Is there an option in a Rule Machine condition to check whether a numerical value, in my case a Power Meter, is null or not a number to use in an IF...THEN? I don't see an option in the simple operators.
I have an instance where minute polled data will go out to lunch for a little while and then operate normally when it finally returns with a number.
Perhaps if you said what exactly it is you want to do someone can give you some advice on how.
If a device hangs and does not return a value the best thing to do is probably to send a refresh command to get it going again. IF you do a IF Then and use a device value I think it will pull the last value it read. It doesn't return a null.
I have a couple of Aoetec power meters that will sometimes stop responding. I have rules setup that will send a refresh if they don't update in a specified amount of time. I also have to do something similar with my HEM whole house energy meter. It will sometime stop responding and I have to power cycle it.
Based on your feedback, I thought it might help if I was a little more detailed with my question.
My power meter polls for values every minute, populates a string, and then I use that normally numerical value to decide on whether to take an action.
If Watts < 100 Turn on Switch 1, and if Watts < 0 Turn on Switch 2 for example
Watts is a "Power Meter" from an Emporia Vue that has data that comes across a Home Assistant Device Bridge.
My problem is that sometimes Watts goes to zero or invalid and how this interface reports the data is out of my control. I can and have adjusted my rule for zero checking, but Null values still create unexpected outputs since it reads Watts as less than zero when it's null.
I suppose I could bracket the data in ranges of 0-100 and something like -10000 to zero for my two conditions, but I was trying to stick with simple < > kind of operators if possible.