Smart home automation is all about making your devices work together seamlessly, and Helper Entities in Home Assistant are a powerful tool to achieve that. Whether you want to store values, track states, or fine-tune your automations, Helpers give you the flexibility to customize your smart home without needing complex coding.
In this guide, we’ll explore what Helper Entities are, the different types available, and how you can use them to create smarter automations. Plus, I’ll share two real-world examples that showcase their potential.
What Are Helper Entities?
Helper Entities (often just called Helpers) are virtual entities in Home Assistant that store and manage data for use in automations, dashboards, and scripts. Unlike regular entities that represent physical devices (like a smart bulb or sensor), Helpers act as custom variables that help bridge gaps between devices and make automations more dynamic.
For example, you might use a Helper to:
- Store a numeric value, like a temperature threshold.
- Track a toggle switch that enables or disables an automation.
- Provide a dropdown menu to manually select different lighting scenes.
- Count the number of times an event occurs, such as how often a door is opened.
Instead of hardcoding automation conditions or relying only on device states, Helpers allow you to introduce flexibility into your smart home setup.
Types of Helper Entities & Their Use Cases
1. Toggle (Input Boolean)
A simple on/off switch that can be used to enable or disable automations.
Example: A occupied house toggle that prevents your security system from arming or your thermostat being set to away. We use this when the grandparents watch the kids so the house continues to act as if my wife and I are still there.
2. Numbers (Input Number)
Stores a numeric value that you can adjust manually or update dynamically.
Example: Setting a target brightness level for an automation that adjusts your lights throughout the day.
3. Text (Input Text)
Holds a text string that can be updated and used in automations.
Example: Storing a custom notification message that gets sent when an event occurs.
4. Dropdown (Input Select)
A dropdown list that allows you to select a value, which can then trigger automations.
Example: Changing lighting modes based on a selection.
5. Timers (Timer Helper)
Creates a countdown timer that can trigger automations when it reaches zero.
Example: A timer that, when expired, can kick off an automation like turning lights off.
6. Counters (Input Counter)
Keeps track of how many times an event occurs.
Example: Counting how many times a motion sensor is triggered in a day.
7. Combination Sensor
Combine the states of multiple sensors and get the minimum, maximum, average, or other data from the group.
Example: A group of humidity or temperature sensors to understand the average humidity or temperature in your house.
How to Create a Helper Entity in Home Assistant
Setting up a Helper is easy and can be done directly from the Home Assistant UI:
- Navigate to Settings > Devices & Services > Helpers
- Click Create Helper and select the type you need (e.g., Input Number, Input Boolean, etc.).
- Configure the settings (name, entity ID, values, etc.).
- Click Save, and your new Helper will be available for use in automations and dashboards.
Now, let’s dive into some real-world examples of how these Helpers can supercharge your smart home.
Real-World Examples of Helper Entities in Action
Averaging Temperature Readings Across Multiple Sensors
If you have multiple temperature sensors in different rooms of your home, you may want a single averaged value to represent the overall temperature of a floor. Instead of manually checking each sensor, you can use a Helper to create a Combined State Entity that averages the readings. This could also be further used as a basis for controlling the heat or AC of your smart thermostat.
How to Set It Up:
- Go to the Helpers page by going to Settings > Devices & Services > Helpers.
- Click Create Helper and Select “Combine the states of several sensors”.
- Add all the temperature entities from the given floor to the helper config. Also give it a name.
- Under Statistic Characteristic, select Arithmetic Mean and click Submit.
- Look for the helper under the name you used. Open it and see that it has now averaged all of those sensors.
Example Automation:
If the averaged temperature is below 68°F, turn on the heater.
If it’s above 75°F, turn on the air conditioning.
This method ensures that your heating or cooling decisions aren’t based on just one sensor but the overall climate of your main floor.
Using an Input Select for Dynamic Light Themes
Wouldn’t it be nice to change all your smart lights to a specific color theme with a single selection? With an Dropdown (Input Select) Helper, you can create a dropdown list of lighting themes and use automations to apply them.
How to Set It Up:
1. Go to Settings > Devices & Services > Helpers and create an Dropdown Helper.
2. Add different light themes as options (in our example we use “Gaming Mode” and “Warm White”).
3. Create an automation that changes the light colors based on the selected option.
Example Automation:
This gives you an easy way to change lighting moods with a simple dropdown selection in your Home Assistant dashboard.
Final Thoughts & Best Practices
Helper Entities are an underrated but powerful tool in Home Assistant that can take your smart home to the next level. By using Helpers, you can:
- Simplify automations and reduce complexity.
- Store and manage data dynamically.
- Improve the user experience by adding interactive controls.
Best Practices:
- Keep your Helpers organized by naming them clearly.
- Use groups to manage multiple Helpers together (e.g., grouping all climate-related Helpers).
- Leverage Lovelace UI to create easy-to-use dashboards with buttons, sliders, and dropdowns for controlling Helpers.
What’s Next?
Are you using Helper Entities in your automations? I’d love to hear how! Drop a comment below or share your setups on social media.