Newbie motion control question

Is there a general rule of thumb for when any motion control for a light by the various methods - as in "light on with motion and then off after a few minutes without motion" is affected by other commands to the light?

Example: "Alexa, turn on the light." Is it on forever? When does motion control resume? Or the dreaded turn light on at the physical switch. Is it on forever?

I know we have multiple options for motion control. Is the answer different for each one?

Thanks!

I have a different viewpoint, I guess.

The most important rules I write are the Turn it OFF ones. :smiley: Which means I turn things off N minutes after they went on. What triggers that varies... most are Motion, yes, but a few are based on the switch being turned on.

For me, there's always an OFF rule running somewhere :slight_smile:

ON rules are the afterthought for me. They are usually obvious after I get the OFF logic ready.

My wife complains when the bathroom light turns off at night when she is in the shower. There's just no pleasing some people.

I add a variable to my rules so when they turn on automatically, they will turn off automatically. If I turn it on manually (including Google/Alexa), they will not turn off automatically. That way, the basement (dark!) or deck lights don't turn off when I turned them on. I have a lot of lights turn off on change to Night or Away modes, so they really won't be on forever.

I have an Aeotec multisensor 6 motion sensor in the shower and I use zone motion to make sure this doesn't happen. I also use it to turn on the fan separately from the rest of the lights in the bathroom. Of course now folks ask why there's a camera in the shower. Sigh.

This is what works for me too.. I use an Iris motion sensor so I can narrow the sensor width with a tube made from white tape.

So basically you have a camera with a zoom lens in your shower? :grinning:

Yes, exactly.

Well.. that's certainly the first impression. :smiley:

I am using my legacy Samsung motion detector in the shower and that works well to keep the lights on. I was mostly referencing the turn off as a default condition concept. The Sonoff temp/humidity sensor turns on the exhaust fan. The multisensor would be perfect.

I'm just mulling over the best way to automatically resume motion control as an eventual override to an instruction from Alexa or a physical switch event.

I appreciate the comments,

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