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I'd really like an "earlier of two times" added as an option for when to start a time period. Sunset and sunrise varies a lot depending on the season. I have not been able to move most of my lighting rules over to RL from RM and I would really like to.
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Being able to use a variable for a start time would be a nice option too. This would allow me for example to have a time period that starts when the mode becomes sleeping, since that is a different time every night.
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Would also like variable time added to the elapsed time option of "means to turn off lights" so that under certain circumstances the lights will stay on longer.
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Maybe this can already be done easily, I'm not sure. An option to have a "cooldown period" after a RL instance is turned off before it can activate again. Even though most of our lights are automated, it's been drilled into our heads to turn the light off when leaving a room for nearly 35 years. Mostly this bugs my wife, that sometimes she turns off the lights as she leaves and the motion sensor turns them back on almost immediately. Also sort of an edge case because it only happens if the motion sensor is retriggering at that time too, but it happens enough that it gets complained about.
Sorry for not being clear. For point 2 I was also talking about when creating time periods.
It might look like I'm basically recreating mode manager inside of RL, but pretty much every room has different times that are considered morning, night, etc. Mode manager has an "earlier of two times" and a "later of two times" option when creating a time period but RL does not.
I'll have to think about your other requests...
Thank you.
It's not showing you the option for Variable time because you don't have any DateTime variables. My screenshot above is what you get when there are DateTime variables to select from. Exact same context you are describing (my Dawn time set for 5:15, but selecting Variable time instead below):
I had no idea! I tested it out while you were editing in the screenshot and sure enough the option is there now. I didn't bother creating the variable because I didn't think I'd be able to use it... lol. I'll keep that in mind for similar situations in the future.
I was thinking that's what had happened, and how the app UI doesn't give you a clue. On the one hand, I didn't want the app offering an option that couldn't be used, and on the other, not offering the option means you didn't know it was there.... hmmm.
In RM and some other apps it has a little variable note that says other options are available to you if you have X device. Or something like that, that works well I think.
I am not a dev and did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, so I have no idea if this is crazy-talk but since the request for an "earlier (or later) of two times" option comes up somewhat regularly...
Would it be possible to make that a (new) Hub Variable option? Then that earlier/later value could be used in RM, RL or whatever else.
Thanks for your consideration!
No, this wouldn't work. Perhaps it could be an option for setting a DateTime variable in RM. I will look into it.
Hi. Are the conditions in Means to activate/Means to turn off evaluated as "Any of" or "All of"?
This suggestion has been implemented in Release 2.3.5.130.
Any of.
This feature coming in next release.
This can be done with a Virtual Switch and a helper rule (Basic Rule, RM, Simple Automation Rule). Add the switch to the devices to control, and turn it on/off as with the other devices. The helper rule is triggered by switch turning off, and turns it back on after whatever "cooldown period" you want. Like this:
Use the switch to disable Activation in Room Lights when it is off, like this:
That now covers all of the items you listed in your post about requested features for Room Lights.
Thought I would circle back to this just to let you know how I fixed the behavior. I noticed in the logs a couple times that room lighting set the state of the light (ie blue 35%) but didn't turn it on. So I changed the bulb type to a switch instead of RGB and now it seems to be working perfectly 
Today, I started migrating my rules to Room Lighting from MML and noticed the RL app hasn't been updated since it was first released. Is it true? I was thinking there would be some bug fixes or new features added since it was introduced last year.
This is not true at all. You can see several fixes for Room Lighting in the last few hotfixes, plus new features (though not drastic changes by any means) if you go back even farther. See the release notes, or start here for the 2.3.5 series alone:
This is what I was expecting but when I check the version it shows
And I installed the app today.
Looks like that is just the version for the parent RL App, if I open a child App I see a more recent version number, which I take to mean all the work has been done in the child App code, with the parent app remaining unchanged since the original release.
@sburke781 is correct. The parent app has not been updated, as all it does is create Room Lights. Room Lights is the actual app, and it is updated frequently,
