There's certainly some examples people having offered interesting options in this space.... at the very least link to them here to get others looking at them....
For me, I have some Philips Hue outdoor motion sensors that will hopefully be delivered in the next few days.... I want to use these to detect changes in light levels outside and adjust lighting levels.... Nothing new amongst the Community, but something new and interesting for me...
Others I'm sure have made use of drivers that detect changes in the weather, changes in seasons and changes in .... Anything that can be detected
Since you mention Hue outdoor sensors, I use multiples in combination. It may be bright on one side of the house, while the other side of the house is eclipsed. So, I have booleans for each side of the house, as well as an aggregate.
When the outdoor sensors trigger exterior lights, the change on illuminance is small - a fraction of what would flip a "bright" boolean to true.
The indoor Hue sensors present a challenge for me, in that they both measure and control. Once they trigger a light, there is no way for it to know whether the room would be dark without the light.
True. Currently at 5PM my rear external multi sensor facing east (a waterproofed and 5V powered Fibaro) is reading 32,767 lux, while the one at the front facing west is at 6,080 lux. As I'm using them primarily for bringing on external lighting that's not an issue - as once the sun goes down the figures equalise very quickly. More of an issue for me is the temperature readings from those sensors. They're generally ok but on a bright day with the sun on them they're wildly inaccurate. I need to reposition them so that they're not in direct sunlight at any point (doable at the rear but not the front). Temperature and illuminance would be better served by individual sensors for accuracy.
I also faced similar issues here. Time won't work for motion lighting and neither will sunrise/sunset as it cannot account for weather. I can use the external illuminance as currently the sensors are in the same light as the windows. However if the curtains were closed and it's broad daylight outside, that also creates an issue. In the end I've had to set up motion lighting to follow both illuminance and the position of the curtains/shades (which thankfully are automated so that position status is available)
The simplest automations/rules always seems to quickly get more complicated.
That's what I am likely to do as well. I face West, so, for me, get the afternoon sun belting in at the front of the house... and so the reverse at the back of the house.
I ordered two outdoor sensors, so am thinking initially I will place these at the front and rear of the property.
Aside from lighting, I am also keen to try and use the one at the front to drive what is currently a time-based automation to close the internal, West-facing roller blinds, closing them based on the sun rather than the time of day.
That's something I would like to explore as well, not just for whether to turn the lights on, but also the colour temperature that would be best to use.
Food for thought for me @johnwill1.... I have wanted to introduce illuminance for some time now, but haven't got around to it, but you make a good point about the other factors that can come into play, as did @Hatallica with lights being on affecting the illuminance reading.
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