best way to create event based on light level?

[brian14]

I'm new to homeseer in general.

I've got a "Device Value Change" event setup, the trigger is that my sensor's light level is Less Than 50.

I was hoping it would get triggered when, for example, the light level changes from 60 to 40, but not repeatedly after that, when the light level changes from 40 to 42 or whatever.

Is there any simple way to create this sort of event, or so I need to create virtual devices or something to accomplish this?

Also, in case it's important, I've also got a "condition" set - the Motion sensor value must be "Motion".

Thoughts?
thanks

[neiltimms]

I do a similar thing but i have a virtual device that gets turned on when the value goes below 50 and then off again when it goes above.

I then use the virtual device as a reference in other events and scripts. e.g if there is motion and the virtual device is on turn on a light, if not ignore the motion.

Neil

[maverick]

Hi Neiltimms

I see you have a W800 - does the HSM100 Z-wave work through that and the AFRC plugin?

Regards,

Mav

[neiltimms]

No, i have the w800 for a few old x10 motion sensors that i'm still using. All my z-wave goes through my z-troller.

Neil

[Rick Tinker]

A virtual device might be the only way to accomplish what you want.

Device value change triggers will fire when, well, a device value changes. So, when the change is from 60 to 59, 59 to 50, 50 to 45 - they will all trigger the event.

Your best option is the conditions. If you are using the trigger/event to turn on a device, then use that as your prevention from repeat triggers. E.g. don't have the event run if the light is already on.

[brian14]

So I've ended up using 6 events to control things in my office:

two to turn my virtual device off and on based on the light level
two to turn the actual lights off and on based on the virtual device's state (and the condition that there's motion to turn the lights on)
two more to turn the lights on and off when motion is detected (and the condition that there's not enough light in the room already).

Oh, and I've added delays to the second set of events (slightly longer than the device's reporting interval) to avoid the lights going on and off on partly cloudy days when the light level changes often.

It all works fine - when the cost comes down a bit I can see putting one in every room in the house, if for no other reason then to make sure lights aren't left on in unused rooms, but it seems Homeseer could include even more support for devices like this, to make setup simpler. All I want is to have the lights come on when the room is occupied and darkish...

Specific suggestions include:
allowing events based on a range of light levels - to avoid the virtual device requirement.
allowing a "compensation factor" to be included to offset the gain in light level the sensor reports when lights in the room are on.
allowing specification of how long the light level needs to remain above/below a certain point.
having a short initial "off delay" - to catch cases where somebody briefly walks into a room then leaves.

Brian

[griffined]

I created an event to cut on the light in my bedroom when there's motion and there's not much light, using the range feature.

Trigger= Device Value Change (with conditions)
Motion Multisensor Becomes Motion
Condition= Multisensor light level value is in the range 0-29
Action= Zwave lamp On

and there's a second event to cut the light off

Trigger= Device Value Change
Motion Multisensor Becomes No Motion
Action= Zwave lamp Off