Home Assistant Templates Explained: A Complete Beginner’s Guide

Want to make your Home Assistant automations smarter? In this tutorial, I’ll break down templates step by step—explaining how to process sensor data, work with entity states, and add logic to your automations.

By the end, you’ll understand core data types, if-else conditions, Jinja syntax, and how to create template-based sensors. Plus, I’ll demonstrate a real-life example using Node-RED to detect if my treadmill is actually in use—or just pretending to be!

🔗 Useful Links & Resources
📖 Jinja Template Documentation
https://jinja.palletsprojects.com/en/...
📖 Home Assistant Templating Guide
https://www.home-assistant.io/docs/co...

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💬 Need Help? Join the Community!
🔗 Join my Discord:   / discord  
📂 Get My Slides & Sample Code on GitHub
https://github.com/LazyTechGeek/HomeA...

🔹 Topics Covered in This Video:

00:00 Intro
00:36 What Are Templates Used For?
00:54 Supported Template Entities (Before Home Assistant 2021.8.1)
01:48 Supported Template Entities (After Home Assistant 2021.8.1)
02:46 Comparing Template Structures (Changes in 2021.8.1)
04:27 Jinja Template Syntax Breakdown
04:55 Core Data Types in Home Assistant Templates
05:37 Core Data Types Explained with Code Examples
06:58 Using the Home Assistant Templates Editor
08:39 Retrieving States from the Template Editor
10:36 Using ‘if’ Statements in the Template Editor
13:27 Choosing the Correct Value for the Treadmill in Templates
14:34 Creating Sensors from Templates (Old Method)
17:20 Creating Sensors from Templates (New Method)
19:04 Confirming the New Entity Was Created
19:46 Introducing a Real-Life Routine Using Templates
21:59 Explaining the Routine Logic in Node-RED
23:07 Demo: Routine in Action
23:37 Outro

🎵 MUSIC USED IN THIS VIDEO
Intro Track: Powerful Action Rock Trailer
🎤 Artist: RocknStock
🎧 Source: Pixabay
🔗 Link: https://pixabay.com/users/rocknstock-...

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