I've used an Aeotec 6 multisensor and the lux reading on that was reliable.
What does Darksky report in lux. I used to use APIXU and it reported up to 10k or so. I had my lux levels to turn lights on with anything below 2500.
Does Darksky report the same lux levels? As of this morning, it says it's 800 lux outside....
I have both, indoor and outdoor lux sensors. The indoors for me were needed because with blinds shut the inside can get pretty dark even if it's not outside. However you are correct that the inside lights do effect the readings. But that's pretty easy to account for and the Motion Lighting app (for example) gives you two settings, a lux level that enables the turning on of the light (aka only turn on if lux < x) and a lux to turn OFF the light (only turn off if lux > x). So clearly in that state you need to get a reading of the lux with the lights ON and make sure your off setting is above that. Just giving an example. I have a few rooms that use rules like this.
As for the sensor the best one I've used so far is the Aeotec 6 multisensor. The zooz guys are OK but go through batteries a LOT for me. The Aeotec can easily be run from a USB cable and never needs batteries.
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Yes darksky seems to report up to 10k for lux, see my illuminance chart from a few posts ago.
Yeah, I expect it works just fine! For my house, however, I previously used APIXU and was frustrated by odd reporting behaviors and ultimately decided if I was going Cloud Free, I wanted a solution that worked in my back yard!
I like the weather station solution as well, but I just haven't ponied up for one of those yet.
I think APIXU and Darksky are just fine, but at the end of the day, they introduce an external dependency I just wasn't keen on!
S
Your explanation makes perfect sense, and with the addition of the idea of the blinds, makes for an excellent use case.
I don't have any similar use cases really. My kitchen lighting could probably use some additional thought, but I think more consideration of motion and outdoor lumens together would probably be more effective for me.
Thanks for the explanation!
S
