Correct way to setup scenes? Scene vs Routine

I just received my first hub - Hubitat, and am excited to begin some basic automation. My first tiny project, is to install a smart bulb in my office/study room. I am a bit confused, if I should be setting up the various modes/scenes in Alexa as routines, or in Hubitat.

  1. During day, if I turn on my light, it should turn on at 100%
  2. I need to create a "night reading" mode, which will turn the bulb at around 15%
  3. I want to create a "night light", which should be ON the whole night, at the minimum 9%.
  4. Make it Alexa enabled, so that I can change the mode by voice too as needed

I have added the bulb as a new device to my Hubitat, and have added Alexa app. But now, for say, my goal 2 above, should I be creating a routine in Alexa, which will turn on the bulb and put it to 15%, or I need to create a "scene" in Hubitat and somehow trigger that via Alexa?

First, congrats on your purchase and welcome to the community!

There are lots of options, and as many opinions! I will be happy to share some of mine, and others will probably chime in with different (even better) options to consider. (Yeah you asked a short question and got a tome for an answer... apologies in advance!)

Most people do exactly what you do, and what I did. Start here, try this, hop to another room, try that. I learned much later that's not necessarily the best way to do it, even though I did it that way and so do lots of others Take a look at the documentation on creating strong Zigbee and ZWave meshes and let it inform you as as you plan things out.

https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=How_to_Build_a_Solid_Zigbee_Mesh

I prefer to build my automations all within HE, and use the Echo Skill App to expose certain devices to Alexa for additional control. I also use Alexa to make announcements, alert to certain conditions, and so forth. But never for automation. The Alexa routines are just far too primitive, and I hate, hate, hate doing all that crap from my phone.

Smart bulbs are fine in some circumstances, problematic in others, and your only choice in still others.

Why don't I like smart bulbs? They require that the bulb be powered at all times so it can react to commands. If you have a smart bulb in a fixture controlled by a regular light switch, turning off the switch disables the bulb and any automation using it. So my advice is wherever possible automate the switch, not the bulb. If you must use a smart bulb in a socket controlled by a switch, disable the switch with a plastic safety cover. If you decide to go the switch route, you'll get lots of opinions there too, but I think Lutron Caseta, along with their pro hub, are by far the best.

Zigbee bulbs prior to version 3 (which is most bulbs out there) make lousy repeaters if they are repeating devices other than bulbs. In other words, they mess with your mesh something fierce. (Especially if they get turned off by a switch!) I have all of my zigbee bulbs on a separate (Philips Hue) hub and I use HE's great Hue integration. That way all my bulbs (and they dont all have to be Hue) stay on a separate Zigbee network and can route other bulbs to their heart's content but they leave my primary mesh network alone. One exception is Sengled bulbs, which do not act as repeaters and are fine paired directly.

I use bulbs in specific circumstances, like in an existing light fixture that will never be turned off or is not controlled by a switch. Closet lights are great examples. If I have a smart bulb in a closet in a socket with a pull cord, I stick a smart bulb in the socket, and then cut the pull cord so only a small portion sticks out of the switch. Enough so you can get to it in an emergency but not so anyone will try to turn off the socket otherwise. Or if I have a desk lamp and I want to control that. Or if I have multiple bulbs on the same switched circuit but I want them to behave differently at different times.

So back to your immediate situation!

I use the Mode Manager app to create a few different modes. These modes are shared by any automation on HE, not just your bulb. Here's how mine are set up:

Then I use scenes to control what happens with various bulbs during which modes. I have a scene for lights on all day, another for lights on in the evening, and so forth. You can also use modes in a variety of other apps. For instance, if you have a motion sensor set up, you can have it turn on your light to 15% at night but do nothing during the day, and so forth.

If you want to control the light via alexa then yes you certainly could set up three scenes on HE and expose all of them to Alexa. We generally refer to this as remote control rather than home automation. My preference is always to try to automate rather than control, though in reality I do a lot of both. You could stick a motion sensor in there and have the Mode and Motion Lighting App turn it on 100% during the day and 15% at night if there is motion, and leave it on for a half hour or so unless it continues to detect motion. Then at night if there was no motion it could revert to your 9% nightlight. No intervention on your part (or Alexa's) needed! You could also add a virtual switch to your automation that would override the motion sensor and leave the light on until Alexa turned it off...

Here's an example (using bulbs, though in this case they show up as dimmers) and modes, along with motion, to control a set of lights in the upstairs hall. I am not using scenes, though I probably should. (I have an additional mode called "cloudy" which is triggered by lux sensors inside and outside):

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Modes are a good way to do 1-3. If you set up modes, you can then globally change things at certain times of day "sunset", or based upon presence "away". You can customize the modes like Brad5 appears to have done with his "Cloudy" mode.

As far as Alexa, you would probably incorporate a virtual switch, lets call it "Night Reading Mode" into your Mode Manager and this virtual switch could be selected via a dashboard, or Alexa. This could be used as an override for time of day modes, or just used as the only way you switch modes. Although most of us probably would want to automate this via time of day, amount of light, or some other measure.

Scenes are good for other things, and maybe you would want them. An example would be you have multiple lamps in your living room. You want one light set to 100%, another to 20%, and a 3rd one set to the color blue. You would get things just the way you like things, capture the scene. Then you could turn on this scene via a rule, time of day, or whatever. It might work for what you want. You could expose this to Alexa if voice control is all that you want to do.

You may even want a combination of these two things like Brad mentioned. When Mode becomes "Sunset", set Mode "Night Reading" to ON. It would be totally automated.

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What Brad said... but here's my take on smart bulbs:

I started out with a single smart bulb and a Hue hub. I have more than one now, but I keep them all on the Hue hub and expose them to Hubitat via the built in Hue integration. I use smart bulbs in some lamps and in ceiling fixtures where I want to change the color. For example, my kitchen is bright white during the day, and warm white in the evening. I also just prefer smart bulbs to smart plugs, which I admit is purely subjective.

For the ceiling fixtures, I have toggle-type switches. I use the Lutron Aurora dimmer switch to cover the toggle. It's also directly on the Hue bridge and is not exposed to Hubitat. It keeps the power from being turned off to the bulbs, while still allowing those who want to to dim the lights or turn them on/off manually. Hue does a great job of automating that function. I have not tried to set these up directly on Hubitat. Here's a link to the dimmer. There's a paddle bracket available if that's the type of switch you have, but honestly I think it would be easier to swap the paddle switch out for a toggle switch and then use the Lutron dimmer.

I also use modes, and don't have really anything to add beyond what's already been said.