I currently have the following devices set up in my kitchen:
Group of 7 Zigbee RGBW recessed lights (sylvania lightify).
Zooz zwave dimmer connected to kitchen island lights (dimmer switch, but not physically switched)
Fibaro zwave dimmer module connected to light over sink.
All of the above devices are smart so are wired direct to line.
Controlling the above are 3 Inovelli red switches (2 dimmers, one on/off). Control is through hub only (not wired direct to any of the above lights). I don’t need to use the dim function of the switch, but want them to show as either on or off per the LED indicator.
I got all switches to mirror each other, which I achieved through switch binding.
However, I want to achieve the following:
if on is physically pushed on any switch, all 3 devices will turn on to 100% (or go to 100% if not at 100%, or turn on if not already on)
if off is physically pushed on any switch then all 3 devices will turn off.
if any device is turned on remotely (1 or 2 or all), eg via Alexa, then the switches will turn “on”
if any or all devices are turned off remotely, eg via alexa, all switches will turn to off ONLY when all 3 devices are off.
Currently the switches turn on/off the 3 devices as a kitchen group, but when we start controlling individual devices on or off the grouping is lost so the switches don’t respond accordingly, such as when we switch only the kitchen island on via Alexa, the switches don’t respond and switch to on because the group isn’t technically on, so we can’t switch off the island lights physically. So if we wanted to physically turn off the kitchen island, we would need to switch on the switch physically (turning every device on) then switch it off.
Is this something that rule machine can handle, and would I need multiple rules since there are multiple triggers under different conditions? Or something simple rules can handle instead?
Brad's theorem: the efficacy of RM is proportional to the square of the length of the description of the automation desired While I bet you can accomplish this with a single rule I'd start with multiple just to make things easier. I think the tricky part is going to be the last one.
Like @brad5 says above, the simpler you can make it, the better. More rules that are simple are typically easier to build, troubleshoot, and so on. If you do want to need to make these into one rule, start with one part of what you want to do. Be sure that one part works before adding more pieces to the puzzle.
I might be reading that wrong, but why if "you always want these grouped" would you turn off an individual light using Alexa? That seems counterproductive.
I think you are either overcomplicating things, or need to put more thought into your automations.
Why not use the group virtual switch (the one that is automatically made when you form a group/scene) to control things through Alexa? You could say "turn kitchen group off" and the whole group/scene would respond in synch. Rename the group to be more intuitive if needed to make it easy on everyone.
Or make a new virtual switch (which you expose to Alexa) that via a basic rule would turn on/off a particular set of lights. This sorta is duplicating what the group switch could do, but you could choose different sets of lights to turn on and off vs the group.
Why not add a motion sensor and just do this more automated instead of having to physically or via Alexa flip switches? You could even incorporate various dimming levels for time of day. To me, I shouldn't be touching switches in most cases. The lights should just do their thing.
While I bet you can accomplish this with a single rule I'd start with multiple just to make things easier. I think the tricky part is going to be the last one.
