Question about timers

[jumper4000]

I'm trying to setup an Event to turn on the kitchen lights when there's motion, and then off after 10 minutes of no motion.

So far I have an event that does this -

If "kitchen motion" changes and becomes On-Open
OR If "Kitchen motion" had it's value set to On-Open
AND If it's Nighttime (this is a virtual device)
Then Set Kitchen lights On
Then Start kitchen timer

So, that seems all ok, right? But how do I tell it to turn off the lights when timer goes up to 10 minutes?

I see an option that says when timer changes and becomes a custom value, but is that value in seconds? Do I just set the value to 600 for 10 minutes or something else?

[gd1210]

I've done a separate event that says if no motion for at least 45 mins then turn the lights off.
I've not used the timers and counters yet and have a fairly comprehensive set of events




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[sonypoolplr]

I do this with my garage motion. The events for timers gives you the options you need.

[Uncle Michael]

There's also another way by adding two actions to your event.
At the end of the list add an action to turn off the lights after a delay of 10 minutes.
At the beginning of the action list add an action to remove delayed actions for the kitchen lights.

Now, when motion is detected, previously created delayed actions to turn off the lights are deleted and a new action to turn them off in 10 minutes is created. It's a good idea to add a constraint that the event cannot run too often as well.

[langenet]

Uncle Michael,

Why would you need to "At the beginning of the action list add an action to remove delayed actions..."? Wouldn't HS just enter the event without an delayed actions or is the purpose to always start with a fresh event in case it triggers again and to prevent over lapping with the device action?

Robert

[waynehead99]

Personally I use timers for all my delayed events.
One event to turn light on with motion, and to stop timer (put stop timer in there because then a retrip on motion will stop the timer and keep light on)
Another event to restart timer (resets to 0 and starts) on no motion
Last event to turn off light after x amount of time is hit on timer and to stop the timer (I hate rouge timers just running, probably doesn't do anything except mess with my OCD).

It's always been solid. I also set my thresholds out far enough to not piss the wife off in a dark room (usually 15 minutes). But it's just her and I in the house and we normally turn the lights off when we leave a room anyways. So its more a safety net.

[jumper4000]

I ended up going with sonypoolplr. That's what I was looking for. I totally missed that "a timer's value becomes". Instead I was using a "device changes and becomes". Now it makes sense.

Thank you all for you other suggestions too

[jumper4000]

Personally I use timers for all my delayed events.
One event to turn light on with motion, and to stop timer (put stop timer in there because then a retrip on motion will stop the timer and keep light on)
Another event to restart timer (resets to 0 and starts) on no motion
Last event to turn off light after x amount of time is hit on timer and to stop the timer (I hate rouge timers just running, probably doesn't do anything except mess with my OCD).

It's always been solid. I also set my thresholds out far enough to not piss the wife off in a dark room (usually 15 minutes). But it's just her and I in the house and we normally turn the lights off when we leave a room anyways. So its more a safety net.

Yeah, I think I like timers better than the "wait" action too. "wait" doesn't seem to reliable. Even when I stay, stop a waiting event, some times, it doesn't work. I think timer will be much better.