Lights on at night with auto dim at specific time

[extrakt0r]

Hello, I have a new home I am building and getting my ISY (3.3. setup with some programs.

 

I have a 8 Button Keypad by my front door to control various scenes. My "Front Porch Can Lights" are wired directly to Scene A. I have another set of lights "Outside Front Can Lights" controlled via an Inlinelinc

 

What I am trying to do is get both sets of lights to turn on at Sunset. I want both sets of lights to stay on until 10PM. At 10PM I want the "Outside Front Can Lights" to turn completely off, and the "Front Porch Can Lights" to dim down to 50%

 

At 1hr before sunrise, I want the "Front Porch Can Lights" to return to 100% brightness, and the "Outside Front Canlights" to turn back on.

 

At sunrise, I want both sets of lights to turn off, unless I turn them on manually (or later on turn automatically on when I get the weatherbug light sensor stuff figured out)

 

I can get everything to work ok, but I cant figure out how to get the dim to 50% to happen.

 

I tried making a separate program starting at 10:00:01 and ending at -1:00:01 before sunrise at the 50% but the light brightness doesn't change.

 

Thanks for any advice.

[oberkc]

I can get everything to work ok, but I cant figure out how to get the dim to 50% to happen

.

 

I forget whether ISY programs have the ability to command a device to go to a specified level. If so, one could use that capability.

 

If not (and maybe even if so), I would create a new, additional scene. I will call that scene the "10pm scene". To that scene I would add Outside Front Can Lights and the Front Porch Can Lights. At the scene levels, I would set "ON" levels to be 0 (off) and 50% for each of the two devices, respectively.

 

Modifiy your program (or create a new one) to turn this new scene on at 10pm.

[Xathros]

I can get everything to work ok, but I cant figure out how to get the dim to 50% to happen

.

 

I forget whether ISY programs have the ability to command a device to go to a specified level. If so, one could use that capability.

 

If not (and maybe even if so), I would create a new, additional scene. I will call that scene the "10pm scene". To that scene I would add Outside Front Can Lights and the Front Porch Can Lights. At the scene levels, I would set "ON" levels to be 0 (off) and 50% for each of the two devices, respectively.

 

Modifiy your program (or create a new one) to turn this new scene on at 10pm.

 

 

I have 3 programs that change the On Level of my various dimmers. One for Night, one for day and one for Morn/Eve. Here is the Morn/Eve:

If
       Time is Sunrise
    Or Time is Sunset 

Then
       In Scene 'Living Room / LivingRm Light' Set 'Living Room / LivingRm Light' 60% (On Level)
       In Scene 'Living Room / KPLD8 / LR-KPL8-A' Set 'Living Room / LivingRm Light' 60% (On Level)
       In Scene 'Master Suite / MstrBd Ceiling Light' Set 'Master Suite / MBR Ceiling-Light' 60% (On Level)
       In Scene 'Master Suite / MBR SLD' Set 'Master Suite / MBR Ceiling-Light' 60% (On Level)
       In Scene 'Master Suite / KPLD8 / MBR KPL-A' Set 'Master Suite / MBR Ceiling-Light' 60% (On Level)
       In Scene 'Master Suite / RL2 / MBR RL2-A' Set 'Master Suite / MBR Ceiling-Light' 60% (On Level)
       In Scene 'Master Suite / MBR Bedside Lamp' Set 'Master Suite / Dad Bedside Lamp' 60% (On Level)
       In Scene 'Boys Room / BoysRm' Set 'Boys Room / Boys Ceiling Light SLD' 60% (On Level)
       In Scene 'Boys Room / Boys Ceiling Light SLD' Set 'Boys Room / Boys Ceiling Light SLD' 60% (On Level)
       In Scene 'Girls Room / GirlsRm' Set 'Girls Room / Girls Ceiling Light SLD' 60% (On Level)
       In Scene 'Girls Room / Girls Ceiling Light SLD' Set 'Girls Room / Girls Ceiling Light SLD' 60% (On Level)
       In Scene 'Dining-Kitchen / Dining Room Chandelier SLD' Set 'Dining-Kitchen / Dining Room Chandelier SLD' 60% (On Level)
       In Scene 'Dining-Kitchen / Dining Room' Set 'Dining-Kitchen / Dining Room Chandelier SLD' 60% (On Level)

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

 

That changes what happens when someone turns on dimmer or a KPL controlling a dimmer etc. But, if an affected light is already on, I need another program to change the on level when it should be changed. I have 3 ore programs for each dimmer to handle that. Here is the LivingRoom Morn/Eve:

If
       (
            Time is Sunrise + 20 seconds
         Or Time is Sunset  + 20 seconds
       )
   And Status  'Living Room / LivingRm Light' is not Off

Then
       Set 'Living Room / LivingRm Light' 60%

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

 

I have each dimmer shifted off 5 seconds from the previous dimmer adjust starting 15 seconds after Sunrise/Sunset to spread out the Insteon traffic and avoid traffic jams. So the Dining Room gets adjusted at Sunrise +15 and Sunset+15 and the MasterSuite at Sunrise+25 and Sunset+25.

 

Hope that makes sense.

 

-Xathros

[extrakt0r]

OK, so here is what I am going to try now. Think this might work?

 

Program 1:

 

If

From Sunset

To Sunrise (next day)

 

Then

Set Scene 'Outside / Outside Front Porch Can Light' On

 

Else

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

 

 

Program 2: Hopefully will adjust brightness

 

If

From 10:00:00PM

To Sunrise - 1 hour (next day)

And Status 'Entry, Hallways, Steps / Entryway 8BKP' is On

 

Then

Set 'Entry, Hallways, Steps / Entryway 8BKP' 25%

 

Else

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

[oberkc]

What I am trying to do is get both sets of lights to turn on at Sunset. I want both sets of lights to stay on until 10PM. At 10PM I want the "Outside Front Can Lights" to turn completely off, and the "Front Porch Can Lights" to dim down to 50%

 

At 1hr before sunrise, I want the "Front Porch Can Lights" to return to 100% brightness, and the "Outside Front Canlights" to turn back on.

 

At sunrise, I want both sets of lights to turn off, unless I turn them on manually (or later on turn automatically on when I get the weatherbug light sensor stuff figured out)

 

Your latest program introduces a device: 'Entry, Hallways, Steps / Entryway 8BKP'. I have no idea what that is relative to your original request. Sorry.

 

I see nothing that turns any front porch or outside can lights off or to 50%,

 

I see nothing that turns light back to full bright at 1 hour before sunrise. I see nothing that turns lights off at sunrise.

 

No, I don't think this will do what you originally asked about.

[Xathros]

oberkc-

 

It looks to me like he has a scene that includes the porch lights as well as some others that he will dim to 25% as a scene rather than adjusting the on level in a scene as I has suggested. The KPL button is the load control for his can lights per the first post.

 

extrakt0r-

 

This will dim your lights at the desired time but if someone turns on or off and back on the KPL button or other scene controllers the lights will go back to full brightness since you have not adjusted the scene's on level for the various lights involved. For some, this would be the desired behavior but I don't think thats what you originally asked for. I could be confusing this with another similar thread however.

 

I am assuming that the 8BKPL is a dimmer type and not a relay.

 

-Xathros

[extrakt0r]

Hey everyone, so i made a little progress.

 

The Entryway 8BKP is what is the load device for the "Front Porch Can Lights" and is a Insteon 8 Button Dimmer.

 

Basically what I have learned is that once a Scene is "On" ISY cant tell the Scene to DIM, unless I first turn the Scene OFF then, back ON.

 

What I attempted to do last night was to turn the Keypad Load Scene down, to dim the lights and that did work - i didnt have to first turn the lights off.

 

However, when the program ended, the lights went off, they didnt return back to 100%

 

I guess what I will do is setup a program that turns off the lights, adjusts the scenes then turns them back on. That will require the lights to shut off for 5-10 seconds each time.

 

I cant figure out how to get it to "gracefully" dim up/down w/o turning the lights off, which would be much more slick that the "on/off" method.

[Xathros]

extrakt0r-

 

I cant figure out how to get it to "gracefully" dim up/down w/o turning the lights off, which would be much more slick that the "on/off" method.

 

Look back a few posts of mine. That is exactly what I'm doing with the examples I posted there.

 

1) Adjust Scene On Level settings

 

2) If an affected light is NOT OFF, then set that scene/device to the new Dim level directly.

 

#1 fixes what happens when a switch is operated manually. #2 fixes the lights if they are on at the time the adjustment happens.

 

-Xathros

[oberkc]

I, too, had already made a suggestion, based upon your original statement that everything was working and that the only problem you were having was dimming to 50% at 1000. In case that suggestion was unclear...

 

Create an entirely new scene, keeping intact existing scenes. The new scene would include all devices that you want to change at 1000, all as responders. At the scene level, define the ON levels (which includes zero) you desire for each device to assume at 1000. Create a program to turn on that scene at 1000. Done.

[extrakt0r]

-Xathros

 

Your program below - is 'Living Room / LivingRm Light' your dimmer switch, or the name of your scene?

 

I actually took your idea and was able to get it to dim the keypad in my program I posted above. By referencing the actual dimmer, not the scene.

 

In your program I see where it is set to 60%, but what sets it back to 100%?

 

Maybe it is your use of "not off" vs. my use of "On"? Is there a logical difference between the two?

 

If

(

Time is Sunrise + 20 seconds

Or Time is Sunset + 20 seconds

)

And Status 'Living Room / LivingRm Light' is not Off

 

Then

Set 'Living Room / LivingRm Light' 60%

 

Else

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

[LeeG]

extrakt0r

 

Scenes do not have Status so a Scene name cannot appear in an If statement. The name in the If must be a device name.

 

A Set to a Scene name cannot set to a specific % On level so the Then statement has to be a device. For a Scene the % On Level is maintained in the Responder link record in each Responder device.

 

Nothing in this Program sets it to 100% On. I suspect the Program was meant to use a Time range rather than two specific time values. As coded the Program only runs the Then at Sunrise+20 and at Sunset+20 rather than From Sunrise+20 To Sunset+20. Seems odd that Program would change the On level of a device only twice at specific times rather than a range of times.

 

Checking for 'not Off' covers all the various % On possibilities, including On (100%). Checking for ‘is On’ only tests for a Dimmer being full On (100%)

[Xathros]

extrakt0r

 

Scenes do not have Status so a Scene name cannot appear in an If statement. The name in the If must be a device name.

 

A Set to a Scene name cannot set to a specific % On level so the Then statement has to be a device. The % On Level is maintained in the Responder link record in each Responder device.

 

Nothing in this Program sets it to 100% On. I suspect the Program was meant to use a Time range rather than two specific time values. As coded the Program only runs the Then at Sunrise+20 and at Sunset+20 rather than From Sunrise+20 To Sunset+20. Seems odd that Program would change the On level of a device only twice at specific times rather than a range of times.

 

Checking for not Off covers all the various % On possibilities, including On (100%). Checking for ‘is On’ only tests for a Dimmer being full On (100%)

 

LeeG-

 

The times are as I wanted them in this example. This is my Morning/Evening 60% adjust. I got to 40% for night at Sunset+2hrs and 100% for Day at Sunrise + 1hh (I think). So the above is supposed to run then for morning and evening. All that said, the point here was:

 

Adjusting a Scene On Level does not change the On Level of a dimmer device that is some level of on at the time the scene is adjusted and therfore a second program is required to adjust the dimmer's current level of on-nes at that time by adjusting the device directly as above.

 

extrakt0r-

 

As LeeG said above, Living Room / Living Room Light is the actual load bearing device in this case, a fanlinc - light node. So I said, If the light is NOT OFF, set it to 60%. Otherwise, the scene's on level for that light has already been adjusted by the other program and if I hit any of the scene controllers to turn it on, it will go to the 60% now defined in the scene. This program is timed to run 20 seconds after the adjust scene program in an attempt to avoid Insteon traffic jams.

 

-Xathros

[Xathros]

I, too, had already made a suggestion, based upon your original statement that everything was working and that the only problem you were having was dimming to 50% at 1000. In case that suggestion was unclear...

 

Create an entirely new scene, keeping intact existing scenes. The new scene would include all devices that you want to change at 1000, all as responders. At the scene level, define the ON levels (which includes zero) you desire for each device to assume at 1000. Create a program to turn on that scene at 1000. Done.

 

Oberkc-

 

While this approach works to dim the lights at the prescribed time, it does not deal with what happens if someone were to operate a controller of the original scene or the load bearing dimmer itself. This is why I took the adjust scene approach using the single scene. For situations were the devices are entirely program controlled, yours seems like an excellent solution.

 

-Xathros

[oberkc]

While this approach works to dim the lights at the prescribed time, it does not deal with what happens if someone were to operate a controller of the original scene or the load bearing dimmer itself.

 

Xathros,

 

You are, as normal, correct. Unfortunately, this was not a stated requirement that I noticed?

 

Perhaps it is the engineer in my personality, but I have ceased attempting to guess people's requirements, or add my own. I try to offer simple solutions to the stated problem. If the scope of a question evolves, and I feel as if I am chasing a rabit, or if I have to start guessing at what the real (and total) requirements are, I become quickly frustrated.

[Xathros]

Perhaps it is the engineer in my personality, but I have ceased attempting to guess people's requirements, or add my own. I try to offer simple solutions to the stated problem. If the scope of a question evolves, and I feel as if I am chasing a rabit, or if I have to start guessing at what the real (and total) requirements are, I become quickly frustrated.

 

Understood. As I said somewhere above, I may be confusing this with another similar thread regarding the requirements. I tend to over think things at times and too often apply a level of "How would I want this to work?" when posting examples here. In this case - probably some of both.

 

Between what we have both posted, I think he's got plenty of ideas to work with.

 

-Xath

[extrakt0r]

Thanks everyone. I will play with the programs and I think I have what I need to get it to work now.