Sorry to rain on the praise parade. Hubitat's Vacation Mode is just plain bad / wrong / incorrect.
When I leave the house for a few days or weeks, I would like the house to appear occupied. I want the lights to do the usual things based on Day, Dawn, Night in addition to Vacation actions such as lights on/off at random, which is typical when people are in the house. Vacation Mode should augment, not obliterate, other modes. Currently, I do this with rules (apps) named "VACATION" prefix (yuck) which I enable/disable. Same complaint for "Away Mode".
Is there a better way?
I noticed similar posts in 2018 (Rule Machine), 2019 (Get Help), 2021 (Lounge).
Without seeing your rules it's hard to comment but if you are using, lets say 'Night' for example in a rule that you want to continue to run when away, then why not use if mode is 'Night or Away' THEN do your stuff.
It's not really an issue.
Just a thought that may help you.
I don't bother with modes... but for me, it's kind of a reverse scenario but I have a number of rules I don't want to run when nobody is home so I have a virtual switch called "Vacation" so part of the rule logic is only when not disabled by "Vacation" on - and when I am going away I just turn that one on switch on. I suppose if I wanted I could also schedule that one switch.
Just a suggestion, but you could have all your vacation rules only run when "Vacation" on if you wanted.
EDIT: I know this topic is closed now, but I just remembered seeing something you may be looking for or possibly even referring to... in HPM there is an app called "Vacation Lighting Director"
2nd edit - ok read the new posts first dummy, Dana mentions it 2 down
I use Modes for the daily stuff mainly based on time of day or amount of outdoor light. For other things, like Away, Have Guests, and others are virtual switches I engage via a dashboard. I use the state of those switches to control things along with modes. I never could understand Away as a mode...
I disagree that Vacation mode should augment. I use Away mode for short periods being away from the home where the HVAC and water heaters continue to work as if we are home (with slightly modified temperatures), but security and motion sensors start reporting, and turns on some rules where lights randomly turn on, and notifications are sent for things that I don't need when in the house. Vacation mode turns off the water heater, puts HVAC in vacation mode, turns on some rules where lights randomly turn on, sends those notifications, and more. There is little to none that I should run "as usual" while I'm on vacation.
You may want to use virtual switches instead of modes. In that case, the switches would augment one another.
You can only have one mode active at a time, so you can't have Vacation mode sitting on top of other modes in some sort of combination effect where the hub figures out what you want from different modes.
I don't use modes (use Rule Manager, presence, and a virtual vacation switch to run vacation-specific rules as @bobbles indicated) so I don't know if this is also how other platforms work w/modes, but I suspect it is.
At Home Simulator - deprecated & no longer supported, but the code is still available on the developer's GitHub (moved to his Bundles section on his GitHub) and some folks quite liked it I think.
I mostly use mode to constrain motion based rules, and it works great for this.
Ex.:
If it’s day, don’t turn on the light with motion
If it’s evening, turn it on at a certain brightness
If it’s evening, turn it on at a lower brightness
If mode is away, don’t turn it on (to ensure pets don’t turn them on)
I also have an automated vacation switch that turns on when mode is away for a defined period of time.
Should Away/Vacation be separate and on their own? Yea, probably. But that’s what’s great about Modes, one can remove what they don’t want and also create their own!
All excellent work around constructs. Essentially, the work around logic implements vacation as an independent state, i.e., augment Hubitat Modes. Would be a lot simpler if Vacation Mode were independent from Day, Dawn, Night etc.
When Mode became a part of HE (about a year ago), I was sure they had done the right thing. Spent hours stumbling around before I realized that it was the same ol' junk.
Again. Not really sure what you mean by this.
I've been using modes since I had a C3. 2018/2019 I think.
As someone has already intimated, you can delete the current 'modes' and redefine any number to do with as YOU choose.
I'm still struggling to get what you are actually after.
That's one possibility, as they've always been part of the platform (and were mirrored from the identical concept in ST, so even that wasn't a new idea -- or one where they had a lot of latitude if easy porting for developers was a concern). The Mode Settings page was recently revamped, so that could be it, but there's nothing possible now that wasn't before via some other means.
I'm also confused by any reference to "Hubitat's vacation mode." There are a few default modes, but anything like "Vacation" (in the US English sense of the word, at least) isn't one. But you're free to create and delete any modes that you want. If you have such a mode, it's because you created it. And because modes don't do anything on their own (they only do what you tell them to do, if anything), their behavior is entirely within your control -- making the claim that the behavior is "wrong" (or, let's say, just undesirable) equally confusing.
My goal for vacation logic is make the house look occupied to the casual observer. I can control HVAC and the alarm system from anywhere I have mobile access. HE is the only exception -- too cheap to pay for remote admin to enable/disable apps.
@bobbles Think your suggestion is simple. Will take a crack.
You are confusing applications used to manage Modes with Modes themselves. There are multiple applications that can be used to manage Modes.
But Modes as a concept have been around since Hubitat's inception, and are a carryover from SmartThings.
Also, there is no default "Vacation" mode. If there's a Vacation mode on your hub, it was created by you or some other user of that hub. Creating a mode doesn't automatically generate automations that run when that mode is active. The end-user must add automations using built-in or community apps to run the desired actions.
Others in this thread have pointed you toward community apps that give a home a "lived-in" appearance. Suffice it to say that it is also possible to do this using built-in apps.
Since your question has been addressed, I am closing this thread.
