Local Sensor

A local sensor card displays the value of any sensor component running on the device itself. It has two modes:

• Numeric — shows a large number with an optional unit and label. This is the default mode.
• Text — shows a chosen icon and displays the live text state where a normal card label would appear.

Local sensor cards are read-only — tapping them does nothing.

Works without Home Assistant

Because the value comes from the device itself, local sensor cards update and display correctly even when Home Assistant is offline or unreachable.

Setting Up a Local Sensor Card

No firmware changes are needed. Define your sensors in your ESPHome YAML as normal — EspControl discovers them automatically.

1. Select a card and change its type to Local Sensor.
2. Open the Sensor dropdown — the device is queried for its available sensors.
3. Select the sensor you want to display. The Label and Unit fields auto-fill from the sensor's name and unit of measurement. You can edit them freely.
4. Choose Numeric or Text mode. This is set automatically based on the sensor type but can be changed.

For Numeric mode:

1. Edit Label if you want different text under the value.
2. Edit Unit to change the unit label shown next to the value.
3. Set Unit Precision if you want one or two decimal places.

For Text mode:

1. Choose an Icon. This icon is always shown and does not change based on the sensor value.
2. The live state is shown where a Switch card label would normally appear.

Internal Sensors

By default the dropdown shows only your own sensors. Check Show internal sensors to also see diagnostic sensors such as WiFi signal strength, uptime, and temperature calibration values.

Device Unreachable

If the web UI cannot reach the device while you are configuring a card, a manual Sensor Key text field appears as a fallback. Enter the ESPHome object_id of the sensor (the lowercase, underscore-separated form of its name).

How It Works on the Panel

• The device subscribes directly to the sensor's value updates — the display refreshes automatically whenever the sensor reports a new reading.
• The refresh rate is controlled by the sensor's own update_interval in your ESPHome YAML.
• Before the first value is received (for example, immediately after boot), the card shows --.
• Numeric mode uses the tertiary colour from Appearance, so it remains visually distinct from Switch and Trigger cards.
• Text mode uses the same tertiary colour while keeping the normal Switch-style icon and label layout.

Example Sensors

Sensor	Mode	Unit	What it shows
DHT22 temperature	Numeric	°C	Ambient temperature
DHT22 humidity	Numeric	%	Relative humidity
SCD40 CO₂	Numeric	ppm	CO₂ concentration
BH1750 illuminance	Numeric	lx	Light level
Template text sensor	Text		Open, Closed, or Ajar

Advanced: Pushing Values Manually

For values that are not ESPHome sensor entities — computed results, aggregations, or readings you do not want to expose as entities — you can push updates directly using send_local_sensor_update() in an on_value: lambda. The sensor key must match the value entered in the Sensor Key field (manual fallback mode).

sensor:
  - platform: adc
    pin: GPIO34
    on_value:
      then:
        - lambda: send_local_sensor_update("raw_voltage", x);

text_sensor:
  - platform: template
    lambda: |-
      if (id(door_contact).state) return {"Open"};
      return {"Closed"};
    on_value:
      then:
        - lambda: send_local_sensor_update("door_state", x.c_str());

When to Use It

Use local sensor cards when the sensor is part of the device's ESPHome config and you want to display its value without relying on Home Assistant. Use Sensor cards when the data is already in Home Assistant and you want to pull it from there.