Has the Light Data Standard changed for Weatherbug?

[someguy]

I like my outside lights to go on when it is pretty dark. Basically, when you would actually need the light to be on so that you can see. A year or two ago when I set up my outside lights to go on based on light data from Weatherbug, I found that it was a Light number of about 5-7. I turned this feature off for a while but was thinking of bringing this back to vary the light turn-on time based on the light data instead of simply 20 minutes after sunset.

 

The problem is that now, the light data goes to ZERO while it is still pretty light outside. I tried four or five weatherbug stations. Is this different than it used to be.

 

I am thinking of screwing with trying to get an outdoor motion sensor to detect the light level, but I have a feeling that this would be a headache, trying to turn that little screw ever so slightly (vs. using ISY to adjust it, but having to take the sensor down to put it in linking mode and putting it back out there and waiting until the next day to see what it does.

 

thanks for any thoughs / comments.

[Sub-Routine]

Hello someguy,

 

I do indeed see a Weatherbug value of 0 when it is still light enough to see outside. I can only imagine it is a function of an individual photocell and it's placement.

 

I use the Light Data to control scenes on interior lights so our home looks occupied on dark, stormy days, but I use sunset/sunrise for outside lights.

 

Rand

[TJF1960]

Living in an area which isnt covered by any stations offering light data I used a motion sensor light sensor along with sunrise / sunset for inside and outside lights. The problem with the indoor motion sensors is that any lights on in the room will affect the light sensor.

 

I opted for trying an EZIO6 with the EZeye. I mounted the sensor outdoors under the eves, away from any light sources. I wired the 1 ezeye to both analog inputs which allows me to adjust the on/off setting for two inputs. This gives me 2 light level turn on/off points. One for turning outside lights on/off, the other is for indoor lights. The thing I like most about this set up is that it offers more accuracy than relying on sunrise/sunset times or motion sensor light sensors.

 

Yesterday was a dark cloudy morning. I looked to see when the inside lights turned off yesterday vs this morning. They were on for 40 minutes longer yesterday. While the outside lights were only on 7 minutes longer.

 

I have been extremely happy with the results. In fact I am thinking of adding another ezio to give me 1 more light level. Some rooms in the house are darker for longer periods than others.

 

edit: I should add that in order to adjust the analog input settings you have to use SHN software (which is free) and a 2412U which plugs into the usb of your computer. It is simple to set up but a bit more costly than just picking up the ezio.

 

Tim