Sprinkler automation - Multiple switches, multiple times per day, on for x minutes, only one on at a time

[123 (Taras)]

@three88bu

Any thoughts how I can pull this off in one automation?

I created a demo of a 5-zone controller for another user in the following post. It’s all done with a single automation. It’s easily reduced to 3 zones for your needs.

Complex Automations - State Machine

Entities Here’s a summary of all the entities required for this 5-zone controller: One timer to countdown a zone’s duration. One counter to keep track of which zone to process. One input_select to control overall operation (on/off/pause). One group containing all the zone switches. Five input_booleans, one per zone to indicate its enabled/disabled status. Five input_datetimes, one per zone to indicate its duration (in hours and minutes). Five more input_booleans, one per zone representing eac…

• Set each one of the three zones to 30 minutes.
• Create an automation with a Time Trigger set to 06:00, 12:00, etc that sets input_select.controller_mode to on.

When your automation triggers at 06:00 and enables the controller, it will turn on the first zone for 30 minutes, then turn it off and proceed to turn on the second zone for 30 minutes, etc. When all zones are done, it sets input_select.controller_mode to off.

The entire process is repeated at 12:00 and whatever other times you specify in the Time Trigger. Obviously the trigger times should be spaced at least 90 minutes apart (3 zones x 30 minutes/zone = 90 minutes).

Other features include the ability to manually pause the controller and to optionally disable a zone (which will make the controller skip that zone).

For demonstration purposes, it controls input_booleans. For real-world use, you simply need to replace the input_booleans with switches (that control your sprinkler valves). Let me know if you need help adapting it to your environment.