Keep light on during time range, off otherwise

[Chris Jahn]

Use these programs to keep a light on between Sunset and 10:30PM, and off otherwise; even if it is turned on/off manually.

 

Program 1: Keep the light on

If
       From    Sunset 
       To      10:30:00PM (same day)
   And Status  'ApplianceLinc' is not On

Then
       Set 'ApplianceLinc' On

Else
  - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

 

 

Program 2: Keep the light off

If
       From    10:30:00PM
       To      Sunset  (next day)
   And Status  'ApplianceLinc' is not Off

Then
       Set 'ApplianceLinc' Off

Else
  - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

[Mark Sanctuary]

Thanks Chris for putting up this example!

[mdcastle]

Are there any implications of having a number of these (or any other) programs running at once? I was thinking about using one of these "minder" programs for each of my outdoor lights, and adding a time delay to the then. Situation is I want all most of my outdoor lights to be shut off between 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM to save electricity, but I want to be able to temporarily override this by hitting the "I'm coming home late" or "what's the dog barking at?" buttons, then have everything return to normal after 15 minutes.

[Chris Jahn]

There is no problem at all having many of these programs. Adding the wait to the 'Then' should be all you need for the temporary override.

[Zellarman]

Use these programs to keep a light on between Sunset and 10:30PM, and off otherwise; even if it is turned on/off manually.

 

Program 1: Keep the light on

If
       From    Sunset 
       To      10:30:00PM (same day)
   And Status  'ApplianceLinc' is not On

Then
       Set 'ApplianceLinc' On

Else
  - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

 

 

Program 2: Keep the light off

If
       From    10:30:00PM
       To      Sunset  (next day)
   And Status  'ApplianceLinc' is not Off

Then
       Set 'ApplianceLinc' Off

Else
  - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

Chris, why not use the Then from the second program as the else condition in the first program, essentially combining the two programs into one? I only ask because it's possible that I'm missing something.

[Chris Jahn]

You need two programs because any change in 'Status' for 'ApplianceLinc' will cause the program to run either the Then or the Else path. Therefore, in this case, anytime the 'Then' path would run, the 'Else' path would run immediately after because the status of 'ApplianceLinc' would change, in this case making the If condition false.

 

Its actually doing this with the two programs, but its not a problem because the Else path is empty.

[jeff-lines]

I did something like this for my outdoor lights except I put the program for the front lights and rear lights in a folder with the schedule on the folder. In either case, if any lights are turned on after 10 PM, the program waits 10 minutes and then shuts them off. The trick is the program needs to monitor for all of the controllers for the scene. It looks like the following for my rear lights which has the most controllers.

If
       Control 'DeckKP-All On' is switched Off
    Or Control 'DeckKP-Flood lights' is switched On
    Or Control 'DeckKP-Main Deck' is switched On
    Or Control 'DeckKP-Pad light' is switched On
    Or Control 'FR-Patio Light' is switched On
    Or Control 'FR-Rear Flood Lights' is switched On
    Or Control 'MBRKP-All back lights On' is switched Off
    Or Control 'MBRKP-Bed Room Deck light' is switched On
    Or Control 'MBRKP-Flood lights' is switched On
    Or Control 'MBRKP-Patio' is switched On
    Or Control 'Pad light' is switched On

Then
       Wait  10 minutes 
       Set Scene 'Rear Lights - All' Off

Else
  - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

 

Hope this helps. It's pretty simple and clean.

[Chris Jahn]

You are correct, one needs to be careful when using Control to ensure a light remains off. There must be a condition for all possible controls and actions that could turn on the lights.

 

In your example, if someone uses Fast On, uses dimming (Fade Up, Bright), or uses a program to turn on the light your program will not detect it.

 

I did something like this for my outdoor lights except I put the program for the front lights and rear lights in a folder with the schedule on the folder. In either case, if any lights are turned on after 10 PM, the program waits 10 minutes and then shuts them off. The trick is the program needs to monitor for all of the controllers for the scene. It looks like the following for my rear lights which has the most controllers.

If
       Control 'DeckKP-All On' is switched Off
    Or Control 'DeckKP-Flood lights' is switched On
    Or Control 'DeckKP-Main Deck' is switched On
    Or Control 'DeckKP-Pad light' is switched On
    Or Control 'FR-Patio Light' is switched On
    Or Control 'FR-Rear Flood Lights' is switched On
    Or Control 'MBRKP-All back lights On' is switched Off
    Or Control 'MBRKP-Bed Room Deck light' is switched On
    Or Control 'MBRKP-Flood lights' is switched On
    Or Control 'MBRKP-Patio' is switched On
    Or Control 'Pad light' is switched On

Then
       Wait  10 minutes 
       Set Scene 'Rear Lights - All' Off

Else
  - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

 

Hope this helps. It's pretty simple and clean.

[jeff-lines]

Thanks Chris. I used your example and modified it as you indicated so that after 10PM, if anyone turns my garage lights on, it will wait 10 minutes and then give a warning 60% level indicating that the lights are about to be turned off and then turns them off after an additional minute. My Garage Light AutoOff program looks like the following:

If
       From    10:00:00PM
       To      Sunrise (next day)
   And Status  'Gar-Garage' is not Off

Then
       Wait  10 minutes
       Set 'Gar-Garage' 60%
       Wait  1 minute
       Set Scene 'Garage' Off

Else
  - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

I've tested if for the light being turned off when it is already on at 10PM and the scenario of someone turning the light on after 10PM and all seems to work great.

 

The previous example is great for the garage since if I'm working in the garage I'm not easily distracted so wanted an abrupt change to get my attention. For my front lights, the scenario would most likely be saying goodbye to someone so a more sutle warning would be nicer and kind of add a cool touch so I've modified the above to use the new Fade Down and Fade Stop commands to make the transition. My Front Lights AutoOff looks like the following:

If
       From    11:50:00PM
       To      Sunrise (next day)
   And (
            Status  'Gar-Front Yard Lights' is not Off
         Or Status  'EntryKP-Front Door light' is not Off
       )

Then
       Wait  10 minutes 
       Set 'Gar-Front Yard Lights' Fade Down
       Wait  3 seconds
       Set 'Gar-Front Yard Lights' Fade Stop
       Wait  1 minute 
       Set Scene 'Front Lights - All' Off

Else
  - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

I'm still testing the above and I think I've run into a beta bug that I will report, but I'm pretty confident it should work once the new release is out. Thanks again for your guidance.