Help a Newbie Out...Scenes?

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1

OK - I get groups - very useful.

What I don't get is Scenes and the use case for Scenes.

  • I put a bunch of devices in the state I want to record in the scene
  • I activate the scene, and the devices go to that state

Why would I want to do this versus a WebCore automation?

Hoping for use cases and examples...as to why I would want to use a scene versus WebCore logic.

I'm trying to learn here...thanks!

2

“Groups” just groups a bunch of lights together and you control them. A scene puts them into the specific state each was in when you captured the scene, and every time you activate the scene, the lights will all adjust to that specific state. Stuff like “Movie night” as an example, could dim specific lights to specific levels the scene was captured under.

Neither Groups nor Scenes are the same as a typical automation on Hubitat Elevation.

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

3

Thanks for the reply...I read that link before I posted.

In the example of "Movie Night"...I have a virtual switch called "Movie Mode". I wrote a WebCore piston that does this:

  • "Remembers" the state of the lights I am going to change
  • Sets the lights to how I want them for Movie Mode

When the "Movie Mode" switch is turned off, the lights go back to the state they were previously.

So...why would I want to use a scene? (Or am I doing the same thing with a WebCore piston?)

4

I could do the same thing with the Rule Machine but it will take me a lot longer to set up. it’s just a really fast way to do it.

With scenes I can just turn on the lights to the level I want and then click capture, save it and I’m done. I don’t personally use scenes but some people use them a lot and to build all those automations will take a lot longer than just turning the lights on to the level you want and click capture.