If you are planning to use the motion sensor I posted above this shouldn’t be an issue. I cut the power to mine overnight, since I don’t go into closets while sleeping, and there haven’t been any issues. Granted not as often as you plan but it’s a pretty simple sensor so again shouldn’t be an issue. You could use a Zwave or Zigbee motion instead if you have concerns or run into problems later.
Thank you. I just ordered a couple of those sensors to play around with. If all goes well, WAF will be much improved in the near future! 
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A rising tide floats all boats.
Translation: Happy wife, happy life. 
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@danabw nice work! FYI I found contact sensors pick up the door opening faster then motion sensors (unless your walk-ins are left open). After the 'upgrade' half the time I wonder if the lights were on before I opened the door, they come on so quickly. We use motion in bathrooms that have open door ways, and contacts for closet which are normal closed doors. Just a thought to test.
Thanks! You're right, I prefer contact sensors as well, but my wife has warned me that she will likely not be shutting the closet door all the time...it's a slider, so a little more work than a normal swing door to open/close.
I'll have multiple motion sensors mounted so that I can pick her up coming in and even near the door. I told her that there might be some false positives to make sure things are lit when she gets inside, and she's fine w/that as long as the lights go out w/in a couple minutes if she's not actually in the closet.
This is what I use when I just want white... (CT)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XCGKM3Z/
Correction:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NRMX43G/
Which controller do you use with these lights?
Question for you all. What app or RM rules are you using for this?
I’m using contact sensors for my 3 closets now and I’d like the lights to turn off after x minutes (say 6) if the closet door gets stuck open.
The built in Simple Automations app doesn’t really do this well. Wondering if anyone else has done something like this before I go mess with RM for all of these rooms or take a stab at writing my own app.
One way to do this, depending on how the closet is laid out, would be to add a motion sensor, and have the light go out when the door closes, or when motion ends. You can do that w/the Event Engine community app.
To do this just w/a contact sensor I think you'd need to use RM...don't know of a way to do that w/other apps.
Looks awesome! Now I have to do mine !
Have you tried HE’s built-in Motion and Mode Lighting app? This can handle both motion sensors and contact sensors (e.g. we use this to turn on our porch light when either we open the door or someone walks up the path) and turns off after n minutes of inactivity.
I'm using RM4 for some closets and Motion & Mode lighting for others. In some cases I use a contact sensor, and switch the light off immediately on close, in others with a motion sensor, I switch the light off 1 min after inactive.
S
I have and use them for other stuff. But they don't seem to let me do what I'm trying to do.
Yeah, what I'm trying to do is:
Have my closet light turn on when the door opens, and off when closed. If left open, I want the light to turn off after 2 mins. If we are in sleep mode, I want the lights turned on at a much lower intensity (e.g. 50%).
Which I just created this rule for which seems to be working;
Looks like it should work for your use case just fine!
S.
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I’ve done the same thing to my pantry, but I actually didn’t bother with any automation. I ordered a set of normally open magnetic reed switches and wired them to the LED strips. I made sure to order 5 volt LED strips. For power, I replaced the refrigerator outlet with one that had USB charging ports, then repurposed an old USB charging cable to power the whole setup. I just ran the wire behind the fridge and through the wall to the pantry. I also did my linen closet the same way, but I had to add an outlet in the closet in that case.
As much as I love automating my home, not using any smart devices for something simple like this made more sense to me. No batteries to replace, no expensive smart outlets to buy. I think I spent a total of $5 in parts to wire up my pantry.
Using the money I saved for more door and window sensors for HSM. 
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Sense and logic has no place here, begone! 
I do agree, you're right, that would be the sane approach in many cases. But there are very few sane people here... 
I have an extra zigbee light strip, and would like to be able to set the brightness of the pantry lighting based on time of day/sunset/sunrise so I don't get blasted when opening the pantry later in the evening. I might even set it to red between midnight and 7AM just for fun, since I'm the only person in my house that will ever see those lights during those hours.
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