I am trying to get my Zooz ZSE29 motion detector to turn on several new GE Enbrighten switches. I want the ability to turn off motion detection and have it on constant, dusk to dawn. I haven't been able to do this in Motion Lighting (and I tried).
I was thinking, double tap a switch or something like that. Everything I tried in the ML app doesn't seem to have the option of physical vs digital switch.
I noticed, and verified, that the ZSE29 can have motion sensing turned off by setting parameter 2 to 0. Maybe this could be an approach? Maybe in the dashboard, which I haven't messed with yet?
This is best done with automations. Use a simple automation rule to turn the switches on from sunset to sunrise, and create a motion lighting rule that can only control the switches from sunrise to sunset.
What do you mean by this? I assume by "turn off motion detection" you mean no auto-on and/or auto-off for associated devices in that rule, which ML can do by creating one or more virtual switches depending on the granularity you want and linking those to the overrides in the app then controlling those switches elsewhere such as other buttons or alexa or whatever.
But what exactly do you mean by "constant, dusk to dawn"? If all you want is ON from dusk to dawn and motion control (unless overridden) from dawn to dusk, the previous comment is a good solution.
I want to be able to choose whether to have the motion sensor control the lights when it's dark outside, or to have the lights on (and not controlled by the motion sensor), depending on my mood or perhaps a mode. The motion sensor has a built in light sensor, so that could be used to see if it's dark out or it could be from the system sunrise/sunset.
I'd also like to keep the option of turning the lights on and off physically from the switches, hopefully as a group. Also put the thing in dusk-to-dawn mode maybe also at the switches. I don't know if that'd be possible. Maybe from the Dashboard, which I haven't even touched yet.
I have to look into virtual switching, I have to look into a lot of things, lol.
Notice the references to lux so that it only comes on if under a certain level and it automatically turns off if over a certain level.
Also notice "switches to activate on" and "switches to turn off lights" this adds a physical switch control to the rule. In my case I only have one switch in the room, so linking switches may get more complicated, but I have don't have the setup to mess with that, so someone with more experience may have guidance on that. If you too only have one switch and multiple Smart bulbs however this should work fine, just make sure to attach every device up at the top of the rule setup.
Finally notice the "switch to disable on" and "disable turning off lights" switches. Those are both linked to the same virtual switch, which is normal on for logic reasons. So when I turn it off, it turns off the auto on and auto off, effectively disabling the motion sensor. The motion sensor still reports don't get me wrong, but this app disregards that data.
If you haven't already I would take a look at the documentation regarding this app, it is pretty thorough albeit a little confusing sometimes with the terms.
My advice would be to just start simple. I would get the lights working with just the motion sensor. Then add the overrides which I control with Alexa. Then physical control via switch. Then add and tune lux parameters to you liking, this step is a bit difficult to test but the use of covering with your hand and a flashlight are good for seeing extremes.
Thanks for the tips. I used Simple Automation Rules and made a virtual switch whose off position turns on Motion Detection (and off Dusk-to-Dawn), and whose on position turns on Dusk-to-Dawn (and off Motion Detection), via two rules. Both restricted to between Sunset and Sunrise. I created a dashboard, snapshot below. It seems to work.
I tried to use double tap on a controlled switch so that I could change modes of operation at a physical switch, but Simple Automation Rules didn't allow it: no button behavior, although my switch supports it. Plus, it allows only one switch, which would have been do-able.
Is there a way to see what rules I've created, so that I can customize it and save it, or do I have to start from scratch?
I have a long ways to go.
Edit: @cjkeenan Did you do that with simple automation rules? It seems complex enough to me.
No all of my motion sensor lighting rules are with the built-in Motion Lighting app as opposed to RM or Simple Automation. Give that documentation link I linked in my previous post a look. Tons of good info in there, just be careful since it is a TON of info and can be easily overwhelming for a beginner. Like I said just start simple and get it working, then add features one by one until you are done, or don't and just always add, but I digress haha.
Anything can be done with RM and a lot of things with Simple Automation. The point of the built in discrete apps are to make your life a little easier for specific applications.
Thanks. I'm going to give Motion Lighting another whirl, with the virtual switch thrown in this time. I'm not super great at reading manuals, but I'll give that a whirl too.
Rule options are device dependent too, as the double tap capable toggle switch noted above. Also, according to another thread, the lux measuring accuracy of my motion detectors might not be awesome, plus, to conserve battery life, it only 'wakes up' every 30 minutes to report. I'm going to try to get a usb cable from an outlet through the wall, but who knows how that'll go.
I have to start putting these puppies up before the snow flies.
I think I wound up with something that will work using Simple Automation Rules.
(Note, please ignore "Rear Breezeway Coach Light", that's actually wired up and not in the test, lol.)
I made two virtual switches, Toggle Dusk to Dawn, and Toggle Motion that runs or stops related apps. An app allows only one of the two switches to be on at a time.
Both rules are running on system sunset and sunrise. I turned off the lux trip since I figure less futzing around, and maybe more flexibility with mounting the sensor since impinging light from the fixture won't be a factor.
I also set the motion clear time to the minimum of 5 seconds and will let a rule take care of it.
What I thought was neat was that I was able to use the button capability of the GE Enbrighten toggle switch. A double tap up toggles motion on/off, and a double tap down toggles dusk-to-dawn on/off.
The toggles at the physical switches of course turn the individual fixtures on/off-I didn't tie them together. I have the GE (Jasco) switch configured so that it lights up blue when on.
