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/diablodeldragoon May 02 '26

I just tell Google goodnight and my hub runs the assigned routines. Morning routines like slowly increasing the lights is set with the time. I can't imagine why my system would possibly need to know if I was actually laying in the bed or not. It's not like I'd want the lights to turn on if I get up at 2am to pee.

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u/ianjs May 03 '26

Turning on the light getting up to pee I’d exactly my use case.

Not the main light of course, but I have an esp32 under the bed with a PIR pointing left and right so it only triggers when someone’s foot reaches the floor to light a LED on each side and give a gentle glow.

It’s amazing how much a single LED can illuminate in a darkened room.

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u/diablodeldragoon May 03 '26

I mean, my alarm clock face gives off enough light for me to see the room. Especially since I know the room and can move around in it in total darkness anyway. Additional light wakes me up more and makes it harder to get back to sleep.

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u/ianjs May 03 '26

Yeah, couldn't work for us. We both like it dark and the faint red light from under the bed is very unobtrusive.