diff --git a/src/main/java/de/ph87/data/DemoService.java b/src/main/java/de/ph87/data/DemoService.java
index 84b735a..89a1785 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/ph87/data/DemoService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/ph87/data/DemoService.java
@@ -29,6 +29,13 @@ public class DemoService {
   @Transactional
   @EventListener(ApplicationReadyEvent.class)
   public void init() {
+    final Series infraredHeater = series("infraredHeater/state", "", SeriesType.BOOL, 5);
+    topic(
+      "Infrarotheizung",
+      "now",
+      new TopicQuery(infraredHeater, "$.state", "timestamp", "true")
+    );
+
     final Series electricityEnergyProduce = series("electricity/energy/produce", "kWh", SeriesType.DELTA, 5);
     final Series electricityPowerProduce = series("electricity/power/produce", "W", SeriesType.VARYING, 5);
     topic(
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/ph87/data/topic/TopicReceiver.java b/src/main/java/de/ph87/data/topic/TopicReceiver.java
index 2921180..1331214 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/ph87/data/topic/TopicReceiver.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/ph87/data/topic/TopicReceiver.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import org.springframework.transaction.annotation.Transactional;
 import java.time.Instant;
 import java.time.ZoneId;
 import java.time.ZonedDateTime;
+import java.util.Optional;
 
 @Slf4j
 @Service
@@ -95,24 +96,40 @@ public class TopicReceiver {
           return;
         }
       }
-      final double value = query.getFunction().apply(json.read(query.getValueQuery(), Double.class)) * query.getFactor();
-      series.update(date, value);
-      applicationEventPublisher.publishEvent(new SeriesDto(series));
 
-      switch (series.getType()) {
-        case BOOL -> {
-          final ZonedDateTime begin = queryTimestamp(json, query.getBeginQuery(), topic.getTimestampType());
-          final boolean terminated = json.read(query.getTerminatedQuery(), Boolean.class);
-          boolService.write(series, begin, date, value > 0, terminated);
-        }
-        case DELTA -> deltaService.write(series, date, value);
-        case VARYING -> varyingService.write(series, date, value);
-      }
+      final Object valueRaw = json.read(query.getValueQuery());
+      queryValue(valueRaw).ifPresentOrElse(
+        v -> {
+          final double value = query.getFunction().apply(v) * query.getFactor();
+          series.update(date, value);
+          applicationEventPublisher.publishEvent(new SeriesDto(series));
+
+          switch (series.getType()) {
+            case BOOL -> {
+              final ZonedDateTime begin = "timestamp".equals(query.getBeginQuery()) ? date : queryTimestamp(json, query.getBeginQuery(), topic.getTimestampType());
+              final boolean terminated = !"true".equals(query.getTerminatedQuery()) && json.read(query.getTerminatedQuery(), Boolean.class);
+              boolService.write(series, begin, date, value > 0, terminated);
+            }
+            case DELTA -> deltaService.write(series, date, value);
+            case VARYING -> varyingService.write(series, date, value);
+          }
+        },
+        () -> topic.error(log, "Failed to parse value: %s".formatted(valueRaw))
+      );
     } catch (Exception e) {
       topic.error(log, "Error executing TopicQuery: %s\n  topic=%s\n  query=%s\n  inbound=%s".formatted(e.toString(), topic, query, inbound), e);
     }
   }
 
+  private static Optional<Double> queryValue(final Object valueRaw) {
+    if (valueRaw instanceof final Number n) {
+      return Optional.of((double) n);
+    } else if (valueRaw instanceof final Boolean b) {
+      return Optional.of(b ? 1.0 : 0.0);
+    }
+    return Optional.empty();
+  }
+
   @NonNull
   private Topic updateOrCreate(@NonNull final String name) {
     return topicRepository.findByName(name).stream().peek(Topic::update).findFirst().orElseGet(() -> topicRepository.save(new Topic(name)));
@@ -120,6 +137,9 @@ public class TopicReceiver {
 
   @NonNull
   private static ZonedDateTime queryTimestamp(@NonNull final DocumentContext json, @NonNull final String query, @NonNull final TimestampType type) {
+    if ("now".equals(query)) {
+      return ZonedDateTime.now();
+    }
     return switch (type) {
       case TimestampType.EPOCH_SECONDS -> ZonedDateTime.ofInstant(Instant.ofEpochSecond(json.read(query, Long.class)), ZoneId.systemDefault());
       case TimestampType.EPOCH_MILLISECONDS -> ZonedDateTime.ofInstant(Instant.ofEpochMilli(json.read(query, Long.class)), ZoneId.systemDefault());
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/ph87/data/topic/query/TopicQuery.java b/src/main/java/de/ph87/data/topic/query/TopicQuery.java
index ab97d7a..bd8f3d6 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/ph87/data/topic/query/TopicQuery.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/ph87/data/topic/query/TopicQuery.java
@@ -46,6 +46,10 @@ public class TopicQuery {
     this(series, valueQuery, "", "", TopicQueryFunction.NONE, 1);
   }
 
+  public TopicQuery(@Nullable final Series series, @NonNull final String valueQuery, @NonNull final String beginQuery, @NonNull final String terminatedQuery) {
+    this(series, valueQuery, beginQuery, terminatedQuery, TopicQueryFunction.NONE, 1);
+  }
+
   public TopicQuery(@Nullable final Series series, @NonNull final String valueQuery, final double factor) {
     this(series, valueQuery, "", "", TopicQueryFunction.NONE, factor);
   }