a7d7
      - conditions:
          - condition: and
            conditions:
              - condition: state
                entity_id: binary_sensor.boiler_status
                state: "on"
              - condition: template
                value_template: >-
                  {{ trigger.from_state.state == 'off' and
                  trigger.to_state.state == 'on' }}
                alias: Bautrockner schaltet ein
        sequence:
          - service: input_boolean.turn_on
            data: {}
            target:
              entity_id: input_boolean.bautrockner_restart
          - delay:
              hours: 0
              minutes: 0
              seconds: 10
              milliseconds: 0
          - service: switch.turn_off
            data: {}
            target:
              entity_id: switch.sonoff_100142a7d7
mode: single
4

I still need to test it, but this could work:

alias: Bautrockner restart
description: >-
  pausiert den Bautrockner, wenn der Boiler sich einschaltet, bis der Boiler
  wieder abschaltet.
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id:
      - binary_sensor.boiler_status
    from: "on"
    to: "off"
  - platform: state
    entity_id:
      - binary_sensor.boiler_status
    from: "off"
    to: "on"
  - platform: state
    entity_id:
      - binary_sensor.bautrockner_status
    from: "off"
    to: "on"
condition: []
action:
  - choose:
      - conditions:
          - condition: and
            conditions:
              - condition: state
                entity_id: binary_sensor.bautrockner_status
                state: "on"
              - condition: template
                value_template: "{{trigger.id == '1'}}"
                alias: Boiler schaltet ein
        sequence:
          - service: input_boolean.turn_on
            data: {}
            target:
              entity_id: input_boolean.bautrockner_restart
          - service: switch.turn_off
            data: {}
            target:
              entity_id: switch.sonoff_100142a7d7
      - conditions:
          - condition: and
            conditions:
              - condition: state
                entity_id: input_boolean.bautrockner_restart
                state: "on"
              - condition: template
                value_template: "{{trigger.id == '0'}}"
                alias: Boiler schaltet ab
        sequence:
          - service: input_boolean.turn_off
            data: {}
            target:
              entity_id: input_boolean.bautrockner_restart
          - service: switch.turn_on
            data: {}
            target:
              entity_id: switch.sonoff_100142a7d7
      - conditions:
          - condition: and
            conditions:
              - condition: state
                entity_id: binary_sensor.boiler_status
                state: "on"
              - condition: template
                value_template: "{{trigger.id == '2'}}"
                alias: Bautrockner schaltet ein
        sequence:
          - service: input_boolean.turn_on
            data: {}
            target:
              entity_id: input_boolean.bautrockner_restart
          - delay:
              hours: 0
              minutes: 0
              seconds: 10
              milliseconds: 0
          - service: switch.turn_off
            data: {}
            target:
              entity_id: switch.sonoff_100142a7d7
mode: single

many thanks to: