FAQ
HOW TO ADD MORE THAN ONE AMBIENT LIGHT SENSOR TO THE AUTOMATION
With the new release of Home Assistant 2023.2.0, the HA team has added a new sensor to the helper group called “Sensor Group”. You can now group two or more ambient light sensors together.
How it works: Type “Arithmetic mean” = If one sensor reads 20 and the other sensor reads 40 then the sensor group will read 30, (20 + 40 = 60, divided by 2 sensors = 30). Note: There is a selection when creating the “Sensor Group” to have different types. This will change how the “Sensor Group” works. Example: The types you can choose from are, Minimum, Maximum, Arithmetic mean, Median, Most recently updated, Statistical range & Sum. We are using “Arithmetic mean” in this example but you can choose the one that bests suits you. For this automation I recommend you stick with either, Minimum, Maximum or Arithmetic mean.
If this is something you would like to use in the automation, then follow these steps.
ADD A AMBIENT LIGHT HELPER SENSOR GROUP TO THE AUTOMATION
- Go to Settings / Devices & Services / click on the “Helpers” tab / click “+ CREATE HELPER” and select “Group”.
- Select “Sensor group”.
- Then enter a name, in this example we put “LUX Group”. Then select your “Members” or entities (all of them that will be in the blueprint automation). Keep “Hide Members” toggles OFF and select “Arithmetic mean” as shown below. Note: You can choose a different “Type” rather than “Arithmetic mean” if it suits you better. Once happy click submit.
- Then go back into the automation and in the “Ambient Light Sensor" selection search for the name (Sensor Group) you just created, in this case “LUX Group” and select it. Now you have two or more ambient lux sensor averaging the readings for you in your automation. If you would like to add more or remove some entities you will have to go back into the helper and edit it (see below, edit helper).
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Note: If one of your sensors is offline then it will report as unknown, have no lux value and you will not be able to select it in the “Ambient Light Sensor" selection. If you would like to ignore a sensor that is offline, report a lux value and still be able to select it in the “Ambient Light Sensor" selection then see read through the “Edit Helper” and toggle ON “Ignore non-numeric” option.
EDIT HELPER
- If you need to edit the Helper. Go back to Settings / Devices & Services / click on the “Helpers” tab / click the helper you would like to edit, in this case “LUX Group” and then select “Group Options”
- You will then see your entities and your options. Then just edit as required.
- You will also notice one extra option “Ignore non-numeric” and a description above for it. If one of your sensors is offline or unknown it will report as unknown. If you would like to ignore this then you can toggled it ON. Note: A offline sensor will also prevent you from selecting it in the “Ambient Light Sensor" selection of the automation.
Enjoy
Blacky 
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