Sun elevation crossed threshold

The Sun elevation crossed threshold trigger fires when the sun’s elevation crosses an angle you define. Elevation is the angle between the sun and the horizon: 0° is right at the horizon, positive values are above it, and negative values are below it. The sun climbs to its highest elevation at solar noon and reaches its lowest below the horizon at solar midnight.

Because elevation tracks the real position of the sun, it adapts to the seasons in a way a fixed sunset offset cannot. Use it to turn on lights as the sun gets low, close blinds against a low winter sun, or run solar-aware automations that respond to how high the sun actually is.

Using this trigger from the user interface

If you prefer building automations visually, Home Assistant walks you through this trigger step by step. You pick what to watch, tweak a few options, and save. No YAML knowledge required.

To use this trigger in an automation:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation, or select Create automation > Create new automation.
3. In the When section, select Add trigger.
4. From the search box, search for and select Sun: Sun elevation crossed threshold.
5. Under Threshold type, configure which crossing fires the trigger:
   • Select Above or Below and enter an angle in degrees to fire when the elevation crosses that angle.
   • Select In range and enter a lower and upper angle to fire when the elevation crosses into that range.
   • Select Outside range and enter a lower and upper angle to fire when the elevation crosses out of that range.
   • For each option, you can enter a fixed angle in degrees, or reference a sensor entity or a number helper entity that holds the angle.
6. Optionally, under For at least, enter how long the elevation must stay past the threshold before the trigger fires.
7. Select Save.

Options in the UI

Using this trigger 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 trigger as sun.elevation_crossed_threshold. A basic example looks like this:

trigger: sun.elevation_crossed_threshold
options:
  threshold:
    type: below
    value:
      number: 4

This fires when the sun drops below 4° of elevation, a common stand-in for “it’s getting dark.” To fire when the sun climbs above an angle instead, use type: above.

Options in YAML

YAML sometimes provides additional options for more complex use cases that are not available through the UI.

Good to know

• This trigger does not use a target. It always watches the sun at your configured home location.
• The trigger fires only on the crossing moment. Once the elevation is above your threshold, it does not fire again until the elevation drops back below it and then crosses up again.
• A threshold around 0° corresponds roughly to sunrise and sunset. Negative angles like -6° correspond to civil twilight. Use Dawn and Dusk if you prefer to work with named twilight phases instead of raw angles.
• The maximum elevation the sun reaches depends on your latitude and the time of year, so pick threshold angles that the sun actually reaches at your location.
• To react to every elevation change rather than a single crossing, use Sun elevation changed.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Go to Settings > Automations & scenes, create a new automation, and add this trigger. Save the automation, then change the state of the targeted entity to watch the trigger fire 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].

For this trigger, there is no target entity to change. To test it, wait for the sun to cross your threshold, or temporarily set the threshold to an angle the sun is about to pass.

More examples

Real scenarios where this trigger fires in automations and scripts. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup.

Automation: turn on lights when the sun gets low

When the sun drops below 4° of elevation, turn on the living room lights. This tracks the real position of the sun, so it stays sensible through every season.

• Trigger: Sun elevation crossed threshold
  • Threshold type: Below (4°)
• Action: Turn on light
  • Target: Living room lights

alias: "Lights on when the sun is low"
triggers:
  - trigger: sun.elevation_crossed_threshold
    options:
      threshold:
        type: below
        value:
          number: 4
actions:
  - action: light.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: light.living_room

Automation: close blinds against a low winter sun

When the sun sits low in the sky, between 0° and 15° of elevation, close the west-facing blinds to keep the low glare out. The For at least delay avoids reacting to brief readings.

• Trigger: Sun elevation crossed threshold
  • Threshold type: In range (0-15°)
  • For at least: 2 minutes
• Action: Close cover
  • Target: West-facing blinds

alias: "Close blinds against low sun"
triggers:
  - trigger: sun.elevation_crossed_threshold
    options:
      threshold:
        type: between
        value_min:
          number: 0
        value_max:
          number: 15
      for: "00:02:00"
actions:
  - action: cover.close_cover
    target:
      entity_id: cover.west_blinds

Still stuck?

The Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with the trigger you’re using and what you expected to happen, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.

Related triggers

These triggers work well alongside this one:

• Sun elevation changed: Triggers whenever the sun’s elevation changes, optionally limited to a threshold or range you set.

• Sunrise: Triggers when the sun rises.

• Sunset: Triggers when the sun sets.