Obviously, don't turn on a light/lights if there is already a certain amount of light in the room. Anything else? 3rd Reality has a new multifunction RGB night light, motion sensor, illuminance sensor, Zigbee repeater that looks interesting. I can envision hours of fun updating all of my motion lighting apps to check illuminance before operating. Is everyone else already doing this?
THIRDREALITY Multi-Function Night Light, Zigbee Repeater, 3-in-1 Combines a Motion Sensor, a Illumination Sensor and RGB Color Night Light, 1-100% Adjustable Brightness, Zigbee hub Required https://a.co/d/exJep7q
That just sounds like another point of failure to me, and something to eat cpu cycles before firing an automation. That said, I do use outside lux readings from the average of 4 Hue outdoor motion sensors in some indoor lighting automations. It is much nicer than basing everything off of time of day.
I'm using the Matter version (https://www.amazon.com/THIRDREALITY-Matter-Multi-Functionality-Compatible-Google/dp/B0CGQYQFNV) in various places throughout the house to solve range issues I was having with trying to extend my Zigbee mesh. All three things (motion, night light, and lux) work really well that I'm planning more to finish out my needs. I know others have used the Zigbee version and generally enjoy them as well. Let me know if you have any questions about the device itself as both versions work the same.
As for your question, I use the lux sensor on the device in a couple of my rules related to when someone comes home and what to do with the lights. Basically, if the lux is under 175, turn on the lights in the drop zone and kitchen. Very simple rules that work well.
I am using my Tempest weather stations Lux sensor. You can call the Tempest through many custom integrations found here on the forums. I use the UDP/WeeWx/MQTT/Hubitat integration for real time updates with no cloud.
I set up two variables "Lux Low" "Lux High". The values are separated by about 200 lumens. When below Lux Low the background lighting in the home will come on, when high the background lighting will turn off. I also use the lux in a few automations such as occupancy in my office, if it's too dark out and I enter my office the work lighting will come on. It will not turn off until the room is non-occupied.
What is great since we have storms that come through in the middle the day in spring that darken the sky the house is always in a state that make it feel well lit.
All lux sensors are facing outside through the glass. This way they are all like outside lux sensors.
There is a separate sensor for each shade/curtain. The way how Sun moves single sensor is not enough. Here is an example of one rule:
I thought using the lux from an outdoor weather station was unnecessarily complicated but I see the advantages now. The biggest one is that you can use one sensor as a lux measurement for all rooms exposed to windows with no influence from interior lighting.
It depends on the type of weather station. But what I found is that I had a lot of options with the Tempest (Poll API, WebSocket, etc.) Once you have connectivity there are a lot of data that you can use in the Hubitat, Lux was the first sensor I used for lighting.
Thanks for this and posting your rule! Very helpful. Which sensors are you using for this, looking for something discreet that I could tuck up and stay hidden if possible.
"ThirdReality Multi-Function Nightlight" looks to be the one for this.
