Yep, of all the stuff I've done, my family really only cares about the motion lights. My daughter told me the other day that it's becoming weird going to friends houses where that doesn't happen.
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Farko makes Zwave skylights, but this is what ended up working for me…
Casement windows are also possible to automate as well, This is how i did it on smartthings…
In both cases I’m using MIMO lites to drive other devices.
- Rule that wakes us up, and repeats every 5 minutes until we give a specific command to Alexa to stop
To clarify, is there a way to make this rule in Hubitat or is this a rule in Alexa?
Ah yes, we setup a shortcut in Alexa “Alexa, I’m up” that turns on a virtual switch in Hubitat. This switch, when on will stop the rule. We have it turn back off automatically at a later time in the day to ensure we will get the wake-up message the next day.
Does that help?
Sort of. I'm aware of how to make a virtual switch in Hubitat and import it in Alexa. I created conditional rules that would allow me to control devices in Alexa through Hubitat using these virtual switches. So I guess you must have put this virtual switch in control of lights or other wake-up devices, and then created a condition in Alexa to turn off the switch until you give that specific command?
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My favorite is the rule that checks the temp and humidity outside. If they fall within preset parameters the house will tell me the weather is perfect for opening the windows and turning on the attic fan.
If I decide to open the house I just start opening windows. When the windows are opened it turns off both thermostats and turns on the attic fan.
When the temp off the humidity moves outside of my parameters it will turn off the attic fan. It also tells me which windows are open.
When I close the last window it turns the thermostats back on.
Works like a charm.
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What kind of sensors do you use to check temperature and humidity outside?
Also, is there a device that opens regular windows?
I'm looking for devices that will open/close vertical blinds and curtains. So far there is a device that opens and closes horizontal blinds, but that won't meet my needs.
I can't speak for @aaiyar, but i know the Roku Connect app tracks the state (playing, paused, stopped) of certain Roku TV and streaming devices. I haven't used it in any automation yet, but I believe others have.
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My favorites are all HVAC related....
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Using a zigbee Plug and a relay in parallel with the thermostat for my detached workshop. Saying "Alexa, Preheat the shop" causes the heater to run for 10 minutes to take the chill off before I go out there.
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Using a ZEN16 to control the main dampers on my central HVAC System so that conditioned air goes where I want it.
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Preventing condensation on my windows in the winter using weather forecast data, some math in Rule Machine, and a zigbee Plug to control my central humidifier.
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I use the Bond integration to control my RF ceiling fans. I couple that with my Inovelli Red Series dimmers.
The fan is wired always on, and light is wired to dimmer load terminal so dimmer controls only the light.
The dimmers control the lights in all my rooms. Plus I use the scene capability to control my ceiling fans, and the color changing LED to report status.
Double tap up increases the fan speed.
Double tap down decreases the fan speed.
Any change in fan speed triggers an LED notification on my dimmer.
Blue = fan off (blinking for 1.5 seconds)
Green = fan low speed
Yellow = fan medium speed
Red = fan high speed (strobe for 3 seconds)
In my office and master bedrooms, the dimmers do not control the load — the fan lighting power is always on,
The dimmers in mode of operation are set to disable local control.
Tap up - turn on hue light, and dimmer
Tap down - turn off hue light, and dimmer
Hold up - increase brightness
Hold down - decrease brightness
In master bedroom, I have a Hue Motion Sensor positioned so bed movement and dog walking around won’t trigger motion.
If dimmer is on, disable motion lighting rule.
If dimmer level changes, disable motion lighting rule
If hue light brightness changes, disable motion lighting rule
Mode = night
When motion is detected, turn on hue light with nightlight scene — turn off when motion stops.
Mode = evening
When motion is detected, turn on hue light with scene dimmed - turn off when motion stops.
What this does is it allows me to have a nightlight while sleeping based on motion.
A motion light that I can see well with before bed, when it is dim outside.
And if I turn on the dimmer, then the the light goes to 100% white and all motion lighting control is disabled until the dimmer is turned off. Using my hue integration devices, I can set the default scene so that turning on the light always activates the scene as part of the in command, so this works well.
For Alexa, I expose the dimmer and the hue lights. So when I ask to turn on the light, the hue light and the dimmer turn on and motion lightening is disable.
If I ask to turn off the light, the light and dimmer turn off, regardless of motion lightening state, motion lighting is reenabled, and all returns to normal.
If I ask to set light to a certain color, the hue light responds, if it is on.
This does not require a group lighting device, since Alexa tries to carry out commands on all lights in the room.
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I also have a rule in my guest bathroom that prevents fogging of the mirrors.
Using dew point calculations, I compute dew point based on outside air temp, hallway temps, and bathroom temperature and humidity. If humidity and temp in bathroom near dewpoint then I turn on the fans and turn it off automatically when the dewpoint drops back out of range of current bathroom temp and humidity.
I have considered making this into an app, but for now it is one rule in rule manager.
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One of the bathroom fan apps may help with that, it may be a bit of a hack, but if you stored the dew point in a humidity device you may be able to refer to it in one of the apps. Depends on the logic you use... Just a thought.. Either that or request an update to one of the bathroom fan apps, to keep similar features in the same spot....
I use an Inovelli 4-in-1 sensor which I plug in so it never runs out of battery.
There are weather drivers provided by community members that will provide the same information for your region.
There are some devices that do this with the chain, or curtains by being connected to the curtain rod. You can search the forum to find ones that are compatible. Doing a quick search in AliExpress brought me to this amongst others:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001702490864.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.33c56bfd2s6dQx&algo_pvid=null&algo_expid=null&btsid=0bb0623916218612608008569e7b75&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_
Switch bot also makes a curtain opener:
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As @dylan.c said, it can be done with the Roku Connect app. I started using it a week ago, and it’s been great. The downside is that the Roku devices don’t push the current state, so the app has to poll for it periodically (default is every 5 minutes, I believe). So for my automations, whenever I need to check the state, I refresh the device, wait 2 seconds, and then check the value of transportStatus. Took some tweaking to get right, but it’s been working perfectly so far.
Wow, that was helpful! It never occurred to me to look on AliExpress. I guess because I only just now started to use it. I guess this is a marketplace for mostly Chinese manufacturers? I haven't had great luck with buying Chinese stuff from Amazon, but I couldn't find anything on Amazon for horizontal blinds. This being Zigbee, it should work with Hubitat, should it not?
Do you have a link to the Inovelli 4-in-1? I was not able to find it on Amazon.
Have you tried the Inovelli site? It is not always on Amazon…
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Thanks. @Sebastien is this the one you were referring to? It doesn't look like it has a plug-in option nor does it specifically mention outdoor compatibility. Bear in mind I live in Texas where it gets hot and humid...
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