Holiday Mode?

[jsc]

So as I'm setting up all my lights/automations to work for certain days of the week etc, I started to think about what happens when a holiday comes around?

For example, if July 4th is on Monday, I'd want me "weekend" mode to occur on Monday instead of the typical Monday mode. And if it falls on Thursday, but my family is in town for the long weekend (Thurs-Sun), I'd want weekend mode to be Thurs-Sunday.

If I have my dining room lights turn on at noon on the Sat/Sun, but never during the week since I'm at work, I'd want those lights to turn on at noon on the "holidays" as well regardless of the day of the week.

I'm not looking for a calendar to "just know" when all the holidays are and set it automatically (because if I go away for the holiday I don't need my schedules/rules to change). But rather, I want an easy way to press a virtual button (change the mode) to override all other modes and force my "weekend" modes/rules on a Monday and Tuesday or whatever...

Any ideas?

THANKS!

[steve.maddigan]

Neat idea but I can’t help you. But interested.

I have a virtual switch for myself and for my wife for vacation mode. I have incorporated it in my separate wake up rules so the won’t fire if they are on.

[jsc]

The virtual switch turns on "Vacation Mode"?

And how does that impact your schedules? Does it override the usual "day" schedule?
Do you have rules for lighting that gets altered by this "vacation mode"?

[april.brandt]

Virtual switch. Here's my idea:
Rule for virtual switch when on trigger weekend mode.
when off, then modes as normal
when on then change mode to weekend.

You'd have to add that condition that the switch is off in your other mode changes

[steve.maddigan]

Yup so in this example the rule doesn’t run if vs.Becky.vacation is on

[Carl]

I'm using the Holiday Switcher app by @dman2306 and have this controlling a virtual switch to be used as a condition for a few of my rules, works perfect!

[RELEASE] Holiday Switcher

This isn't something I'm really going to maintain much but I needed something to do this so I thought I'd share... It allows you to pick holidays from a list and it will turn a switch on on those days. Cobra originally had something similar but since he took his apps down, I threw one together quickly to meet my needs. It will also let you define some custom dates for things that aren't really holidays but you want the switch toggled anyway. Like I said, I don't really intend to add any addit…

[steve.maddigan]

Nice. Will take a look.

[lairdknox]

I use a global "holiday" variable. Right now I just set it by hand. If it is set to Halloween the exterior lights come on at dusk set to purple and orange; 4th of July they are red, white and blue. If it is set to anything not recognized then it is set to the normal nightlight setup.

[jsc]

Interesting, so do you have this function in ALL of your rules?

Is there a way for me to set up a button (virtual) that would cancel rules when pressed?

[jsc]

This is cool, but I don't want switches to toggle at midnight, I want to have a virtual button I can press that would pause some of my rules

[jsc]

in my ideal scenario, I could just change the Mode to the "weekend" mode which would allow for all my weekend rules and timings. The problem is, right now Weekend mode occurs automatically on Friday evening and lasts until Monday morning at sunrise, when "day" turns back on.

If I were to take a Mon/Tues off, I could change the mode manually to Weekend on Sunday night, but automatically at sunrise "Day" would override it. Same thing if I manually changed it on Monday morning, eventually "Evening" mode would override it...

[steve.maddigan]

No not all my rules, just the ones that are associated with our work schedules.

For instance, I usually work from home in the morning (pre-covid) and depending on meeting go into the office between 11 and 1pm. I have a rule that on weekends when I leave it runs my departure rules, but only when vs.Steve.vacation is off.

I also have a second VS, vs.follow.me button that enables all of my rules that run based off my Presence.

Yes you could have a VS that would cancel any rule you want, you would just need to add it as a trigger to the rules in question and build it into the logic.

[Carl]

For me to have a switch that toggles at midnight when there is coming holiday is kind of the point. This virtual holiday switch is then used as a condition in some of my rules to prevent them from running, like for instance the one below.

Given the fact that this only will work with national holidays, one will need to have some additional way to indicate the personal ones. So maybe this thread could be something for you?

.ics calendar support

I’d like to see an app that reads an ics calendar link and creates events. My specific use case is for reminders for trash, recycling and compost pickup.

[mik3]

Check out the holiday switcher app. It’s pretty awesome!

[Carl]