Rigpapa, I’m sure there is a way to do this since you think most of these things through, but i can’t seem to find it… i want to change the time it takes for a Reactor to reset itself after the conditions are no longer true. I have a couple of reactors that trip on a motion sensor and turn on some lights, for a couple of them, i’d like the lights to remain on for some specific time (say 15 minutes) after the conditions are no longer true. Is this possible?
The current way most people do this is by splitting their “turn off” logic into a separate Reactor Sensor. The “on” sensor continues to look at the motion sensor:
Group 1 (the only group in this Reactor Sensor)
Condition 1: The controlled light is OFF (Status=0)
Condition 2: The motion sensor is tripped (Tripped=1)
This trips when motion is detected AND the light is not already on, so have this RS run the “light on” scene, and leave the “untrip” scene blank (do nothing).
Then, we just need to set up the “off” Reactor Sensor:
Group 1 (the only group in this new Reactor Sensor)
Condition 1: The motion sensor is untripped (Tripped=0) + option “Sustained for” and the delay you want (in seconds, e.g. 900=15 minutes)
This trips after the “sustained for” delay when the motion sensor signals no motion detection. The option can be found by clicking the downward-pointing right arrow next to the value field.
There is one caveat when using motion sensors: most motion sensor devices have their own “reset” time, an internal delay after sending a signal that motion has been detected where the sensor sends no more messages until there is no more motion. For many sensors, this default delay can be as high as four minutes. The effect of this is that the sensor does not send the “no motion” signal immediately after the “motion” signal, and the delay adds to the “lights off” timing, because Vera doesn’t get the signal from the sensor, and Reactor can’t start timing, until the “no motion” signal is received from the sensor. So, you need to factor this in to your delay. If you want a 15 minute off delay on your light, and your motion sensor has a 4 minute reset time, then your “sustained for” delay should be 11 minutes (660 seconds). If the motion sensor’s reset delay is longer than the “off” time you want, you need to reconfigure the motion sensor to have a shorter reset period. For some motion sensors, this is configurable via the “Configuration Settings” area of the motion sensor’s “Device Option” tab. For some, it’s jumper plugs that need to be set inside the motion sensor. Some motion sensors also have very limited options for the reset delay, and you’ll either have to work within that, or move to a different device. Also, be aware that shortening the sensor’s reset period means it will be sending more motion reports in heavily trafficked rooms, and that translates into reduced battery life, so you may need to balance that as well.
By the way, this particular problem/solution overlaps with DelayLight, and you may want to use it instead to get some advantages. DelayLight also has built-in logic for handling an alternate (usually longer) off delay when the light is turned on manually. It eliminates all of the logic steps, because the triggering (by motion) and delay off functions are built-in, so rather than configuring logic steps, and having to make scenes to control the light(s), you’re just saying “look at this sensor and control this light” and you’re done. It’s a much more narrow purpose than Reactor, but I’m a big fan of resisting the “when you have a hammer everything looks like a nail” trap of trying to use just one tool to do everything when a specific tool makes the job easier.
loaded Delay Light, works like a charm…