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changing default on level with virtual 3 way switches

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    changing default on level with virtual 3 way switches

    I've got a pair of insteon switches controlling a light in my upstairs hallway. Both are Dual Band Switchlinc Dimmers. Both are firmware 45. I want to be able to reduce the default on level at night time so that when you turn the light on in the otherwise dark house, it doesn't go to full brightness. I have this set up in my bathroom and it's been working great for years. But that's a single switch and single load scenario. This one is a bit different because of the 3 way configuration. The switches are cross linked and work properly under normal usage. But when I set the default on level, it is only effective when I operate the switch at the top of the stairs (the one where the load is connected) When i operate the other switch, the slave switch, it does not honor the default on level. Even when my event changes the setting on both of the switches, the dimmer with the load connected goes to full brightness when I turn it on from the bottom switch. The bottom switch's LED indicates the lower dimmed level, but the top switch goes to full bright anyhow. Is there any way to make this work the way i'm expecting it to?

    #2
    With a multiple switch setup, the load switch is responding based on links that is has. I don't know if you can programmatically change/edit links or not, or if you would want to. Back in the day I recall reading some types of firmware memory would wear out over time if they were changed often. That may not be the case here, or anymore.

    You could use an event for the dummy switch, after removing the cross link, but that would add a significant delay compared to what you're used to.

    I use motion sensors and events to turn on most lights in my house at night. With that I can easily choose a brightness based on time of day, but that of course has no affect on switch button presses.
    HS4, Insteon, Z-wave, USB-UIRT, Harmony Hubs, Google Hub/Chromecasts/Speakers, Foscam & Amcrest cameras, EZVIZ DB1 doorbell
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      #3
      I was starting to think down that same path. And I haven't yet found a way to alter the links programmatically. I hadn't thought about removing the links and doing it via events. But you're right, it would make a long delay and i wouldn't want that. Plus it also wouldn't track with the push-hold dimming from slave to master. Now that I think of it, it's a bit odd that the switches track together when you're doing the push-hold dimming, but not when you just tap it on. But that's probably just the way it's coded to behave. I could probably edit the link to that it just uses the lower dim level all the time. That light gets used a lot more often at night than during the day. I bet the wife wouldn't even notice if I did that.

      I do remember reading the commentary where people were worried that the memory would wear out over time with changing the settings so often. I didn't buy into that back then, and after several years of use in the bathroom, I still don't buy into that. The two switches in there were installed in 2014 and each have 4 settings changes every day. (on level and ramp rate low and slow at sunset, and fast and bright at sunrise) Most modern EEPROMs have write cycle endurance rates in the order of 100K to 1M write cycles. Even at the lower end of 100K cycles and making 4 writes per day, that's 68 years worth. I'd expect the switch to otherwise fail or become obsolete long before then.

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        #4
        That's what I do. All of my lights have a default On level for night time when using the local button press. You just need to train people to double-tap, or tap twice, for full brightness.

        Note, I've needed to use events in multiple-switch setups in order for the dummy switch's second press to turn the load switch to 100%. Again, this is due to how the links work. I think Fast-On from the dummy still works as expected, without an event, but I could be misremembering.
        HS4, Insteon, Z-wave, USB-UIRT, Harmony Hubs, Google Hub/Chromecasts/Speakers, Foscam & Amcrest cameras, EZVIZ DB1 doorbell
        Plugins: BLLAN, BLOccupied, BLUSBUIRT, Chromecast, Harmony Hub, Insteon, Jon00 Homeseer/Echo Skill Helper, Harmony Hub, Jon00 DB Charting, MediaController, NetCAM, PHLocation2, Pushover 3P, weatherXML, Z-wave

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