Turn on siren

Use this action to turn on a siren or chime, for example to sound an alarm when a door opens while you are away.

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 turn on a siren 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. Select what you want to control. Under By target (see Targets), select the siren you want to turn on.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Turn on siren.
7. Optionally, set a tone, volume, or duration if your siren supports them.
8. Select Save.

Options in the UI

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 siren.turn_on. A basic example looks like this:

action: siren.turn_on
target:
  entity_id: siren.entry

This turns on siren.entry.

Options in YAML

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 siren entity behind that target.

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

Good to know

• This action only works with sirens that support being turned on.
• The tone, volume, and duration options only work if your siren supports them. Check the documentation of the integration that provides the siren.

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.

More examples

Real scenarios where this action shows up in automations and scripts. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup.

Automation: sound the siren when a door opens while away

Turn on a siren when a door opens and nobody is home.

• Trigger: State: Front door opens
• Condition: Nobody is home
• Action: Turn on siren
  • Target: Entry siren

- alias: "Sound the siren when the door opens while away"
  triggers:
    - trigger: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.front_door
      to: "on"
  conditions:
    - condition: state
      entity_id: zone.home
      state: "0"
  actions:
    - action: siren.turn_on
      target:
        entity_id: siren.entry

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:

• Turn off siren: Turns off a siren.

• Toggle siren: Toggles a siren on or off.