Sensor House
Garage door sensor recipe
A garage door left open on a freezing night, with water lines in the garage.
A garage door left open on a freezing night, with water lines in the garage. On the door and its frame (a tilt sensor rides on the top panel), wherever the door's own instructions put it. In Home Assistant it shows up as a binary_sensor, device class garage_door. When the garage door stays open 10 minutes and it is below 32 F outside, tell you to close it. The Red Cross says to keep garage doors closed when there are water supply lines in the garage. The recipe waits a few minutes so carrying in groceries does not count, and can ask an outdoor thermometer first so it only speaks when it is freezing out.
What it catches
A garage door left open on a freezing night, with water lines in the garage.
Where it goes
On the door and its frame (a tilt sensor rides on the top panel), wherever the door's own instructions put it.
How it shows up in Home Assistant
As a binary_sensor, device class garage_door. Battery sensors usually talk over a low-power mesh radio (Zigbee, Z-Wave or Thread) to a hub or a USB stick on the Home Assistant machine.
Why the recipe looks like this
The Red Cross says to keep garage doors closed when there are water supply lines in the garage. The recipe waits a few minutes so carrying in groceries does not count, and can ask an outdoor thermometer first so it only speaks when it is freezing out.
Write it for your sensor
Runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent.
Garage door sensor. When the garage door stays open 10 minutes and it is below 32 F outside, tell you to close it.
automations.yaml
- alias: "Garage: the door was left open"
mode: single
triggers:
- trigger: state
entity_id: binary_sensor.garage_door
to: "on"
for:
minutes: 10
conditions:
- condition: numeric_state
entity_id: sensor.outdoor_temperature
below: 32
actions:
- action: notify.mobile_app_your_phone
data:
title: "Garage door open"
message: "The garage door has been open for a while and it is below freezing outside. Close it before the water lines freeze."
Rename the entities to your own, then paste. Syntax: Home Assistant: Automation triggers.
Sources
- Home Assistant: Binary sensor (device classes moisture, door, garage door, battery) Home Assistant
- Home Assistant: Automation triggers Home Assistant
- American Red Cross: Preventing and thawing frozen pipes American Red Cross
Drafted with a language model on October 26, 2026 from the sources listed above. Every recipe on the page is written by the site's own code and parsed by a test. The editor samples pages after they publish; nothing here is advice from a licensed electrician or plumber.
Found an error? See Corrections.