Want to share some of the automations I have done with Aqara devices to include the new W200 Thermostat that is in early release.
Real-World Use Case: Morning/Evening Automations with Aqara + Home Assistant
One of the most practical automation sequences I’ve built is the morning and evening lighting routine. Here’s how it works end-to-end using my Aqara hardware in Home Assistant.
Evening Lights — Sunset/Sunrise Triggered
The evening automation is dead simple but reliable: it’s tied directly to actual local sunrise and sunset times, not a fixed clock schedule.
- At sunset → HA turns on grp_evening_lights (a group of Aqara LED Bulb T2s and LED Strip T1s throughout the house), waits up to 15 seconds to confirm the group is actually on, then pushes a confirmation to family phones: “Evening lights are now ON
” - At sunrise → Reverses it. Lights off, confirmation sent: “Evening lights are now OFF
”
Using sunrise/sunset rather than a fixed time means the house adjusts automatically as seasons change — no manual schedule tweaking.
Morning Schedule — Multi-Step Routine
The morning automation is more involved. It’s driven by a schedule entity (sch_morning_lights) so the on/off times are easily adjustable from the HA UI without touching the automation.
When the morning schedule turns ON:
- Turns on grp_morning_lights (Aqara LED Bulbs T2 in the active areas)
- Waits for confirmation, then notifies: “Morning Lights ON
”
When the morning schedule turns OFF (10:00 PM) (the more interesting half):
- Turns off morning lights
- Immediately checks lock.grp_door_locks — a group of all 7 Aqara smart locks (U100, U300, U400 models across all entry points). Any that aren’t locked get locked automatically.
- Sends a door lock status report to family phones listing which locks are confirmed locked and flagging any that didn’t respond.
- After a 15-second settle delay, sends a thermostat briefing:
▎ Outdoor 68.4°F | LR HEAT (67→70°F, heating) | DR COOL (71→69°F, idle)
This single notification gives the whole picture — current outdoor temperature from the weather station, plus 1 ecobee thermostat (Living Room ECB601 and 1 Aqara (Dining Room W200) showing mode, current temp, setpoint, and live HVAC action. It’s an at-a-glance confirmation that the house is set correctly before going to bed.
In addition, the automation automatically sets thermostats to heat or cool along with desired temps for daytime vs sleeping based on outside temp thresholds.
Why This Works Well with Aqara
The Aqara U100/U300/U400 locks respond consistently enough via Matter that the lock-check-and-secure step is reliable within the 20-second wait window. The LED Bulb T2s and LED Strip T1s in the light groups respond fast enough that the 15-second confirmation timeout rarely triggers.
The FP2 and FP300 presence sensors feed into the broader security arming logic that runs alongside these routines, so the morning schedule ties naturally into whether the house goes into away mode after lights-off.
The weather station and W200 work great together for controlling climate based on on-prim weather conditions.
Happy to share the YAML if anyone wants to adapt it.
