home-assistant.io/source/_components/binary_sensor.template.markdown

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layout	title	description	date	sidebar	comments	sharing	footer	ha_category	logo
page	Template Binary Sensor	Instructions how to integrate Template binary sensors into Home Assistant.	2016-02-25 15:00	true	false	true	true	Binary Sensor	home-assistant.png

The template platform supports sensors which breaks out the state and state_attributes from other entities. The state of a template binary sensor can only be on or off.

To enable template binary sensors in your installation, add the following to your configuration.yaml file:

# Example configuration.yaml entry
binary_sensor:
  - platform: template
    sensors:
      sun_up:
        value_template: {% raw %}'{{ states.sun.sun.attributes.elevation > 0}}'{% endraw %}
        friendly_name: 'Sun is up'

Configuration variables:

• sensors array (Required): List of your sensors.
  • friendly_name (Optional): Name to use in the Frontend.
  • device_class (Optional): The type/class of the sensor to set the icon in the frontend.
  • value_template (Optional): Defines a template to extract a value from the payload.
  • entity_id (Optional): Add a list of entity IDs so the sensor only reacts to state changes of these entities. This will reduce the number of times the sensor will try to update it's state.
  • on_delay (Optional): The amount of time the template state must be met before this sensor will switch to on.
  • off_delay (Optional): The amount of time the template state must be not met before this sensor will switch to off.

{% linkable_title Examples %}

In this section you find some real life examples of how to use this sensor.

{% linkable_title Sensor threshold %}

This example indicates true if a sensor is above a given threshold. Assuming a sensor of furnace that provides a current reading for the fan motor, we can determine if the furnace is running by checking that it is over some threshold:

sensor:
  - platform: template
    sensors:
      furnace_on:
        value_template: {% raw %}{{ states.sensor.furnace.state > 2.5 }}{% endraw %}
        friendly_name: 'Furnace Running'
        device_class: heat

{% linkable_title Switch as sensor %}

Some movement sensors and door/window sensors will appear as a switch. By using a template binary sensor, the switch can be displayed as a binary sensors. The original switch can then be hidden by customizing.

binary_sensor:
  - platform: template
    sensors:
      movement:
        value_template: {% raw %}"{{ states.switch.movement.state == 'on' }}"{% endraw %}
        device_class: motion
      door:
        value_template: {% raw %}"{{ states.switch.door.state == 'on' }}"{% endraw %}
        device_class: opening

{% linkable_title Combining multiple sensors, and using entity_id: %}

This example combines multiple CO sensors into a single overall status. When using templates with binary sensors, you need to return True or False explicitly. entity_id is used to limit which sensors are being monitored to update the state, making computing this sensor far more efficient.

binary_sensor:
  - platform: template
    sensors:
      co:
        friendly_name: 'CO'
        device_class: 'gas'
        value_template: {% raw %}>-
          {%- if is_state("sensor.bedroom_co_status", "Ok")
              and is_state("sensor.kitchen_co_status", "Ok")
              and is_state("sensor.wardrobe_co_status", "Ok") -%}
          False
          {%- else -%}
          True
          {%- endif %}{% endraw %}
        entity_id:
          - sensor.bedroom_co_status
          - sensor.kitchen_co_status
          - sensor.wardrobe_co_status

{% linkable_title Washing Machine Running %}

This example creates a washing machine "load running" sensor by monitoring an energy meter connected to the washer. During the washer's operation, the energy meter will fluctuate wildly, hitting zero frequently even before the load is finished. By utilizing off_delay, we can have this sensor only turn off if there has been no washer activity for 5 minutes.

# Determine when the washing machine has a load running.
binary_sensor:
  - platform: template
    name: Washing Machine
    value_template: {% raw %}'{{ states.sensor.washing_machine_power.state > 0 }}'{% endraw %}
    off_delay:
      minutes: 5

{% linkable_title Is anyone home? %}

This example is determining if anyone is home based on the combination of device tracking and motion sensors. It's extremely useful if you have kids/baby sitter/ grand parents who might still be in your house that aren't represented by a trackable device in home assistant. This is providing a composite of wifi based device tracking and z-wave multisensor presence sensors.

binary_sensor:
  - platform: template
    sensors:
      people_home:
        value_template: {% raw %}>-
          {%- if is_state("device_tracker.sean", "home")
          or is_state("device_tracker.susan", "home")
          or is_state("binary_sensor.office_124", "on")
          or is_state("binary_sensor.hallway_134", "on")
          or is_state("binary_sensor.living_room_139", "on")
          or is_state("binary_sensor.porch_ms6_1_129", "on")
          or is_state("binary_sensor.family_room_144", "on")
              -%}
          True
          {%- else -%}
          False
          {%- endif %}{% endraw %}
        entity_id:
          - device_tracker.sean
          - device_tracker.susan
          - binary_sensor.office_124
          - binary_sensor.hallway_134
          - binary_sensor.living_room_139
          - binary_sensor.porch_ms6_1_129
          - binary_sensor.family_room_144