Binary Sensor
Binary sensors are similar to other sensors in that they
monitor the states and conditions of different entities. Where binary sensors
differ is they can only return one of two mutually exclusive values.
For example, a binary sensor for a window may report a value
of open
or closed
, a switch on
or off
, a condition true
or false
.
This either/or constraint is what makes these sensors binary. They are digital in nature, whereas analog sensors, like temperature and weight sensors, return a range of values.
Some binary sensors are created automatically when you add a device integration. For example, adding the ecobee integration will create a binary sensor to detect room occupancy. Other binary sensors can be created manually using the template integration or using an input boolean helper.
Building block integration
The binary sensor integration cannot be directly used. You cannot create your own binary sensor entities using this integration. This integration is a building block for other integrations to use, enabling them to create binary sensor entities for you.
Device Class
Knowing a sensor is binary impacts how the sensor’s current state may be represented in Home Assistant’s UI (see Dashboards). Opposing states may be given different icons, colors, and value labels to highlight a particular state over the other. This is set by the binary sensor’s device class.
Here are a few examples of this representation in the UI:
on
and off
state. The on image
in this example has state_color: true
specified in the Entities card
configuration to receive the icon coloring.
The full list of supported binary sensor device classes is below (note: these may also be modified in the customizing section).
- None: Generic on/off. This is the default and doesn’t need to be set.
-
battery:
on
means low,off
means normal -
battery_charging:
on
means charging,off
means not charging -
carbon_monoxide:
on
means carbon monoxide detected,off
no carbon monoxide (clear) -
cold:
on
means cold,off
means normal -
connectivity:
on
means connected,off
means disconnected -
door:
on
means open,off
means closed -
garage_door:
on
means open,off
means closed -
gas:
on
means gas detected,off
means no gas (clear) -
heat:
on
means hot,off
means normal -
light:
on
means light detected,off
means no light -
lock:
on
means open (unlocked),off
means closed (locked) -
moisture:
on
means moisture detected (wet),off
means no moisture (dry) -
motion:
on
means motion detected,off
means no motion (clear) -
moving:
on
means moving,off
means not moving (stopped) -
occupancy:
on
means occupied (detected),off
means not occupied (clear) -
opening:
on
means open,off
means closed -
plug:
on
means device is plugged in,off
means device is unplugged -
power:
on
means power detected,off
means no power -
presence:
on
means home,off
means away -
problem:
on
means problem detected,off
means no problem (OK) -
running:
on
means running,off
means not running -
safety:
on
means unsafe,off
means safe -
smoke:
on
means smoke detected,off
means no smoke (clear) -
sound:
on
means sound detected,off
means no sound (clear) -
tamper:
on
means tampering detected,off
means no tampering (clear) -
update:
on
means update available,off
means up-to-date -
vibration:
on
means vibration detected,off
means no vibration (clear) -
window:
on
means open,off
means closed
For comparison, here are the device classes for analog sensors.