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.

{% 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 Change the icon %}

This example shows how to change the icon based on the day/night cycle.

sensor:
  - platform: template
    sensors:
      day_night:
        friendly_name: 'Day/Night'
        value_template: {% raw %}'{% if is_state("sun.sun", "above_horizon") %}Day{% else %}Night{% endif %}'{% endraw %}
        icon_template: {% raw %}'{% if is_state("sun.sun", "above_horizon") %}mdi:weather-sunny{% else %}mdi:weather-night{% endif %}'{% endraw %}

{% 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 parrents 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