Hello New Family,
I recently received my new C7, I'm trying to put together my game plan. I purchased a Caseta smart bridge pro kit with some extra dimmers and pico's. My question is for my wife's closet what would be the best way to have her light come on when you opens her closet door? Do I need a smart dimmer switch or could I use a Pico? Would it be best to use a contact sensor on the door or a motion sensor inside the closet?
I use Zigbee contact sensors on closet doors that Hubitat then uses as a trigger to control Caseta dimmers (or switches) that are connected to the closet light fixtures. Works great, as long as nobody closes the door while someone is in the closet.
So you use a Dimmer switch in the closet? and what Zigbee sensor do you use?
I have a zigbee contact sensor on the door, and a zigbee motion sensor inside.
Lights go on based on the contact sensor being open. Lights go off when the contact sensor is closed and there’s no motion.
How do you turn the lights on in your closet now?
If there’s a switch, you’ll need a caseta switch (or dimmer).
If you’re more interested in using smart bulbs, then it would be possible to control them with a pico thanks to Hubitat.
I have a switch and thanks, so you cant use a pico in place of an actual switch? But I could use a senfeld smart bulb and a pico in the closet?
To use a pico in place of the switch, you will need to hard wire the bulb.
Something will have to turn the light fixture on and off.
A caseta switch or dimmer can do that.
A pico is a battery-operated accessory that can function to create a 3-way switch with the caseta dimmer it’s paired to.
With Hubitat, yes you can.
Caseta is a system that’s designed to be used on its own. But with Hubitat, your options for using a pico expand greatly.
For a walk in closet I actually use a "dumb" motion switch. $15 at lowes. This only works if the switch is inside your closet. Light comes on and stays on while in the closet. Turns off 1 minute after you leave. I felt no need for expensive switches or bulbs in there. NOW if your switch is outside the closet that will not work. So a Caseta switch or dimmer paired with either a zigbee motion sensor or door contact sensor would be options. IF you trigger on the door alone, will she ever leave the door open? If so do you want the light to stay on? In most cases a motion sensor will probably be more reliable in the sense that even if the door is left open but there is no motion in the closet you can have the light go off without complicated rules.
Yes but you will have to remember to always leave the "dumb" switch controlling the smart bulb in the on position, if it gets turned off the pico will send the signal to a smart bulb with no power.
Depending on the size of the closet (ie, is it likely anyone would be in there with the door closed), I either just use a simple zigbee contact sensor (open=light on, closed=light off) or a contact sensor together with a motion sensor. In the second case the contact turns on the light and lack of motion turns it off. It's a bit redundant but I've found that motion sensors can be inconsistent when it comes to speed, while I've never had a contact sensor that wasn't virtually instant. This of course requires that motion be detected in the first place, so if someone somehow opened the door without triggering the motion sensor the light wouldn't turn off. I can imagine that being an issue in some situations but it's never been a problem for me.
Of course, you could do all of that with either a smart bulb or a smart switch.
Living in a house where shutting the closet door all the way is not always a thing (either because of the human factor or an old house where door frames have shifted a bit over the last century and a half) I just put a motion sensor inside the closet. Most of the closets have the old style pull cord bulb socket so I use a smart bulb and reduce the pull cord to about an inch - can be used in an emergency but no one is going looking for it to turn the light on or off. It works really well, though sometimes the closet light will turn on in a seemingly random fashion and the last thing you see is the flicker of the cat's tail as it disappears into the closet.
When I built the walk in closet for our master bedroom in the new house, I didn't want to automate it with HE. I simply threw in a Lutron occupancy sensor switch. I mean it's incredibly sensitive and someone is always moving in the closet. I didn't feel a need to. Now on my kids closets? Yeah i put caseta switches on those because they leave all the lights on
Sounds like a pretty interesting closet 
.
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