What is the best way to simulate presence while one is gone from the home. So a vacation mode simulation setup, basically.
I am essentially looking to turn certain devices on and off, but also introduce a fair degree of randomness. Or perhaps something better than randomness. But you get the idea.
Thank
Markus
In HPM search for a community app called Vacation Lighting Director
Thanks! I'll check that out!
I have outdoor lights that turn on at dusk and turn off at dawn. I have internal lights that turn on and off at specific times during the day, whether the home is occupied or not. It is not random, but unless someone is particularly observant to detect the times when lights are turned on or off manually or using a motion sensor, they are going to have difficulty figuring out whether we are home or not.
For example, my wife usually gets up around 5:30 am. The kitchen lights turn on a 5:30 am whether she is up or not. A light in our family room comes on a few minutes before dusk and stays on until our normal bedtime, whether we are home or not. Lights in the bedroom turn on 30 minutes before bedtime and then turn off at bedtime. I just give these as examples. Do whatever works for you.
To provide some randomness, we have a couple of cats that can trigger motion sensors in the utility room where the litter box is kept and in the bathroom where they have a bowl of water. If they enter these rooms, the lights will turn on and then turn off a few minutes after they exit. We have a trusted neighbor who feeds the cats and brings in the mail.
Hi, I created my own rule which has a variable for each light or switch which randomly changes every 30 mins when the rule triggers. Then after that, I toggle each light after the number of seconds on the variable in question. Because the rule triggers every 30 mins, that means the variable adjusts every 30 mins thus altering the toggles gaps anywhere between 2 seconds and potentially up to 59 mins 59 seconds. Hope it makes sense and you'll see the randomness from the screenshots but it absolutely does give a random effect.
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