Exploring the world of home automation with ESPHome has been an exciting journey! I’ve been experimenting with various automations, and I’d love to share some insights and tips that might help others navigate the learning curve.
One feature I’ve been particularly interested in is the wait_until action, especially when combined with timeout. While the documentation provides a good foundation, practical examples can be scarce. Here’s a snippet from my setup that demonstrates how I’m using these actions to control my bathroom lights:
yaml
esphome:
name: bathroom_light_automation
on_boot: priority: 600
then:
- wait_until: wifi.connected:
- lambda: ‘id(displaytext).publish_state(“wifi on”);’
- wait_until: api.connected:
- lambda: ‘id(displaytext2).publish_state(“api on”);’
This setup ensures that my lights only activate once both the Wi-Fi and API connections are confirmed. However, I’m still exploring how to effectively implement timeouts to prevent the system from hanging if connections aren’t established within a certain timeframe.
Another area I’ve been delving into is optimizing OLED displays for a greenhouse monitoring setup. The challenge here is balancing functionality with energy efficiency, especially during nighttime when the screens can be too bright. I’ve managed to create a blank page to minimize light emission, but integrating this with a cron-based automation has been tricky. My current approach involves cycling through pages during the day and reverting to a blank screen at night:
yaml
interval:
- interval: 5s
then:- display.page.show_next: screen1
- component.update: screen1
- interval: 5s
then:- display.page.show_next: screen2
- component.update: screen2
…
While this works, I’m still experimenting with nested cron triggers to ensure the screens stay off during the night without interference from the interval actions.
If anyone has tips or encountered similar challenges, I’d love to hear your experiences! Whether it’s optimization techniques, troubleshooting common issues, or innovative use cases, let’s keep the discussion going and help each other make the most of ESPHome’s capabilities.
Happy automating! 