How to adjust for sunset and sunrise times in winter and summer?

[Guest]

If I wanted to do something like that, I would use separate events (or utilize the "OrIf"):

If time is sunrise - 30
AndIf Virutal switch Season = Winter
OrIf time is sunrise + 30
AndIf Virtual switch Season = Summer
Then....

[w.vuyk]

Don't get the problem here? My (Windows) system adjust the time. hs.sunrise/hs.sunset times are adjusted accordanly. No need to have any event questioning if it is winter, summer time setting? Even on the day times are changed I do not need to change anything on my wakeup times, which are controlled by HS?

Aside from that, I use light sensors which really decide when it is gets darker. Very handy when a storm passes?

[pcgirl65]

w.vuyk where I come from, sunrise in the winter is much darker than sunrise in the summer. And the same for sunset in the winter is much darker earlier than sunset in the winter. Therefore, I have to adjust the +/- times as the year goes on to adjust for the lightness and darkness of the seasons. For instance, in the winter, sunset might be 5:00 pm but it will be darker before then and I would want the lights on. But in the spring and summer sunset might be 8:00 pm but if I have the same setting that I had setup for winter, say sunset -30 minutes, this would actually turn the lights on too early in the summer because it is much lighter 30 minutes before sunset in the summer. Hope this makes sense. It is just the way it is, so I have to adjust for it.

[upstatemike]

What would happen if you simply moved your location setting further north to exagerate the difference between Summer and Winter light?

[mulu]

That all seems complicated. If you want a smooth adjustment you will have to create pretty long conditions. Further, you have to take DST into account. I wish there was an easier solution where you can draw a graph over a year and then use that as a trigger.

[w.vuyk]

w.vuyk where I come from, sunrise in the winter is much darker than sunrise in the summer. And the same for sunset in the winter is much darker earlier than sunset in the winter. Therefore, I have to adjust the +/- times as the year goes on to adjust for the lightness and darkness of the seasons. For instance, in the winter, sunset might be 5:00 pm but it will be darker before then and I would want the lights on. But in the spring and summer sunset might be 8:00 pm but if I have the same setting that I had setup for winter, say sunset -30 minutes, this would actually turn the lights on too early in the summer because it is much lighter 30 minutes before sunset in the summer. Hope this makes sense. It is just the way it is, so I have to adjust for it.

pcgirl65

So using a light sensor would solve the difference maybe? Here in winter I have the same issue, around 16:00 I need lights, summer light is still good at 22:00 DST. So I have set the sunset/sunrise events to determine if it is day or nighttime, but at they trigger mainly on light or dark based on the sensors. This way lights only go on or off based on true light status. So it can be night time, but if light lingers longer, lights won't switch on, unless it is measured dark. Works perfect here.

BTW, my system follows DST and with the coordinates set correctly, HS uses the correct sunrise and sunset times based on DST or wintertime

Wim

[mulu]

w.vuyk What light sensor are you using? I have a wireless one but it's running out of batteries pretty fast. I have Ethernet cables to most of my windows so I could use that to use some wired sensors. However, we have trees that throw different shadows depending of the day of the year, awnings that can be extended or not extended, etc. and all of that throws things off. I should have planned for cables on the wall for a light sensors. Too late now. Maybe a weather station on the roof could work.

[w.vuyk]

I am using aqara light - and motion sensors that include light sensors - (shade spot front and back of the house) and light sensors from the Philips hue outdoor sensors - temperature, light and motion (front and back of the house). Batteries on all of these are good for around 3 years.
Based on a period of measuring I set a virtual device to "Light" or "Dark" based on average values of all sensors. Each sensor will show different measures of course because of the spot they are on.

I have trees too, but because I am using several sensors, they are not of much influence. But clouds are of a clear influence, but that is when you could want the lights to go on right?

[ksum]

That all seems complicated. If you want a smooth adjustment you will have to create pretty long conditions. Further, you have to take DST into account. I wish there was an easier solution where you can draw a graph over a year and then use that as a trigger.

Use sunset as the trigger. If you are in a place which uses DST the computer tube covers that. I use a longer summer offset because the duration of twilight is longer in the summer. I COULD do some math problem to work out a more accurate point, but I don't need that. I just need a rough change. Hence the 2 different ""After Sunset" times. I don't care what the hour is.

[ksum]

I do not use light sensors currently because of heavy thunderstorms. It gets dark when they occur and I don't need to run the exterior lights during them. I may install some arduinos (D1 Minis) with a TSL2561 to control the shades when they come in, though.

[Richel]

I have a few events that rely on sunset and sunrise times but I find that I am always having to change the +/- adjustments to time because sunset in winter is a lot darker than sunsets in spring and summer. And the same for sunrises. So if I have an event to turn on some lights at sunrise, I am finding I am adjusting the +/- over the months as the days get lighter or darker. How does everyone handle this?

Could you use the azimuth within an event to do this?
https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/de...osition-script

[ksum]

You could also use Node Red and the BigTimer node which gives various times such as dusk. But if you're needs are not that accurate there is no sense in going outside HomeSeer.

[ewkearns]

I'm using a light sensor (Ambient Weather Station) and a solar azimuth and altitude script found here. It is good for HVAC (accounting for solar heating of interior features like a tile floor), controlling blinds and drapes (direct sun on furniture and artwork is a no-no), direct rays of the sun on things like patios and pools (suppress the nag screen to check the pool and add sanitizer until after direct sun), etc.

I found that using concepts like "sunrise" and "sunset" were a bit meaningless due to the absence or thickness of cloud cover and light beam direction from the sun. Couple that with the shortcomings of the HS event engine when trying to span a year and you quickly end up with a wordy logical jigsaw puzzle. I've gradually moved away from those faux (fluctuating standard or daylight "saving") time-based concepts because what I really wanted, anyway, was to know how much light was available and where it was coming from. What day, month, or year it was really was for the part superfluous as I was looking for consistent behavior and I could program around the singular holiday or vacation without issue as a special case.