Sensor counter refresh

The Sensor counter refresh action retrieves the current value of an Elk-M1 counter from the panel.

This is useful because the panel does not always send counter value updates on its own. Refreshing makes sure Home Assistant shows the current counter value.

Targets of the action

This action requires a target. The target is the object of the action. You can point the action at a single entityAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more], a device, an area, a floor, or a label, and Home Assistant will run the action on every matching sensor entity behind that target.

• Entity: one specific sensor entity, such as sensor.living_room.
• Device: every sensor entity that belongs to a device.
• Area: every sensor entity in a room or area.
• Floor: every sensor entity on a floor.
• Label: every sensor entity that shares a label.

You can also select different target types in one action. For example, you can add a specific entity and an area as targets in the same action to run the action on both of them at once.

Using this action from the user interface

If you prefer building automations and scripts visually, Home Assistant walks you through this action step by step. You pick what to target, tweak a few options, and save. No YAML knowledge required.

To refresh a counter from an automation or a script:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation or script, or select Create automation > Create new automation.
3. If you’re setting up a new automation, add a trigger in the When section. Scripts don’t need a trigger. They run when something else calls them.
4. In the Then do section, select Add action.
5. From the search box, search for and select Elk-M1 Control: Sensor counter refresh.
6. Choose the Elk-M1 counter to refresh.
7. Select Save.

This action has no additional options beyond the target.

Using this action in YAML

If you work directly in YAML, or you want to know exactly what Home Assistant does under the hood, this section has the technical reference. It lists the field names you use in YAML, their types, and which ones are required.

In YAML, refer to this action as elkm1.sensor_counter_refresh. A basic example looks like this:

action: elkm1.sensor_counter_refresh
target:
  entity_id: sensor.elkm1_counter_1

This refreshes the value of the selected counter.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Open Developer tools > Actions, search for this action, fill in the fields, and select Perform action. You see what happens on your actual entitiesAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more] without writing a line of YAML.

Still stuck?

The Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with the action you’re calling and what you expected to happen, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.

Related actions

These actions work well alongside this one:

• Sensor counter set: Sets an Elk-M1 counter to a specific value.