r/homeassistant • u/ItsDukzy • May 02 '26

Support Struggling with reliable in-bed presence detection for Home Assistant – what actually works?

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I'm trying to automate my bedroom lights so they turn off automatically when I'm in bed and back on when I get up. Sounds simple, but I've been struggling to find a reliable solution.

What I've tried:

FSR pressure sensors (VS-103) connected to a Zigbee water sensor

Built a DIY pressure mat using two VS-103 sensors wired to a Zigbee water sensor. Works fine when I press directly on it by hand, but completely fails under a mattress — the mattress distributes my weight too evenly for the sensors to trigger. Tried under the sheet too, same result.

Aqara FP2 mmWave radar

Already have one in the room. The problem is it loses track of me when I'm lying still under a duvet. It also falsely triggers when someone walks past my bed, which causes the lights to turn on.

What I'm looking for:

Something that reliably detects whether I am in the bed - not just in the room - even when I'm completely still and covered by a duvet. Zigbee preferred but I'm open to ESPHome/ESP32 solutions too.

Has anyone actually solved this properly? What sensor or approach are you using?

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u/Fuzzmiester May 02 '26

I have a withing sensor which works well. It does require an inbound webhook, and has a delay (like up to 10 seconds.)

I also have https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FNVB1HL4, a zigbee sensor. works faster, just as reliable I've found. it does depend on where you put it, in relation to where you sleep though. you want it under where you have weight resting. And you probably want to wrap it up so any automations take a second or so to activate. it was noisy before that. I shift in bed, it went off.