New to Hubitat - Help with Groups and Scenes

OK. So I am brand new to home automation. I received my hubitat a few weeks ago and now have a few Zigbee lights so I am ready to set them up. I was able to add one light as a device and control it so 'success!' Now I am hoping to start grouping or adding scenes. I don't know exactly how this works so let me describe what I want to do.

-Room with 15 lights
-Group them three ways: 3 lights, 12 lights, and all 15 lights
-Have switches in 3 locations:
-1 switch will turn on the 3 light group, but it will turn off the 15 light group
-2 switches will turn on the 12 light group and turn off the 12 light group

That is the minimum functionality I am looking for. If there are more options on the switches, then dimming would be nice. The lights have white color changing capability so a button that can change to another color setting would be nice. So I am looking for switch suggestions.

I assume what I am describing will be scenes?? If I make these groups of 3, 12, and 15, can I set up buttons on the switch to do what I am describing?

Thanks in advance!

First welcome to home automation and welcome to the forum!

Absolutely! With Hubitat you'll find there are often 47 ways to do something and no way is necessarily wrong. You can use groups, or you can use scenes, or you can control the bulbs individually, or you can use the room lighting app that combines a lot of these functions into one pretty sophisticated automation tool. I usually use scenes if I want various devices to be set different ways, like 5 lights on, 3 lights off, 4 dimmed to 50%. For simple on/off/dim together a group is likely easier, or you can use the "room" functionality within the room lighting app if your sets of lights conveniently follow a room pattern.

With switches as with everything else Hubitat related you have lots of options. My personal preference is Lutron Caseta's line of switches, dimmers, fan controllers, and so forth. I like them because they are rock solid reliable and because they have many models that don't require a neutral wire at the switch box. For those of us blessed with older homes that's a huge advantage. They do require a separate hub (their PRO series hub) but it integrates well with Hubitat and works flawlessly. They are also a bit on the expensive side. I have close to 40 of them and they're just great. Their Pico remotes are really handy for 3-way installations or adding an extra switch just because. I don't use their motion detectors, though - they can't be controlled independently and I like having the flexibility to do more with them

If you want to go another direction you can get either Zigbee or Z-Wave switches from a variety of manufacturers. Zooz, GE/Jabsco, Inovelli, and several other manufacturers make solid products. If you choose z-wave or zigbee you'll want to plan out your network a bit before hopping right in. Here are two great links:

https://docs2.hubitat.com/how-to/build-a-solid-zigbee-mesh

https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=How_to_Build_a_Solid_Z-Wave_Mesh

And though you don't need to, I'd start with devices that Hubitat has tested for compatibility. That list can be found here:

And last but not least my co-conspirator @rlithgow1 has put together a thread that has lots of good info for people just starting their home automation journey or who are coming from another platform:

There are lots of great folk here who have boatloads of knowledge and are happy to share experiences and best practices so don't hesitate to reach out. We all started where you are at some point.

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Wow! Thanks for the great response. I'll start reading through the recommended threads.

So is a scene essentially a set of commands that I program to work together? And then with a smart switch, I assign a scene to a button or a sequence of button selections?

Will a scene change the state of a light regardless of its' current state? For instance, if one light is on and another light is off and I press a scene that wants them both off, it will turn them both off? It won't do something silly like toggle the one light back on? I am guessing on is one command and off is another so it won't do that.

As you can see, I have a lot of learning.... :slightly_smiling_face:

Probably thought of as a set of settings applied to a series of lights. You can either enter the settings manually or you can just set a bunch of lights the way you want and capture the settings. Here's an example of a scene I use at sunset. The room lighting app, though, supersedes scenes (or contains scenes within it) so scenes are not used as often anymore.

General yes.

No, though there is a command to toggle a switch too! You can also "capture" the status of all the lights in a scene before you activate the scene, and then "revert" to the way things were before the scene was active. That can be handy too.

That's what keeps us young!

And while this will work...

You can get a lot more creative. For instance, why not use motion sensors to turn on the lights as needed, and off again after a brief internal of no motion? Or perhaps you want some of the lights to come on automatically at sunset... or when the light level drops below a certain amount... or when you come home... or when a closet door opens turn on the light automatically... or dim the lights 50% when the TV turns on... or if you get in bed and stay there for 5 minutes turn out the hall light... or... well,,, I think you get the idea. Endless possibilities. I really like my house to just figure what I need and deal with it. If I have to interact with the lights it's usually through Alexa.

One of my favorite automations controls my outdoor security lights. If my security cameras detect a person in a particular zone, light it up. But ignore cats, dogs, raccoons, etc. And let me know there's someone there by announcing it on Alexa. Or if a car comes into the driveway after dark light up the security lights and the low-voltage lights on the steps until I go inside, and when I shut the door, turn them off.

FYI if your 15 lights are not already on a circuit of 3 and a circuit of 12, there are different approaches you can use without rewiring. I generally prefer smart switches to smart bulbs but if those 15 are all on the same circuit smart bulbs may be a better approach. You can still install switches to control the lights individually or in groups but they work differently - rather than cutting power to the circuit they simply send a signal to the bulb itself. Really depends on how your lights are wired today.

Sorry if I'm saying something that you already know but as you are new to Home Automation. The ability for Hubitat to dim or change the colour of the bulb is dependent upon the capabilities of the specific bulbs. Some of my bulbs are colour bulbs and some only allow different hues of white.

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