So I am looking for ideas for extending the function of the system.
At this time, I have a mix of WiFi thermostat, smart speakers (Alexa) and cameras.
And then there is teh Zigbee / Zwave switches, bulbs, fan controllers, motion and contact sensors, sirens, keypads. There are a mix of sensors with temp, and temp / humidity readings, and lastly Zigbee smart plugs / repeaters.
I've got motion / mode lighting. I've got fan control based on temperature, and thermostat scheduling. I've got alarms and wake up routines etc....
I am now looking for additional things that can be done with the system as is, and where to best aim budget to do more with minimal expense...
So what's your automation ideas that make life easier?
Rule that turns on the Bathroom fan based on humidity
Rules that automatically locks the doors at a certain time and then automatically keeps them locked until the morning
Rule that wakes us up, and repeats every 5 minutes until we give a specific command to Alexa to stop
Rule that keeps some lights on when the TV is on
Rule that arms the house when everyone is gone
Rule that turns off lights in certain rooms when there is no motion for a set amount of time - issues a warning via TTS 30 seconds before turning them off
I want to address your ideas individually in line here so bear with me...
Totally agree on this one. Need switch for that for my guest bathroom. Master bath doesn't even have a fan. Need to wire up for it and install one. No idea what they were thinking.
Good idea. No smart locks yet but will do that when we add locks.
I actually don't need this one. I roll up straight away when the alarm / lights / weather routine comes on. But for slower risers, good idea!
I'd actually like to keep lights OFF when the TV is on, but would like to know how to trigger such a rule that could override motion lighting. Dumb TV with FIre stick and gaming consoles. I hate having lights on reflecting off the screen when travelling through Los Santos...
Yep.
I'd like to add, rule that keeps the lights off / not responding to motion sensors during certain hours when we should be asleep. I've seen some unobtrusive underlighting that might be a good idea were it not for the fact I am married and wife means bed ruffle...
I have it setup with my Harmony Remote Integration. However, I have seen others use a power monitoring outlet on the TV to detect if it is powered on.
I have this setup as well - using the modes. When away, lights don’t turn on so the pets don’t trigger them. When in night mode, I have some not turn on, others turn on at a very dim or warmer level. Works great!
I also have a setup in our bedroom where only the lights under the bed will turn on red when motion is detected during the night. I setup the motion detector in such a way that it will only detect motion from an adult standing up in the room, so this avoids false motion events.
My Evening mode is set via sunset time where my night mode will trigger either at midnight, or when my wife or I activate it via a button by our bed that also turns off the bedroom lights. I had to update it recently so that it would only go to night mode during the night…. Otherwise, it would turn to night mode sometimes during the day when the wrong button was pressed.
I also have my alarm system automatically arm with the mode changes to night. This makes it very hard to forget to arm the system. (Using Ring with the unofficial Ring integration.)
One group of automations I have are pretty simple, and slick to me. Motion Lighting - with conditions of a lux sensor level. Why turn on a light because of motion - turn it on because its too dark and there is motion. I have four Zigbee Xiaomi Light sensors, and a Aeon Multisensor 6 for Lux sensors.
Simple yet smart. Why am I turning lights on if I can already see?
I have a hue motion sensor mounted alongside a tablet on the side of my fridge, when motion is detected HE sends a message via AutoRemote / Tasker to the tablet to open chrome (a HE Dashboard) and then open a dim clock app when motion stops.
I have a script that monitors keyboard and mouse activity on my PC and sends commands to a virtual motion sensor device via Maker API to keep the lights on in my Study.
I also have a Tasker Profile on my phone and mobile to send the name of what is being cast to my Chromecast, storing it in a virtual device on HE using my generic attribute driver.
Hi guys, I have a scene which shuts my house down. Essentially this is my night mode. It runs when there's no motion on all motion sensors after 30 mins. Also the time must be later than 21:30. This can also be triggered from a virtual switch controlled from the dashboard.
Okay almost done prepping the hardware config for the living room TV / lights.
I have of course the dimmer / switch. Zen27 "Living Room Lights"
An Iris V2 motion sensor. "Living Room Motion"
And an Iris V3 smart plug with power monitoring "Living Room TV"
I have no lux sensors of any kind anywhere yet. That will be later on down the road.
The TV will be powered through the Iris smart plug, only to monitor power usage.
The concept is no response from 1 hour after sunup, to 1 hour prior to sundown. If it is dark enough we'll simply ask Alexa to turn it on.
From 1 hour prior to sundown, to 1 hour after sunup, IF the TV is on, AND motion is detected, do not turn the lights on, or turn them on to a very low level, not enough to cause screen glare, but enough to maybe keep us from bashing our toes on the coffee table... ELSE...
If the TV is OFF AND miton is detected, turn the lights on to say 90% in the evening, and 60% at night. (Maybe we are up late watching a movie and don't want to blow light into an adjascent bedroom while others are asleep).
This is the primary reason I sacked off smartthings. Couldn't get this to work reliably. Enter hubitat - awesome.
Couple of webcore pistons, dht22 sensors, nodemcu's, and some 2 wire thermal actuators on the rads.
Dashboard: (the 'flames' are to give a 30 min boost. Rad's show when the thermal actuators are on. Little info box which lets me know what's going on per floor, current temp, and the 'clock' is whether the schedule for that room is enabled or not. All schedules disable when I set my home security).
My 3 favorites are: When entering master bath after 10pm, night light behind the toilet comes on at 10 percent. (This makes sure I hit the toilet without waking me up) Turns off after 5 mins of inactivity
Walk into master bath after 5 am but before sunrise, overhead lights come on at 10% and rise 5% every 2 minutes till 100% (makes it so it's not uncomfortable when going for the shower)
After 9pm but before 6am , door sensor trips on my 3 year old's door sending a message to all phones with specific sound. Text saying (Kid's name is escaping! Release the hounds!) and my 2 dogs react to that particular alarm and go and track the kiddo and keep him occupied while we find him.
(Yes, I found a way to integrate my pets into my home automation. And in the spirit of Hubitat, it's still 100% local )
I would say my best automations are the most simple and "invisible". The ones that everyone in the family have come to rely on day to day without thinking about. Simple motion activated lighting, closet lighting both motion and contact sensor based, buttons controlling bedroom sconces, door open chimes - nothing super complex but super helpful.
Would it be possible to see how you accomplished the ramping up of light intensity? That is something I would like to do with the bedroom lights Mon - Fri as part of a wake up routine. The options to do the light ramping in Alexa are missing, and I would prefer to operate this locally.
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