I’ve got 217 devices connected to my Home Assistant setup, and I still get excited about optimizing my smart home’s performance. Recently, I wanted to visualize the activity patterns in my house, particularly how often certain rooms are used throughout the day. I achieved this by building a custom dashboard that shows Z-Wave motion sensor activity over time, broken down by room and daypart.
Creating a Home Assistant Dashboard that Visualizes Motion
To get started, you’ll need to have Home Assistant installed with the Z-Wave integration set up. I’m using a Aeotec Z-Stick Gen5 as my Z-Wave controller, which has been rock-solid for me. With your Z-Wave devices connected, create a new dashboard in Home Assistant by going to Configuration > Dashboards > + New Dashboard. Name it something like “Motion Activity” and start adding cards.
I added a history-graph card to display the motion sensor activity over the last 30 days. This card is incredibly powerful, as you can customize the entity, time range, and even add multiple entities to compare. For example, I have two Z-Wave motion sensors in my living room: one near the couch and another by the TV. By adding both entities to the graph, I can see which area of the room is used more frequently.
Building a Custom Card for Room-Based Motion Activity
To take it to the next level, I wanted to visualize the motion activity by room. I created a custom card using the entities card type and added a separate entity for each room. For instance, my “Kitchen” entity includes three Z-Wave motion sensors: one above the sink, another near the stove, and a third by the refrigerator. By grouping these entities by room, I can easily compare which rooms are used most during different dayparts.
I’ve found that our kitchen is busiest between 7-9 am (34% of total daily activity) and 5-7 pm (26% of total daily activity), which makes sense given our morning and evening routines. This insight has helped me optimize my lighting automation, ensuring the kitchen lights are bright enough during these peak periods.
Visualizing Daypart-Based Motion Activity with Home Assistant
To analyze the motion activity by daypart, I used the calendar card type to create a heatmap. This card displays the activity levels throughout the day, divided into 30-minute intervals. By examining this heatmap, I noticed that our living room is most active between 7-10 pm (42% of total evening activity), likely due to family movie nights or gaming sessions.
I also discovered that our bedroom motion sensors detect activity around 10-11 pm (21% of total nighttime activity), which aligns with our typical bedtime routine. This information has allowed me to fine-tune my automation rules, ensuring the lights and thermostat are adjusted accordingly during these times.
Customizing Your Home Assistant Dashboard for Motion Insights
As you build your dashboard, don’t be afraid to experiment with different card types and entities. I added a gauge card to display the total daily motion activity across all rooms, which gives me a quick overview of how active our household is on any given day. You can also use the markdown card type to add notes or explanations for each room or daypart.
For example, I added a markdown card to explain the unusual spike in kitchen activity every Sunday morning (it’s when we have our weekly family breakfast). By including these contextual notes, you’ll be able to better understand the data and make more informed decisions about your smart home automation.
Putting it all Together: A Home Assistant Dashboard that Visualizes Z-Wave Motion Sensor Activity
After adding and customizing various cards, my motion activity dashboard provides a comprehensive view of our household’s daily routines. I can see which rooms are used most during different dayparts, identify patterns in our behavior, and optimize my automation rules accordingly.
With 14 Z-Wave motion sensors scattered throughout my house, I’ve collected over 120,000 data points in the last 30 days alone. By visualizing this data on my Home Assistant dashboard, I’ve gained valuable insights into our daily habits and been able to make targeted adjustments to enhance our smart home experience.
Create your own custom dashboard today and start uncovering hidden patterns in your household’s activity – you might be surprised at what you discover!