Door sensor states

Better Thermostat expects the configured door sensor to behave like a binary sensor:

• on, true or open — door is open, heating pauses
• off, false or closed — door is closed, heating resumes
• unknown or unavailable — Better Thermostat assumes the door is open as a precaution

If the sensor reports anything else, Better Thermostat raises an invalid door sensor state repair issue and ignores the state change.

Common causes

• The configured entity is not a binary sensor — for example a numeric sensor, an input helper with custom values, or a template that returns something other than on/off.
• A group helper that aggregates non-binary entities.

How to fix it

1. Check the sensor’s actual state under Developer tools → States.

2. Use a binary_sensor (device class door/opening), or a group of binary sensors:

   group:
     hallway_doors:
       name: Hallway Doors
       icon: mdi:door-open
       all: false
       entities:
         - binary_sensor.frontdoor_contact
         - binary_sensor.balcony_contact

3. If you template your own sensor, make sure it only ever renders on or off.

Door and window sensors are independent

Doors are configured separately from windows and carry their own delays, Delay before the thermostat should turn off when the door is opened and its counterpart for closing. A hallway door that is opened briefly and often is usually given a longer opening delay than a window, so short passages do not interrupt heating.

Both contacts suppress heating on the same terms, and they combine: heating resumes only once every configured contact reports closed. See Window sensor states for the window side.