Visual Indicator of Garage Exterior Access

This Home Assistant automation adds a simple but effective visual reminder to check if the garage is open to the outside before opening the door from the house.

Purpose

The garage has multiple exterior exits—two bay doors and a walk-out door. If any of them are open, there’s a risk that our dog could get outside unintentionally. This automation provides a visual cue to alert anyone in the house before opening the door to the garage.

How It Works

If any garage exterior door is open:

• The LED indicators on three nearby Z-Wave switches turn red.

If all exterior doors are closed:

• The indicators return to their normal state (for me, that's off)

This setup allows us to quickly check whether the garage is secured—no need to look at a screen or check sensors manually. When the LED is red, we know the garage is accessible to the outside and to proceed with caution.

Here's the YAML for the automation:

alias: "Show garage is accessible to outside"
description: ""
triggers:
  - entity_id:
      - cover.garage_bay_1
      - cover.garage_bay_2
      - binary_sensor.garage_exterior_door_open_close_contact
    to:
      - open
      - closed
      - "on"
      - "off"
    trigger: state
conditions: []
actions:
  - choose:
      - conditions:
          - condition: template
            value_template: >
              {{ trigger.to_state.state == 'open' or trigger.to_state.state ==
              'on' }}
        sequence:
          - device_id: 855dbc7e3c7aeeb146054fd319480e0c
            domain: zwave_js
            type: set_config_parameter
            endpoint: 0
            parameter: 23
            bitmask: null
            subtype: 23 (LED Indicator Color) on endpoint 0
            value: 3
          - device_id: 3189e4e89e16ee5f27c78e7ab008c27a
            domain: zwave_js
            type: set_config_parameter
            endpoint: 0
            parameter: 23
            bitmask: null
            subtype: 23 (LED Indicator Color) on endpoint 0
            value: 3
          - device_id: 38927fa1948acc9b191d52e4e7d6f88f
            domain: zwave_js
            type: set_config_parameter
            endpoint: 0
            parameter: 14
            bitmask: null
            subtype: 14 (LED Indicator Color) on endpoint 0
            value: 3
          - device_id: 855dbc7e3c7aeeb146054fd319480e0c
            domain: zwave_js
            type: set_config_parameter
            endpoint: 0
            parameter: 2
            bitmask: null
            subtype: 2 (LED Indicator) on endpoint 0
            value: 3
          - device_id: 3189e4e89e16ee5f27c78e7ab008c27a
            domain: zwave_js
            type: set_config_parameter
            endpoint: 0
            parameter: 2
            bitmask: null
            subtype: 2 (LED Indicator) on endpoint 0
            value: 2
          - device_id: 38927fa1948acc9b191d52e4e7d6f88f
            domain: zwave_js
            type: set_config_parameter
            endpoint: 0
            parameter: 2
            bitmask: null
            subtype: 2 (LED Indicator) on endpoint 0
            value: 2
      - conditions:
          - condition: template
            value_template: >
              {{ trigger.to_state.state == 'closed' or trigger.to_state.state ==
              'off' }}
        sequence:
          - device_id: 855dbc7e3c7aeeb146054fd319480e0c
            domain: zwave_js
            type: set_config_parameter
            endpoint: 0
            parameter: 2
            bitmask: null
            subtype: 2 (LED Indicator) on endpoint 0
            value: 2
          - device_id: 3189e4e89e16ee5f27c78e7ab008c27a
            domain: zwave_js
            type: set_config_parameter
            endpoint: 0
            parameter: 2
            bitmask: null
            subtype: 2 (LED Indicator) on endpoint 0
            value: 2
          - device_id: 38927fa1948acc9b191d52e4e7d6f88f
            domain: zwave_js
            type: set_config_parameter
            endpoint: 0
            parameter: 2
            bitmask: null
            subtype: 2 (LED Indicator) on endpoint 0
            value: 2
mode: single