With a household of 5 and a housekeeper, it seems unlikely I'd ever get Presence to be a reliable way of putting the house in to (and out of) Away Mode. Thoughts?
On that basis, I've been thinking that there may be a more reliable method? I've got door locks and motions sensors throughout, would anyone recommend them as reliable detectors of lack of activity that would cause the house to go in to Away mode or should I just teach everyone to set the house in to that mode when the last person leaves with a button? Then simply use the door locks to cancel Away mode?
Keen to get this to be reliable enough to start integrating the Siren and other events.
I created a virtual presence device, Guest, and setup an aggregate presence detection for each family member. I integrate Mode Manager and HSM and use the presence for Guest and each family member to drive away and not away. I then use various methods for making Guest present. A PICO remote, lock codes, dashboard tile, etc.
You could then use a rule that checks if all tracked family members are not present and assuming no one is sleeping, if there's no motion detected for a variable amount of time, set Guest not present again. I also add that whenever my wife or I get home, the Guest is marked not present automatically. If we're leaving the house, we make Guest present if needed again.
I too have a house full of people and too many situations to consider for away mode. I ended up putting a Pico dimmer by the garage door right next to the alarm panel. I labeled the buttons STAY/AWAY. We can also tell the Google Home āIām leaving/Iām backā. Sometimes the best solutions are the simplest ones.
For those with separate ADT Pulse alarm systems, ADT's automations can control Z-Wave devices based on (among other things) the alarm mode.
I've got one relay activated by "Armed Away" mode, which turns on a second Z-wave relay tied to Hubitat. I can use that second relay's state as a trigger.
