Usage examples¶

Ideas for PlancH around the house, with the Home Assistant automations behind them. They use only what the panel already offers: the menu built from labels, the four scene keys, the free status LEDs D2 and D3 on the ear, the Backlight and the touch area.

Entity IDs

The examples use light.planch_status_led_2, light.planch_backlight and so on. The real IDs depend on the name of your panel (for example light.planch_3a4b5c_status_led_2): check them on the device page and adjust the examples. Paste an automation in Settings → Automations → Create automation → ⋮ → Edit in YAML, without the automation: line, or keep them in a package.

Office¶

Scene keys. A Focus scene (desk lamp on, cool white, ceiling off) on S1, a Video call scene (face light on, blinds half closed) on S2, Break on S3 and Leave (everything off) on S4: put the labels PlancH S1 … PlancH S4 on the scenes. The LED next to the active scene stays lit, so a glance tells which mode the office is in.

D2 red during meetings. With a calendar in Home Assistant (Google Calendar, CalDAV, Local calendar…) the calendar entity is on while an event is running:

automation:
  - alias: "PlancH: D2 red during meetings"
    triggers:
      - trigger: state
        entity_id: calendar.work
    actions:
      - if:
          - condition: state
            entity_id: calendar.work
            state: "on"
        then:
          - action: light.turn_on
            target:
              entity_id: light.planch_status_led_2
            data:
              rgb_color: [255, 0, 0]
              brightness_pct: 40
        else:
          - action: light.turn_off
            target:
              entity_id: light.planch_status_led_2

Bedside¶

A second PlancH on the night table, with its own keys: name the panel Bedroom (field Panel on its device page, see More than one PlancH) and use the labels PlancH Bedroom S1 … S4. They win over the shared scene keys on that panel only.

S1 Reading: bedside lamp at 40 %, warm white.
S2 Night: everything off except a dim night light.
S3 Wake up: a script that brings the lamp up slowly (below).
S4 All off.

script:
  planch_wake_up:
    alias: "Wake up"
    sequence:
      - action: light.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: light.bedside_lamp
        data:
          brightness_pct: 1
          color_temp_kelvin: 2200
      - action: light.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: light.bedside_lamp
        data:
          brightness_pct: 80
          color_temp_kelvin: 4000
          transition: 600   # 10 minutes

In the dark the panel stays quiet by itself: the display and the scene LEDs switch off 30 s after the last key, and D1 is off while everything works. Keep the backlight low at night:

automation:
  - alias: "PlancH: dim backlight at night"
    triggers:
      - trigger: time
        at: "22:30:00"
    actions:
      - action: light.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: light.planch_bedroom_backlight
        data:
          rgb_color: [255, 120, 40]
          brightness_pct: 3
  - alias: "PlancH: backlight off in the morning"
    triggers:
      - trigger: time
        at: "07:30:00"
    actions:
      - action: light.turn_off
        target:
          entity_id: light.planch_bedroom_backlight

Kitchen timer¶

A scene key starts a timer and the backlight counts down, from green to red.

Create a timer helper: Settings → Devices & services → Helpers → Create helper → Timer, name Kitchen, duration 10 minutes (timer.kitchen).

Create a script that starts it and put the label PlancH S3 on the script:

script:
  planch_kitchen_timer:
    alias: "Kitchen timer"
    sequence:
      - action: timer.start
        target:
          entity_id: timer.kitchen

Add the automation that colours the backlight and flashes D3 at the end:

automation:
  - alias: "PlancH: kitchen timer on the backlight"
    mode: restart
    triggers:
      - trigger: state
        entity_id: timer.kitchen
        to: "active"
      - trigger: time_pattern
        seconds: "/10"
    conditions:
      - condition: state
        entity_id: timer.kitchen
        state: "active"
    actions:
      - variables:
          left: >-
            {{ (as_datetime(state_attr('timer.kitchen', 'finishes_at')) - now()).total_seconds() }}
          total: >-
            {{ as_timedelta(state_attr('timer.kitchen', 'duration')).total_seconds() }}
      - action: light.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: light.planch_backlight
        data:
          hs_color: ["{{ [0, [120 * left / total, 120] | min] | max }}", 100]
          brightness_pct: 60
  - alias: "PlancH: kitchen timer finished"
    triggers:
      - trigger: event
        event_type: timer.finished
        event_data:
          entity_id: timer.kitchen
    actions:
      - action: light.turn_off
        target:
          entity_id: light.planch_backlight
      - action: light.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: light.planch_status_led_3
        data:
          rgb_color: [255, 0, 0]
          flash: long

Pressing S3 again restarts the timer. If you cancel the timer from Home Assistant, the backlight keeps its last colour until the next change.

Indicators around the house¶

D2 and D3 are two RGB lights that any automation can use. Pick the two indicators that matter most to you, one per LED: two automations writing the same LED overwrite each other.

Indicator	LED in the example	Colour
Front door open	D2	Red
Washing machine finished	D3	Cyan, until you touch the ear
Rain in the next hours	D3, instead of the washing machine	Blue

Front door open¶

automation:
  - alias: "PlancH: D2 red while the front door is open"
    triggers:
      - trigger: state
        entity_id: binary_sensor.front_door
    actions:
      - if:
          - condition: state
            entity_id: binary_sensor.front_door
            state: "on"
        then:
          - action: light.turn_on
            target:
              entity_id: light.planch_status_led_2
            data:
              rgb_color: [255, 0, 0]
              brightness_pct: 40
        else:
          - action: light.turn_off
            target:
              entity_id: light.planch_status_led_2

Washing machine finished¶

With a smart plug that measures power (sensor.washing_machine_power): when the power stays low for a few minutes the cycle is over. Touching the ear of the panel clears the LED.

automation:
  - alias: "PlancH: washing machine finished"
    triggers:
      - trigger: numeric_state
        entity_id: sensor.washing_machine_power
        below: 3
        for: "00:03:00"
    actions:
      - action: light.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: light.planch_status_led_3
        data:
          rgb_color: [0, 255, 220]
          brightness_pct: 40
  - alias: "PlancH: touch clears the washing machine LED"
    triggers:
      - trigger: state
        entity_id: binary_sensor.planch_touch
        to: "on"
    actions:
      - action: light.turn_off
        target:
          entity_id: light.planch_status_led_3

The first automation may also fire when the plug comes back after a power cut; add a condition on the power being above a few watts some minutes before if that bothers you.

Rain in the next hours¶

Checks the hourly forecast every 30 minutes (weather.home is the default weather integration):

automation:
  - alias: "PlancH: D3 blue if rain is coming"
    triggers:
      - trigger: time_pattern
        minutes: "/30"
    actions:
      - action: weather.get_forecasts
        target:
          entity_id: weather.home
        data:
          type: hourly
        response_variable: forecast
      - if:
          - condition: template
            value_template: >-
              {{ forecast['weather.home'].forecast[:3]
                 | selectattr('condition', 'in', ['rainy', 'pouring', 'lightning-rainy', 'snowy-rainy'])
                 | list | count > 0 }}
        then:
          - action: light.turn_on
            target:
              entity_id: light.planch_status_led_3
            data:
              rgb_color: [0, 60, 255]
              brightness_pct: 40
        else:
          - action: light.turn_off
            target:
              entity_id: light.planch_status_led_3