How do you guys handle automatic lighting?

Other Devices & Integrations Lighting & Load Control
1

Hey guys, new to the forum, the vera, and home automation, but I had a question how you guys handle these types of situations. I currently have 2 rooms that both have “lighting control”, multiple circuits, and switches. I also have motion detectors in both rooms. Problem I see is that I have the motion detection turn the lights on in the rooms, and using PLEG I have them turned off in say “15 minutes”, but the problem I see is that I can’t come up w/ a s good way to “override” the motion detection.

Things are working well, but the wife is complaining of lights turning off on her, so I was hoping to be able to get the vera to “know” the switch was pressed, or if it was done automatically(through the motion). Though I don’t see that as being possible. I have created a few virtuals and started playing with that(setting the virtual to “ON” to know that some setting was automagically done), but it doesn’t help when it’s automagically done, and the timer fires to turn the lights back off.

It would be nice to get some sort of message back to the vera from the switch that it was pressed ON, even if it’s already on, but I don’t see that as being possible at this point.

For now, I am playing the timing game w/ the motion and the turn off messages so I can eliminate her complaining but I know we’re going to sit down and watch a movie one night, the lights are going to be going off and on. I know it’s all possible, and it would just require me sitting down and figuring out how exactly I want things to work, but I figured I’d ask as you guys have done this before.

So I ask you guys, how do you do it? Scene controller to “arm/disarm” things? Just use your phone to do it?

2

Have you had a good look at the forum (“search is useful”) ?
There’s really quite a lot on this.

Try here: [url=http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,15126.msg115019.html#msg115019]http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,15126.msg115019.html#msg115019[/url] and some of the threads that links to also.

3

Maybe this helps too: http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php?topic=11751.0

To search in this forum use google: LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You

4

You can have PLEG set the Auto On light to 95%
Then if you touch the UP button it goes to 100%
Do not let PLEG auto turn off … or use a longer timeout if the lamp is at 100%

5

RichardTSchaefer, that is exactly what I was missing. I did not realize that the vera would get an “On” message if the light was only set to 95, and it went up to 100%.

Perfect. Thank you very much!

6

Seems I can only have PLEG set it to 90, not 95. The slider won’t allow for a 95% setting. But I think it will work. Thank you again,

7

Okay, seems I have a situation that I’d like to get some help with.

I currently have a light w/ a motion sensor. It goes on and off after 15 minutes. My wife for some reason likes to turn lights off, but in this case the light turns itself back on.

I figured I would add a condition that “If light is turned off” bypass the PLEG, and start a countdown timer. That countdown timer would then way say 10 minutes, and re-arm the PLEG that handles the auto on.

Though it does not seem to work. As soon as I press “Off”, the light goes off, then right back on. Second time I hit it, things seem to work as expected. Anything you could think would cause this to happen? “LightOff” is at the top of the condition list, so it should be run first.

Thank you,

8

Please post your Inputs/Conditions/Actions, otherwise it will be difficult to help you.

9

Also post the switch’s make and model. If it does not support Instant Status this may be challenging.

10

Inputs :
Motion - Motion Sensor Trigger
LightOn : Light turned on
LightOff : Light turned off
Night : Nighttime

Conditions :
TurnOn : (Not LightOn) and Motion and Night
AutoOnDetected : TurnOn; LightOn < 1:00
TurnOff : (Not Motion) and (AutoOnDetected; Now > 15:00)
ManualTurnOff : LightOff

Actions :
TurnOff : Turn the light off
TurnOn : Turn the light on
ManualTurnOff : Disarm this PLEG, and start a countdown timer

There is another PLEG which watches for the countdown timer to finish, and when it does it will re-arm the 1st PLEG. This was my attempt to get the night to behave by not having the first one armed(which would turn the light right back on).

It is a GE light, which does not support Instant Status, though I don’t know that it’s causing the problem here, as all my timers and triggers seem to be working correctly. It’s almost as if the 1st PLEG see’s the light isn’t on before it’s disarmed as the whole thing does work the second time. So if the light comes on automatically and I turn it off manually, it goes right back on. If I press it off again, everything works fine.

I know I may be trying to overcome the hardware’s shortcomings, but it’s what I have. :confused:

11

Alright, so I tweaked things a bit and played around alot. I decided to use a virtual switch for testing instead of the actual motion sensor, and that worked perfectly as I intended it to.

So it seems all I needed to do was disarm the motion sensor as part of the “TurnLightOn” action, and then I added a condition to re-arm it after a certain period of time.

So right now it seems like things are working the way they are supposed to. Thank you very much guys!