Dim Lights at Night

[tpolito]

I am trying to program my kids' lights so that between 8:30pm and sunrise, when we press "on" on their switch, the lights only come on at 30%. During the day I want them to come on at 100%, when we turn them on locally. I cannot get it to work. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?

 

Here is my program...

 

If

From 8:30:00PM

To Sunrise + 30 minutes (next day)

 

Then

In Scene 'Son's Room Lights' Set 'Son's Room Lights' 30% (On Level)

 

Else

In Scene 'Son's Room Lights' Set 'Son's Room Lights' 100% (On Level)

[brad77]

I have experienced similar behavior in which you cannot change a scene's on level and ramp rate programmatically. I solved this by creating multiple scenes and triggering them via programs based on time of day.

 

It isn't ideal in cases like motion sensors, but I couldn't get programs to change these scene parameters reliably.

 

Perhaps that's by design or a limitation of INSTEON?

[LeeG]

If the switch being pressed is the switch that is physically controlling the load then it is the Local settings, not Scene settings that are in effect when the switch paddle is pressed.

[Sub-Routine]

If this is the case you must select the switch from the drop-downs in the Adjust Scene parameters.

 

 

 

If the switch being pressed is the switch that is physically controlling the load then it is the Local settings, not Scene settings that are in effect when the switch paddle is pressed.

 

Rand

[oberkc]

As others have addressed, I assume there is a possibility that the switch is the one directly controlling the load. If so, then it sounds as if you need to take the advice of Sub-Routine. To which I would add....

 

One other factor that I recall when trying similar things is that older versions required resetting of power before local control settings such as this take hold. I do not remember the cut-off version. Hopefully, yours are newer.

[tpolito]

I am still at a loss. Yes, it the switch is the one actually controlling the load. In my "Then" statement, I chose Adjust Scene. Then in the "In Scene" drop down, I chose "Son's Room Lights" scene, and under the "Set" drop down, I selected the actual switch (not the scene).

 

If I pull up the switch itself in the admin console, it shows that the local on level should be 30%, but that is not getting written to the device. I have the Automatically Write Changes to Device set, so I thought it should write those changes.

 

Am I still missing something?

[LeeG]

If you set the device Local value to something like 35% through the Admin Console, does the 35% take effect? It should be changed to something different than the current value.

 

EDIT: if the device will react to the change in Local level through the Admin Console, the Event Viewer can be used to trace that activity and then run the Program and trace the activity associated with the Program statements. That should show any differences in the command sequence being executed between the Admin Console and the Program.

[Sub-Routine]

Hi tpolito,

 

You have to select the switch in the "In Scene" drop-down. Otherwise you are changing the level for the ISY scene. In this case the controller for the scene is the switch.

 

What version is the switch? Older switches have to be power-cycled before a local change takes effect.

 

Rand

 

I am still at a loss. Yes, it the switch is the one actually controlling the load. In my "Then" statement, I chose Adjust Scene. Then in the "In Scene" drop down, I chose "Son's Room Lights" scene, and under the "Set" drop down, I selected the actual switch (not the scene).

 

If I pull up the switch itself in the admin console, it shows that the local on level should be 30%, but that is not getting written to the device. I have the Automatically Write Changes to Device set, so I thought it should write those changes.

 

Am I still missing something?

[oberkc]

Just to be clear....

 

1. You created a program that included a statement "adjust scene"

2. You chose the scene, then the device within the scene

3. The new level you set to 30%

4. The scene now shows 30%

5. You don't believe it is working because, when you press the switch of the changed device, it does not respond with the new value.

 

Is this all correct?

 

I chose "Son's Room Lights" scene,

 

As suggested by LeeG, and then by sub-routine, rather than selecting the scene at this step, select the actual switch. I think this is the single change that you must make.

 

under the "Set" drop down, I selected the actual switch (not the scene).

You would do the same thing, again.

 

Just to be sure we are speaking clearly, could you provide us with the actual name of your scene, and the names of the devices within that scene.

 

While I am certainly not overly experienced on this command, what I suspect is happening is that you are setting the "on" level for that switch that is applied at the scene level, rather than at the local level.

 

I performed a quick experiment on one of my newest dimmers. I created a simple program where it adjusts the scene. Instead of selecting the actual scene in which the device resides, I chose the device itself. From there I chose the device, itself, again, from the choices given.

 

When I executed the program, the device now responded to the new setting. I believe this is how you want yours to respond.

[tpolito]

First of all, thanks to everyone for the help.

 

I tried making the recommended change, choosing the switch instead of the scene. It still does not work. Here are a few other things I have tried.

 

If I change the On-Level [Applied Locally] for the switch itself through the Admin console, the switch turns on to that on-level, but if I turn the switch off (at the switch) and turn it back on, it goes back to 10% on, instead of the new value.

 

It is a V.27, so it is an older one. If I manually set the on level at the switch, it works. No power cycle needed. Could it still be that I would need to cycle power if the change is initated from the ISY instead of locally?

[LeeG]

Yes. It may need to be power cycled for the Local value change through the Admin Console to take effect. Power cycle the device without changing the device state after the Admin Console update.

[oberkc]

Could it still be that I would need to cycle power if the change is initated from the ISY instead of locally?

 

Yes. Some of my older versions require cycling of power. I understand that this is a relatively recent feature. I have some switches v27 and these DO require cycling of power. The dimmer switch that I have that worked was v38.

[tpolito]

Thanks, that was it. I tried the program on one of my v37 switches and it worked fine. For the v27 it required a power cycle.

 

Thanks for all the help.

[Sub-Routine]

You could swap the old switch with a newer switch. If you don't plan to change the local level programmatically where the newer switch is now.

 

Rand

 

Thanks, that was it. I tried the program on one of my v37 switches and it worked fine. For the v27 it required a power cycle.

 

Thanks for all the help.

[tpolito]

That's what I am going to end up doing.

[Goose66]

Why not set the local On level to 30% and the ramp rate to 1 sec. Then add the following program:

 

If 
       Control 'Son's Room Lights' is switched On
   And Sunrise + 30 minutes
       To 8:30 PM (same day)
Then 
       Set 'Son's Room Lights' Fade Up

Else 
       -- No Statements --

in the one second that it takes the light to go to 30%, the program should run and start the light fading on up to 100% at the same ramp rate. Should be fairly smooth. Alternativey, in the program you could just Set 'Son's Room Lights' Fast On to take it immediately to 100%.

[mattavila]

One 'issue' that I was having with following this logic, the switch itself MUST be a controller to the scene for this to work. Meaning when you build the SCENE, be sure to add the switch you want to set the ramp. rates and brightness levels as CONTROLLERS, not responders (otherwise they don't show up this way in the ISY program this way).

 

I fought with this for the better part of an evening till I figured out that little nugget. Otherwise, Ive got a few nifty dimmer changes myself that are time based - and the kids are none the wiser why the hall light isnt shining at a megawatt every night