ha-config

My current Home Assistant setup:

1. Insteon Lights and Dimmers
2. MyQ Liftmaster garage door opener
3. Envisalink connected alarm
4. Ring doorbell
5. Ecobee thermostats
6. Hunter Douglas powerview shades
7. Security cameras + Xeoma server
8. Plex server
9. Monoprice 6-zone amplifier

Description

The main idea behind my automation is that Home Assistant maintans a simple state machine defined by template sensor current_state. This sensor can have 4 possible states:

• home - this state means that somebody is home therefore all automations for occupied house should be activated, i.e. hot water recirculation pump, turning all lights off at night, maintaining comfortable temperature and closing or opening blinds depending on light outside.
• on_vacation - this state means that nobody is at home for a long period of time (more than a couple of days). In this state temperature is lowered, blinds closed and all lights are turned off. In addition security is enforced.
• away - this state is for short-term leaves. Right now it is very similar to on_vacation state.
• have_guests - this is a special state that indicates that there we are having guest staying with us. In this state presence detection based automations are turned off because there might be cases when we are not home but the guests are.

on_vacation or have_guests states are controlled by input_select.system_mode while home or away states are chosen automatically by Home Assistant based on bayesian binary sensor somebody_home. The simple algorithm that defines value for current_state sensor is as follows:

If `input_select.system_mode` is `On Vacation` then `current_state` = `on_vacation`
else if `input_select.system_mode` is `Have guests` then `current_state` = `have_guests`
else if `binary_sensor.somebody_home` is `on` then `current_state` = `home`
else `current_state` = `away`

Implementing such a state machine allows me to create individual automations for transitions between states. I.e. there is an automation for a case when current_state switches from home to away. This automation turns off all lights, closes all shades and turns off hot water recirculation pump.

Each state automations are stored in automations directory under their respective name. For example automations for home state are in automations/home. The automations for transitions between states are stored in from_"state_name".yaml files. For example automation that happens when state is changed from away to home is stored in automations/home/from_away.yaml while automation for the transition from home to away is stored in automations/away/from_home.yaml