How to get one device temperarely ignore event actions?

[nl_user]

I have few events which run during the day / night. Switching outdoor lights off. Normally that is ok. Now we have one of the outdoor devices connected with Christmas lightning. How to achieve that only this one device ignores the actions from the events running? To prevent it switching off at times we do not want that to happen. Per example when a person walks into the driveway some light are activated and after a delay of 15 minutes all is set to off again (including the Christmas lights). Adapting all the events is no option. So there must be a more clever way to do this? Can I give the device a condition or have event which makes sure the light never is switch off as long as the condition (Virtual device: Christmas is on) is met?

[randy]

There is no way to do what you want at the Device level, you will have to address it within your Event structure. I created a seasonal lighting Virtual Device for Halloween, Christmas, new years, Independence day and a generic “Special” lighting (currently labeled Broncos). I look at this virtual device in every outdoor lighting event. I have a number of outside lights that operate differently depending on whether standard or holiday lighting is used. When holiday lighting is employed response to motion, color and brightness of my porch, driveway and garage lighting is different. For Christmas my porch lights are brighter and run a color animation and switch colors when motion is detected, normally they are warm white and set brighter when motion is detected. The garage sconces run a color animation and motion is disabled for Christmas, normally they are warm white and brighten with motion. The driveway path lights are brighter and run a color animation for Christmas, normally they are warm white at a reduced brightness. When the seasonal lighting switch is in any mode other than off, special lighting is applied, when it is off everything operates normally. I have additional events that will put the virtual device in the correct mode for the holiday timetable.

[nl_user]

Thanks. But this means I need to have duplicated events for (all) the special occasions. Not what I was looking for Just renaming the device temporarily will not work I guess (so it is not used by the events).

[Wade]

I do something like this at the device level using EasyTrigger's set device to expression with the expression being an IF statement--essentially a conditional action.

In this example, if device 2198 is On (value:1) then the front porch light will be set to 99, else it's set to its current value--i.e., the action is ignored. Nested IFs are possible, too. IF/THEN, ELSE IF/THEN, etc.


To put a finer point on it, if the condition isn't met, the checked box "Send command only if..." prevents a z-wave command being sent at all in this example. Not really important in this case.

[aa6vh]

I use a couple of virtual switches for this kind of logic. I have a "Manual" virtual switch that disables all timed events. I have another "HolidayLight" virtual switch that disables the holiday lighting. So in the holiday event, I just have a condition that stops the event based on the switch value. There is negligible performance issue during the majority of the year when that HolidayLight switch is disabled.

For example:

Event A:
If <trigger>
Then
Turn on porch light
if conditions are true, run event HolidayLights

Event HolidayLights:
If manually triggered
Andif Holidaylight switch is enabled
Then
Turn on Holiday lights

[randy]

Thanks. But this means I need to have duplicated events for (all) the special occasions. Not what I was looking for Just renaming the device temporarily will not work I guess (so it is not used by the events).

No, the RefID of the device is what ties a device to Events. The name and location of the device have nothing to do with Events, just the RefID and it cannot be changed.

[randy]

I do something like this at the device level using EasyTrigger's set device to expression with the expression being an IF statement--essentially a conditional action.

In this example, if device 2198 is On (value:1) then the front porch light will be set to 99, else it's set to its current value--i.e., the action is ignored. Nested IFs are possible, too. IF/THEN, ELSE IF/THEN, etc.


To put a finer point on it, if the condition isn't met, the checked box "Send command only if..." prevents a z-wave command being sent at all in this example. Not really important in this case.

This is a clever workaround and would work to change Events to accommodate holiday lighting.

[kenm]

For this very situation, I avoid re-using devices for holiday lights, particularly devices involved in security events. I did it for a while but found it was getting harder and harder to remember what needed to be put back after the holidays.

[Sgt. Shultz]

You might be able to manipulate the control status values by adding a new control to the device, then editing the control that shuts it off. Set the off value for control status to just under the value of on so when the event sets the device on or off it stays on (it only changes by one value). Adding a new control without a control status (or a different one) with a value of 0 lets you still turn it off if you need to by using the button on the device or setting an event using the new status.

Just remember to use different values for everything. If you have a dim status you'll need to edit that also to allow the new off value to be set.

So:
On = Whatever your max value is.
Off = 1 less than the max value.
New status = 0.

The only downside is if you use an Echo or Google Home to control the lights you won't be able to turn those off that way any more.

[nl_user]

Thanks for all the input. I decided to go the easy way and adapted the other evens a bit and created a dedicated event for this occasion. For now it is working fine.