Best way to use Hue lights for notification of issues

[randman]

I just got some Hue bulbs this week, and need some advice on the best way to use them for notifications. I tried searching, but couldn't find a similar thread.

I have about a dozen Z-Wave HSM200 sensors. I use their little LEDs for notification when certain events occur. For example, when any door is open, I change all the HSM200s' color to green, when water has been flowing longer than a certain amount of time, I change their color to blue, when the security alarm is armed, yellow, etc.

I'd like to do something similar with the Hue bulbs. So, if a door is open, change the bulbs' color to green and when the door is closed, change the bulbs back to whatever state they were in before the door was open (so, if a bulb was off before the door was open, turn the bulb back off, but if another bulb was on with a certain color/state setting, change that back to the same color/state it was in).

What is the best way to do this with the Hue bulbs and the JowiHue plug-in? Set a scene or animation when the triggering event occurs? When the triggering event is done (e.g. the door is closed again), then how do I change the bulbs to whatever state they were in earlier (some bulbs may have been off earlier, so I want them to go back off, while other bulbs may have been on, so I want them to stay on but go back to whatever color setting they had before the door was open)?

[drparker151]

Take a look at the EasyTrigger plugin. It adds a lot of functionality to events and recently added the ability to push and then pull device states.

[Michael McSharry]

What I did for use of color LEDs for notification is at https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/li...n-notification

My left column is for something that needs attention (e.g. water leak) and right column for something that needs action (e.g. washing machine done). I use color scheme of red for a notification, yellow if communication or similar lack of status update issue. Green is for all good on left column. Blue is for all good on the right column. In Washington State makes for a good Seahawks color scheme.

[randy]

My normal Hue lighting is set by virtual devices for level and color. When we use one of the bulbs as an alert or announcement, a new scene (color and level) is applied. To return to normal lighting is just a matter of applying the values from the virtual devices.

[randman]

I have a Pushover message sent to me when the washing machine is done, but since I’m the only one who gets/wants non-emergency Pushover notifications, the Hue color change would be good for sharing the info with others in the house (but somehow my wife likes to notify me even before the Pushover message is sent :-) ).

I was interested in what Jowihue actions folks use in response to the start and end of the notification issue (e.g when door opens and closes).

With the virtual device approach, does the virtual device store whatever the the bulb’s settings are (i.e. the old state of the bulb before the notification), so when the notification issue is over (such as door is finally closed), an event then looks at the virtual device to set the bulb back to its previous values? And whenever the bulb changes for non-notification purposes (like someone manually changing the bulb settings whether via HS3 or Alexa or Hue app), the virtual device is updated? But the virtual device is not updated when a notification issue occurs?

[Guest]

Maybe take a look at cpsFlash plugin.

Just put the updater override in the homeseer folder : http://download.casapiedrasoftware.i...r_override.txt

[randman]

Still learning about the JowiHue plugin. Seems that animation might be one approach?? From manual:

"An animation can be used as an alert, where lights are reset to their original setting after ending the alert. Even already running different animation will continue to run after a animated alert ends."

I like the ability to reset the lights to the original settings when the alert ends.

[w.vuyk]

randman Using the animation is the best way to have the alert, I am using this a lot my self as an alert function. You can also use the "blink" function of the device, this will also return to the last setting, but will only blink once or twice. but if that is enough you can use it.

Thanks,

Wim

[kriz83]

w.vuyk Can you make the number of blinks configurable?

[Guest]

There arare only two possibles calls with the api.

A long one : 15 blinks
A short one : 2 blinks


Unless deconz permit a new call via the rest api. It won’t be possible to blink more or less than theses

[Guest]

https://dresden-elektronik.github.io...ghts/#setstate

chek the ‘’alert’’ call . It has two attributes ‘’lselect’’(15 blinks) and ‘’select’’ (two blinks)

[w.vuyk]

w.vuyk Can you make the number of blinks configurable?

You can use the blink function that will blink twice, the alert does the same for 15 or so seconds (or 15 times like Matthieu says) This is indeed not configurable, other then through the use of animations.

Wim

[randman]

You can use the blink function that will blink twice, the alert does the same for 15 or so seconds (or 15 times like Matthieu says) This is indeed not configurable, other then through the use of animations.

Wim

I looked here scripting and couldn't find how to blink the lights. The link that MattL0 gave (https://dresden-elektronik.github.io...ghts/#setstate) seems to be for deCONZ and not Hue?

[w.vuyk]

It is the same for Philips Hue really. Both use the same internal structures for controlling the lights.

I did not provide a scripting command for blinking or alerts as you can do this by setting the devicevalue to 260 for blinking and 258 for alerts. Guess this should be enough for use in your scripts?

Wim

[randman]

It is the same for Philips Hue really. Both use the same internal structures for controlling the lights.

I did not provide a scripting command for blinking or alerts as you can do this by setting the devicevalue to 260 for blinking and 258 for alerts. Guess this should be enough for use in your scripts?

Wim

Thanks!