Would POE be an option? As a way to turn off the hub and back on again....? Perhaps more expensive than it's worth, if the client can simply do it themselves.
If it's acceptable to shut down the entire hub, then an approach would be as
@aaiyar suggests. I could get a wifi plug outlet, and turn off the entire hub for that length of time.
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I think this is it. If it were me, I would just use a WiFi outlet (off course, the shutdown would done with an app).
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Yes, that would be the consideration for a smart plug, or POE for that matter, whatever solution for powering down the hub, would need to be handled outside of the HE hub in some way. You would probably want to schedule (if it can be done) a graceful shutdown, rather than just pulling power. But would still need external control to turn it back on.
There's an idea, can you schedule turning on/off the Zigbee / Z-Wave radios? Perhaps trumped by @aaiyar 's last comment.
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Question. Do these motion sensors flash a light (LED) on the sensor every time motion is detected? That will not be acceptable during Shabat. So, the LED will ahve to be disabled. Or use motion sensors that do not flash an LED.
I don’t know what happens when you check the box to disable the device in the device screen… but that can be done programmatically witching rule machine.. I would image the device will still send the commands, but I don’t think the hub interprets them.
I don’t know if this will best said requirements
Yep. @jtmpush18 ...
Get a sensor that can be powered thru a usb adapter.
Make sure it has no battery.
Plug its usb adapter into a switched plug.
Turn the plug off when the sensor needs to be off.
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If that's the case shouldn't the hub also not be allowed to function during the Sabbath? I have no idea what the rules are in regards to what constitutes work in a modern day setting.
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The hub doesnt have any flashing LEDs on it. They stay constantly on.
I meant that isn't the hub still doing work though, by virtue of being powered on?
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No, I don’t think that matters. But the users actions should not intentionally cause the hub to do more work.
This Wikipedia article sort of goes into the details …
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As you can well imagine, it's a very complicated subject.
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A very clever response (@hasty1), to disable the device by means of the UI. This is very similar to the response of turning off the appropriate radio. These mean that the Hub will not process the response from the motion sensor, but they don't stop the motion sensor from issuing it's report. Equivalent to these two approaches is just using a switch so that any report from the motion sensor is disregarded in the rules.
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@rob9 approach is the best, but requires (in this case), a tremendous amount of work that I'm not sure the client is willing to pay for. There are many, many, many sensors to be retrofitted to work on power. Can be done, but it's a big job.
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Turning off the Hub via a wifi plug (after a graceful shutdown, of course), would seem to be the best approach. However, this means that timed events during the period (e.g. turning the Thermostat up or down, which are permitted), are also not performed.
My thanks to everyone for giving the matter some thought. Much appreciated.
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It sounds like the issue could be the physical sensor itself detecting motion, or perhaps a light on the sensor flashing, or the zigbee radio sending a motion event (or all of the above?).
As others have mentioned, I think the only way to stop the sensor itself from doing those things is to remove power.
Everything else is, I believe, at the hub level, i.e. whether the hub does anything with the data the sensor has sent to it.
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Maybe use a second hub to put all of the devices that need to be disabled on this hub with appropriate rules to shutdown this one hub for the appropriate time. I would assume this would be less expensive than option 2. And give you the flexibility missing from option 3.
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This would definitely be an issue. Similar to the light in a fridge coming on when the door is opened.
Could the device be covered in some way? As I was reading this thread, I thought of what @rob9 did... a powered outlet. But I'm thinking a non-electronic method would be a manual drop down cover made on a 3d printer - sort of a box on a rail that can be slid open closed like the privacy window of a camera...
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I emailed my Orthodox friend yesterday after reading your post, and he sent me this link. It turns out that this is quite a common problem. And while it is desirable to disable the motion sensor, it is not essential to do so. (off course, motion based automations should DEFINITELY be disabled).
https://ph.yhb.org.il/en/01-17-14/
You may wish to share this with your client.
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Hue sensors are magnetic, now and again when I don't want anything to run a just grab the sensors and place it somewhere facing the wall so it can't detect motion
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Thank you!
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So.
Another thought that might be easier.
Buy a second hub.
Pair the motion sensors and other things that need to be disabled to the second hub.
Mesh it with the primary hub.
Have the primary hub tell that second hub to do a graceful shutdown prior to when motion alerts need to stop. Then, after a bit, set up a rule to kill power using a single outlet.
Then, when things can resume, power that hub back on.
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