Default states at a given time.

[snownh2o2]

Good morning to all. This will be my first post to the forum. I have just made the switch from the boring HouseLinc2, to an ISY-26. I have done my fourm searches with no avail, so before I just jump into the programing I figured I would check to see if others have already done what I need.

 

I decided to upgrade my system to operate with an ISY for one main reason. I would like my Insteon devices to return to a certain status at different times of the day. An example is a lamplinc I have. During the hours of 1am and 6pm, when I use my Switchlinc to turn it off, I want it to turn off. But at 6pm I have a scene called Evening activate, which turns the Lamplinc to 40%. I want this to be the default power setting for the lamplinc between the hours of 6:01pm until 12:59am. In other words, the Evening scene turns the lamp on to 40%. I then need full brightness to read a book at 7pm. When I am finished with the book an hour later, I no longer need the full brightness so I push the off buttom on the Switchlinc. I want the Lamplinc to dim to its 'default evening level' of 40% rather than turning all the way off. I also want this to operate in the reverse. I decide to watch a movie and I would rather that the room be dark. The Lamplinc is at currently at 40%. I press the SL and the LL turns off. The movie ends. I press the SL on and during the hours of 6:01pm and 12:59am it turns on to 40%. At all other times of the day it would turn on to full brightness.

 

I basically am looking to create default states, based on time of day, for each of my devices. I figure it to be fairly straight foreward, but I would rather get some ideas / examples from the forum before I dive in. With that said please respond with your ideas on what you have already done, any ideas, and also some possible pitfalls I should be looking out for. Please also let me know if I am barking up the wrong tree. If there is a better way to do this, or if it will be impossible to progam, a heads up would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks is advance,

Matt

[Sub-Routine]

Hi Matt, welcome to the forums,

 

To change the on level and ramp rate of a scene see this thread: http://forum.universal-devices.com/viewtopic.php?p=10667#10667

 

To switch from 40% to 100% use Fast-On. To switch back to 40% press On.

 

Rand

[snownh2o2]

Rand,

 

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think there are two problems with just using the faston command. 1) The faston from 40% to 100% would elimate the ambiance of the ramp rates that I enjoy oh so much. And 2) Pressing the On button (top button) to get the lights to dim (go down) to 40%, is not intuative to all users. I would ultimately like to have a system capable of being used by someone who never used it before.

 

I think what I am ultimately trying to do is to put a pause point in the ON/ OFF cycle of the light. For my purposes there are 3 steps to each light. OFF, 40%, & ON. I am going to try to program it so pressing the top button of the SL advances up the sequence, while a press of the bottom button steps down one level. They should all occur at the same ramp rate. Also if a button is double pressed, the FastON or FastOFF will occur. Using this approach will allow me to set a different number of steps at different times throughout the day. In my case I need 3 steps from dusk till 1am and 2 steps the other times.

 

Another way that I thought of doing this was by creating a program that remembered the previous state of each device. That way if a scene has the light set at a certain level, call it 70%, and a SL top button (ON) is pressed, the program notes the 70% and then continues to advance the light to 100% on. Later when the off button is pressed, the program is checked for previous state and then lowered to that level. As of now I feel that this may be very complicated to program, as remembering the previous state of all devices may be overhelming to keep track of.

 

Any further comments, concerns, or suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

 

NOTE: For those of you wondering exactly what I am trying to accomplish, At night I prefer that a majoritly of the house be lit around 25%. We normally keep the house at a glowing level. A simple scene does this at dusk. The problem is when I go to the kitchen for a snack and briefly turn the lights on. When I leave the kitchen and tap the off, my kitchen is now totally dark. The old lady uses the bathroom and when she done its now dark. And so on. Eventually the whole house is dark and my covented glow is gone. Someone suggested that I use motion sensors, but I would rather that lights don't contiously change as I move around the house. I perfer using a switch in most cases.

 

Sorry for writing a novel,

Matt

[fitzpatri8]

If you want pressing a switch's Off button to do something other than turn linked devices off, you'll want to avoid linking those controllers directly to responder devices. Instead, create scenes and programs to define the different behaviors you have in mind, then use those controller buttons to trigger the programs and to run the appropriate scene. You can organize your scenes into different folders so the programs inside only run during certain time periods.

[snownh2o2]

I just saw that I never posted my solution to this. Please note I am kind of new at this, so if there is a better way to do this, please let me know. Also, I only included a few devices to save space in this post. Here it is:

 

First, I have a program folder that allows the programs to run at sunset and also in the early morning. I only allow it to activate for 10 seconds because of a clash I was having with another progam. (Some of you may have read my 'I can't turn my lights off' post)

 

 

Folder Conditions for 'Night Glow - PRGM'

Add conditions to limit when programs in this folder are allowed to run.

 

If

From Sunset

For 10 seconds

Or On Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri

From 5:00:00AM

For 10 seconds

Or Program 'Night Glow - Control Flag' is True

 

Then

Allow the programs in this folder to run.

 

 

The control flag gives me a 'one shot deal' to turn ON the program, which I guess makes it similar to a scene. I use this flag so I can also activate the program from certain switches around the house at my discretion.

 

Night Glow Control Flag:

If

Control 'Breazeway -A- Night Glow' is switched On

 

Then

Wait 20 seconds

Run Program 'Night Glow - Control Flag' (Else Path)

 

Else

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

 

 

Next, I turn ON my devices. Before I actually turn them ON though, I check to see if they are at a level greater than the level I want them to turn ON too. If so, I leave them ON, figuring that if they are already on, someone must want them to be that way. If not they would dim to the 'Night Glow' level and the old lady will yell at me because she was reading or putting on her makeup or ......

 

Here is an example:

 

If

Folder 'Night Glow - PRGM' is True

And Status 'Stairs - 1st (top)' < 20%

 

Then

Set 'Stairs - 1st (top)' 20%

 

Else

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

 

 

Ok. Now my lights are on, and my house has what I refer to as a 'night glow'. 'Night glow' is my fancy term for being a geek and instead of spending $2 a piece for dusk / dawn night lights at Walmart, I programed my existing house lighting to do the same thing at 10X the price. Hence 'Night Glow' convinces the old lady the the cost was justified. Anyway, The problem I was having is that every time I would turn a light ON to do some sort of task, then turn it OFF when finished, I would eventually lose the 'night glow' as the lights would turn completely OFF instead of going to the 'night glow' setting. The following programs solve this problem.

 

First I designate when this function is approperate.

 

 

Folder Conditions for 'Night Glow Return'

Add conditions to limit when programs in this folder are allowed to run.

 

If

On Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri

From Sunset + 30 seconds

To 12:10:00AM (next day)

Or On Sat, Sun

From Sunset + 30 seconds

To 1:10:00AM (next day)

Or On Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri

From 5:00:30AM

To Sunrise + 20 minutes (same day)

 

Then

Allow the programs in this folder to run.

 

 

Next I add the what I can the Return function. Here's an example:

 

If

Control 'Stairs - 1st (top)' is switched Off

And Status 'Stairs - 1st (top)' > 21%

 

Then

Set 'Stairs - 1st (top)' 20%

 

Else

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

 

 

As you can see, if the light is above the 'night glow' level, as it dims it will stop at that level. If it is already there, it will turn off. The ramp rates on my devices are mostly 2s and 4.5s. At both of these rates the program works perfectly. I have not tested any rates that are faster, but I assume it would be possible for the light to turn OFF too fast and therefore bypass the program. That would be something that needs to be experimented with.

 

I hope maybe this can be of use to someone else. If anyone comes up with a better solution, a different way to use this, or any additions, I would love to hear about them.

 

Matt