I haven't tried it, but my generic Zwave relay devices (plug in appliance modules) have an option to automatically turn them off built in in the device Preferences.
I'm still very new to the platform, but this is simple to do on Hubitat. A lot of the automation tools have a toggle for making actions delayable. If the lights are triggered using a button, probably the easiest way to do it is in button controller. You can add more than 1 action to a button, so assign turn on as the first action, and turn off as a second action, and delay the action for however long you want to leave the light on.
For switches, I know you can do the same thing in Rule Machine, I imagine that by using variables, you could make one rule that handles all of the lights you want to turn back off on a timer.
I think that setting is really to allow you to use it as a momentary switch. I believe the maximum delay is very short.
The best usage I got out of my $300 VeraSecure was using it's 4 hour battery backup as a UPS for my 3 Hubitat hubs.
If you want to use it (I know that this is low tech, but it really works), there is a device driver for "switch timer" or "switch timer with reset". This is a virtual switch which will flip on or off after a certain number of seconds/minutes. It works well, and allows you to make rules based on the value of a switch (i.e. after a certain amount of time).
[Originally from @cobra and from @JasonJoel].
My Light switches are all connected to in-wall Aeotec Nano's z-wave switches so I really just want to assign simple timers to them being turned on and if they arent manually turned off within a certain period, the Hubitat turns them off. I know I can do this in Rule machine but it's a bit like using a sledgehammer - plus I want individual timers for each light, not one single timer.
You're right, and I'm surprised to see that there doesn't seem to be an in-built alternative without messing with virtual devices or something. I can do this sort of thing very easily in Node-RED, but that also seems like a bit of a sledgehammer for such a simple automation. hehe
I wouldn't call Rule machine a sledge hammer. Writing a rule for this is very simple and what the developers of the platform stated simple rules that aren't generic it excels in. You would have to write a rule per switch but cloning and editing is easy. If you use Rule Manager for a while you will see that it's much easer to use than PLEG on the Vera.
Event: Switch turned on
Action: Turn off Switch (Delay 60 minutes)
Wait 61 minutes for Switch turned off
Cancel delayed actions
It’s just clunky compared to a simple app like delaylight for Vera.
I forgot about cloning, that will make it easier.
I'm EX all the flavors of VERA. Been on Hubitat a while now, nothing too fancy with my automation. Lights, thermostats, water leak detection. Wife came to me the other day, no water. Looked at my dashboard and sure enough, kitchen sink cold water hose was leaking. That was comforting.
Just ordered the new Hubitat, like to keep up with technology.
There's a few custom Apps that do this, recently discussed over at
Cheers, I’ll take a look.
Cheers, Auto-Off is exactly what I needed.
For anyone here stil using their Vera's for HVAC control (due to Google being dicks with the Nest API's), I wrote a guide on how to slave your Vera to your Hubitat House Modes.
This allows you do do all presence detection and House Mode logic on Hubitat and your Vera will just sync with your Hubitat. You can then continue to run all of your HVAC logic on the Vera.
I started using Hubitat a few days ago and I will retire my Vera Plus in the next week or so. I have used Vera for about 4 years and it has been a journey.
For the first three years I used Vera and the embedded LUA language to run my system. 73 Hue lights across 2 hubs, 7 ceiling fans, 15 ceiling motion/temp/humidity sensors, two door locks, 6 window blinds and a Channels-DVR. There are 12 Wallmotes that control all of the lights and fans. I have 8 ZRC-90 controllers that can control everything. Harmony Hub integration controls the TV's/Shields.
About a year ago (or shortly after the company was acquired) it was clear that I would need to be moving on. There are so many pain points with Vera I can't list them here. So, I decided to drop LUA and I created my own API separate from the "box" to reduce the pain when I make the change. Most of the capabilities I built in the API required a back end database, and that was a great help compared to LUA and no state management.
My goal was more "automated home" vs "home automation". I didn't want to have to press buttons or "do things" to control the home, but rather, I wanted the home to run by itself. Pressing a button was to allow for the "exception". The API and database allowed me to accomplish that.
The pandemic has provided more free time than I ever believed possible so I researched Vera alternatives and I ordered the Hubitat to give it a run.
Overall it's a great piece of tech. Using the rules engine I have all of the API endpoints accounted for and the capabilities are up and running. I seem to prefer to dive in and screw up as my method of learning, so it's been an interesting few days (and three soft-resets). Today I started building out the dashboards and connecting the Wallmotes and ZRC-90 controllers. Getting all of that setup often felt like an endless loop of stuff, but I'm learning? The guy that does the Hubitat videos is someone I want to have a beer with.
Can't wait to understand more and extend what I've already developed to see where this goes. Now that I have some understanding, I'll start posting questions and then one day maybe answer some questions.
Hi All.
I'm still waiting for my HE to arrive in the mail. Seems like I have had a very similar experience. I was a Vera 1 beta user, then Vera 2, then Vera Plus. All three are sitting on my bonepile now. Moved to ST when the Gen2 first introduced, was quite happy until recent.
Looking forward to learn what you all are already enjoying!
Here's my newly promoted Vera Edge (HVAC Controller) with my Hubitat C7 - the plus has been boxed up.
Big day for me, after getting my Zen Zigbee Thermostats and installing them yesterday, today I decommissioned my Vera Edge - Our house officially all in on Hubitat!
Did you ever get it to work. Just bought one used, quite cheap. But same shituation as you
No i did not. It's collecting dust on my shelf for now