diff --git a/HOWTO.md b/HOWTO.md
index c0016a2..d1505a6 100644
--- a/HOWTO.md
+++ b/HOWTO.md
@@ -359,6 +359,15 @@ friendly names shown by Zigbee2MQTT:
 nano config.yaml
 ```
 
+Sensor entries whose `name` begins with `CHANGE_ME` are placeholders and are
+excluded from MQTT polling, RRD creation, graphs, and the HTML dashboard. Rename
+an entry when its physical sensor is ready. The marker is configurable:
+
+```yaml
+collection:
+  excluded_name_prefix: CHANGE_ME
+```
+
 By default, the databases are written to `/var/lib/rrd` and the generated
 graphs to `/var/www/html/sensors`. Create those directories and grant the user
 running the collector ownership:
diff --git a/config.yaml b/config.yaml
index 05ddb69..b9fcac6 100644
--- a/config.yaml
+++ b/config.yaml
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ mqtt:
 collection:
   interval_seconds: 600
   mqtt_timeout_seconds: 15
+  excluded_name_prefix: CHANGE_ME
 
 storage:
   data_directory: /var/lib/rrd
@@ -19,15 +20,15 @@ logging:
 sensors:
   - name: Server room
     topic: zigbee2mqtt/sensor_server_room
-  - name: Sensor 2
-    topic: zigbee2mqtt/CHANGE_ME_SENSOR_2
-  - name: Sensor 3
+  - name: CHANGE_ME Sensor 2
+    topic: zigbee2mqtt/sensor_supply_room
+  - name: CHANGE_ME Sensor 3
     topic: zigbee2mqtt/CHANGE_ME_SENSOR_3
-  - name: Sensor 4
+  - name: CHANGE_ME Sensor 4
     topic: zigbee2mqtt/CHANGE_ME_SENSOR_4
-  - name: Sensor 5
+  - name: CHANGE_ME Sensor 5
     topic: zigbee2mqtt/CHANGE_ME_SENSOR_5
-  - name: Sensor 6
+  - name: CHANGE_ME Sensor 6
     topic: zigbee2mqtt/CHANGE_ME_SENSOR_6
 
 rrd:
diff --git a/read_temperature.py b/read_temperature.py
index b5b4b59..5cdad5d 100644
--- a/read_temperature.py
+++ b/read_temperature.py
@@ -77,6 +77,8 @@ def load_config(path: Path) -> Config:
     if not isinstance(configured_sensors, list) or not configured_sensors:
         raise SystemExit("The configuration requires a non-empty sensors list")
 
+    collection = raw.get("collection", {})
+    excluded_prefix = str(collection.get("excluded_name_prefix", "CHANGE_ME"))
     sensors: list[Sensor] = []
     slugs: set[str] = set()
     topics: set[str] = set()
@@ -88,6 +90,8 @@ def load_config(path: Path) -> Config:
             raise SystemExit("Every sensor requires a name and topic") from error
         if not name or not topic:
             raise SystemExit("Sensor names and topics cannot be empty")
+        if excluded_prefix and name.casefold().startswith(excluded_prefix.casefold()):
+            continue
         slug = safe_slug(name)
         if slug in slugs or topic in topics:
             raise SystemExit(f"Duplicate sensor slug or topic: {name!r}, {topic!r}")
@@ -95,7 +99,11 @@ def load_config(path: Path) -> Config:
         topics.add(topic)
         sensors.append(Sensor(name, topic, slug))
 
-    collection = raw.get("collection", {})
+    if not sensors:
+        raise SystemExit(
+            f"No active sensors remain after excluding names beginning with {excluded_prefix!r}"
+        )
+
     storage = raw.get("storage", {})
     logging_config = raw.get("logging", {})
     interval = int(collection.get("interval_seconds", 600))