SO I am pretty new to Hubitat and home automation in general. I have the Hubitat C-8 Pro Hub and a lot of Zooz switches and dimmers. I have looked through threads and watched videos and can't figure out how to do the following even though it seems like a simple thing to do
I would like certain dimmers to have a set brightness during certain times of the day. I have set up modes and I have verified that the mode is changing at the right time. So for example, I would like the kitchen can lights to be at 50% brightness in the morning, 99% brightness during the day, 60% brightness in the evening, and 20% brightness at night. If the lights are already on, I would like them to dim to that level. If the lights are off, I would like them to stay off, buit when they are turned on, I would like them to be dimmed to the level indicated determined by the mode.
Right now I am trying to do this in the Room Lighting App. I believe I have it all set up, and when I hit activate, it changes the lighting, but it will not change on it's own. When the mode is evening, the lights still come on at whatever the dim level was the last time they were turned on. Is there a better way to do this? Am I missing something to activate this when the mode changes? I am still not quite sure what the "Act" and "Off" checkboxes do even though I read through the Hubitat guide to Room Lighing App.
Anyway, any advice would be appreciated. I feel like I am pretty good with this stuff but I just can't quite figure out how to do this.
This is what I currently have... Maybe it is the "Command devices on/off irrespective of reported state (Force)"
I have means to activate as "Mode becomes: Day, Evening, Morning, Night" so a change in mode should activate the App depending on the mode. I'll try to add the "command devices on/of..." and see if that solves it. Thanks
Ok, so now with that selected, all the lights turn on when the mode changes... I don't want them to turn on when the mode changes.
Is there a way to make it so if they are already on then apply that dim level when the mode changes, but if they are off, keep them off, but apply the dimness level when they are turned on...
That is because you have the modes selected as means to activate (turn on). Go back and look at mine:
Command with Activator Device
Motion becomes active
Those are the only things that activate the lights.
My setup does exactly what you were describing as your goal.
If I turn on the activator (shows as a switch or dimmer in your devices) by toggling a smart switch, or if the motion detectors turn on the activator, they come on at the dim level set for the mode. If they are already on, and the mode changes, they automatically adjust to the settings for the mode.
You might also add the force regardless of state option. I have some finicky (zigbee) bulbs that do not always report back properly. This fixes that issue (for me)
This is incorrect. What you are recommending will cause the lights to TURN ON and adjust the dim level. What the OP wants is ADJUST lghts on mode change
If you want to create different settings for different modes the simplest solution may be to create a room lighting instance for each mode that you want to set lights for. From a new Room Lighting page, you can clone an existing instance and then edit that. Select the small i icon in the upper right from a new room lighting page.
For one, you can't have multiple instances of room lighting for the same lights active at one time. I have one set of lights that I use two RL instances for. But, I have a switch that deactivates one while the other is active.
For two, I have several instances of room lighting that do exactly what the OP says are his goals. The only thing you have to do is choose "adjust on mode change" in the activation settings. The only time that it has issues are when the devices themselves are not reporting correctly to the hub. So, to get around that, I use "activate even if partially activated" and the force option chosen.
If you aren't disabling them, then there is a potential for conflict. And again, there is no reason to make it that complicated. The app was designed to specifically do what the OP stated on one instance. If it isn't working correctly, it is the devices acting up, or the setup of the RL instance.
The reason I have two instances is that I have a core set of devices that are in both instances, and a few others that are specific to the situation. So, I set it up so that one switch disables one instance and enables the other. Toggling the switch reverses that. But, you should not have multiple instances enabled for the same devices at the same time.
Thanks, I learned something. I've always used Rule Machine and Groups and Scenes for most situational lighting. My use of Room Lighting had not included mode transitions. I have accomplished that with virtual switches and didn't realize that capability was there.
