Template Binary Sensor

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: '{{ states.sun.sun.attributes.elevation > 0}}'
        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.

Examples

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

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: {{ states.sensor.furnace.state > 2.5 }}
        friendly_name: 'Furnace Running'
        device_class: heat

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: "{{ states.switch.movement.state == 'on' }}"
        device_class: motion
      door:
        value_template: "{{ states.switch.door.state == 'on' }}"
        device_class: opening

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: >-
          {%- 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 %}
        entity_id:
          - sensor.bedroom_co_status
          - sensor.kitchen_co_status
          - sensor.wardrobe_co_status

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: '{% if is_state("sun.sun", "above_horizon") %}Day{% else %}Night{% endif %}'
        icon_template: '{% if is_state("sun.sun", "above_horizon") %}mdi:weather-sunny{% else %}mdi:weather-night{% endif %}'

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: >-
          {%- 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 %}
        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