I want to disable a switch so that it cannot be turned on during a certain time period. I have a rule that turns it off when it is turned on, but it still comes on momentarily. Is there a way to do this so that the switch is completely disabled? Could I possibly use a relay? is it easier to disable a relay than a physical switch?
I don't understand what that means.
Do you mean prevent the physical device from turning on? I would not recommend this. If for some reason hubitat were to crash, you would no longer be able to turn on your lights. That would suck. But, disconnecting the buttons from the physical relay/dimmer is possible with the Zooz and Inovelli switches/dimmers. But I do not know that you can do this anywhere except in the settings of the device. I don't believe the option to do that is an exposed command within the driver. If it isn't, to do this, you might have to go into the UI, assign the Basic Z-wave tool to the device, change a parameter, then, change it back. Then, do that all again when you want to engage the switch.
Wouldn't it just be easier to swap the switch out with a button controller? That way, you would have 100% control over what the buttons do at any time of the day/night.
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Yes I want this light to not turn on between certain hours. It's more of a training issue for a kid but she's pretty defiant. There are two lights in the room, but one is an array and very bright. So short of unscrewing the bulbs, I'd like to just disable the switch. Is there a button that fits in a standard decora switch plate? I guess I would then have a button connected to a relay to operate the light? Then I could disable the button at certain hours. Hopefully I am understanding you.
I am not sure what kind of switch you need to disable. Is it a standard physical switch or is it a Zigbee or Z-Wave Smart Switch? If it is a smart switch, then there is something you can do. I had to do something similar to prevent a light from turning on during times my wife wants to watch the news and Jeopardy. The suggestion I was given that worked was to create a virtual switch. Then under the options of the motion lighting, use that switch to disable turning on. A rule will need to be created to specify the times the virtual switch needs to be turned on. See post #2 in this topic: Inhibit motion lighting during news and Jeopardy
@lwholmes
I think this is the best solution for this situation. To expand on it, I would suggest replacing the switch with an in-box relay (like an Aeon labs nano switch), and put a Pico remote on the wall-plate. You can use RM to disable commands from the Pico during a certain time period.
Oops I missed this post. Yes, I believe that is exactly what @Ryan780 is recommending.
Here's what I would suggest using:
Aeon labs nano switch
and
Lutron Pico remote
The remote can be mounted in standard Decora plate and the nano switch fits inside the box. You will need a Caseta pro bridge for this solution. However, as @Ryan780 has pointed out multiple times, the utility of Pico remotes makes the Caseta bridge a cost-effective approach.
Yes the Zooz zen26 for instance can have local control disabled via the driver. It works great. I Use the button device in RM and have switches in my home that trigger other switches but do nothing locally.
The local control can be disabled at the switch by tapping the paddle 10’times. Not sure if you can re-enable it that way or not.
And sorry to the rest of you, but I think this is the easiest solution. Lol.
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Thanks all for all the input!
It's a GE Zwave switch. I do have some ZooZ Zwave switches from before GE realized that they needed to compete price wise. I could possibly switch one out or just get a Zooz Switch for my next thing to add. Building my Smarthome one switch box at a time. I had thought of the idea of having the wall switch with a relay behind it. I would then turn the relay switch off at times I do not want the light to come on and turn the relay on when the light is allowed. I'll have to check out Steve's suggestion to see how that would work, It sounds better than adding an additional piece of hardware to control 1 light.
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