Strange Behavior in Average Statistics Sensor

Configuration
1

I have a statistics sensor that takes an average of the value of another sensor over the last two hours. I then use that value to drive an alert. Specifically, what I am seeing is a random spike in the average, almost as if a very high value has been averaged in.

This is strange for two reasons:

  1. I can’t see any high values in the history view
  2. The value I’m averaging is the set temperature of my thermostat, which is never set to anything outside the 70s.

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sensor:
  - platform: statistics
    name: "Average downstairs set temperate"
    entity_id: sensor.downstairs_set_temperature_sensor
    state_characteristic: average_step
    sampling_size: 120
    max_age:
      hours: 2

For those who are curious about why I might do such a strange thing: My furnace intake has a habit of freezing in extremely cold temperatures that we get once or twice a year. A large differential between the set value of the thermostat and the actual temperature indicates a potential problem. By taking an average of the set temperature, it prevents the alert from being triggered by someone adjusting the temperature of the thermostat, because it takes 2 hours to fully adjust to the new value. That gives the furnace enough time to keep up.

1 Like
2

Did you restart home assistant when those spikes occurred?

If so, you should open a new issue as the reporter of that issue let it go stale. You can link to the old issue in yours to give it more support.

3

I’m having the exact same problem, unfortunately the issue was closed although it’s not resolved.

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