Elk M1 - UPB Lighting Control - "Lived In" Look

Hello everybody. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families.
 
This is a general best-practices question on lighting automation using UPB switches and receptacles.
 
I want the Elk M1 to make our house look lived-in while we are out for the evening or on vacation (armed "away"). It seems there are several ways to do this with the Elk M1 rules without adding on an external controller. Can anybody advise best practice?
 
1. Set up multiple scenes and use Elk M1 Rules to turn scenes on and off at specific times.
2. Use one Elk M1 rule to turn on individual lights and a corresponding rule to turn off the same light later in the evening. 
3. Use one Elk M1 rule to turn one or more lights and to turn off other lights that were turned on earlier in the evening by another rule.
4. Use one Elk M1 rule to turn on individual lights for a specific duration of time. Example: turn on hall lights for 20 minutes. This way I don't need any corresponding rule to turn the lights off -- they simply time out.
 
Is any way better than another? #3 and #4 seem to have the advantage of minimizing the number of rules I need to create.
 
All of these require some careful planning and lighting coordination to make the house look lived-in.
 
Editorial Comment: I'm really bugged that Elk didn't provide a way to randomize lighting on and off times the way the PCS Timed Event Controller does (as well as almost every other controller including my 30 year old X10 controllers). All these years and Elk has never added this feature -- that is ridiculous! Oh well, with enough lights going on and off, I doubt any burglars will notice the fact that the same lights go on at precisely the same time every night.
 
Steve

Steve, I have used all of your alternatives.  I use #1 to control UPB links or scenes, which are generally just a collection of rooms or areas I want to control with the same settings.  I used to use #2 and #3 together to control things, but as you note, it doubles up on the number of rules.  Accordingly, I have started using #4 with mutliple rooms controlled, for example, dining room on for x minutes and hallway on for y minutes.
 
In the past, I have had some problems with noise on my power line affecting Elk and UPB, which made me concerned that the Elk rules would not find their intended source so I was using a format similar to this so the rule would retrigger several timers:
 
WHENEVER EVERY 34 SECONDS
    AND Area 1 (Area 1) IS ARMED AWAY
    AND THE TIME IS LATER THAN 25 MINUTES BEFORE SUNRISE
    AND THE TIME IS EARLIER THAN 15 MINUTES BEFORE SUNRISE
    THEN TURN Computer Rm OH [2 (A2)] ON, FADE RATE = 0 FOR 17 MINS
    THEN TURN BRm [3 (A3)] ON, FADE RATE = 0 FOR 18 MINS
 
As for randomness, there are a couple of other treads that address the issue, and I use something like this when I want the appearance of shorter term activiy in the same areas over a long time period:
 
WHENEVER EVERY 2 HOURS
    AND THE TIME IS LATER THAN SUNSET
    AND THE TIME IS EARLIER THAN 5 HOURS AFTER SUNSET
    AND Area 1 (Area 1) IS ARMED AWAY
    THEN TURN  BRm [3 (A3)] ON, FADE RATE = 0 FOR 24 MINS
 
For the appearance of longer activity in an area, I the shorten the "Whenever" part to, for example, 5 minutes, use a ten minute or so bracket to make sure it triggers at least twice, and then have the "on time" much longer:
 
WHENEVER EVERY 5 MINUTES
    AND THE TIME IS LATER THAN SUNSET
    AND THE TIME IS EARLIER THAN 10 MINUTES AFTER SUNSET
    AND Area 1 (Area 1) IS ARMED AWAY
    THEN TURN  BRm [3 (A3)] ON, FADE RATE = 0 FOR 2 HOURS
 
Again, my concern was to make sure the rules actually trigger.
 
One of the issues I face is that summer sunsets in Seattle are roughly six hours later than in winter so I have to adjust things for winter vs summer travel.  I've been experimenting with a universal set of on/off rules that have as an additional condition certain ouputs being on, but it gets complicated quickly.
 
Good luck.
 
 

You can use the Simply Automated plug in wall timer or the Western Mountain RUC to do this independent from a controller.
Both have vacation modes and add a random offset (up to plus or minus 20 minutes from the programmed time - changes each day).

The wall timer can have up to 99 programmed actions so you can also add pseudo-randomness by selecting different actions based on day of the week.

Once programmed it's easy to enable or disable the vacation mode.
The RUC can be enabled or disabled remotely or triggered by a link from a controller to start or stop vacation mode.

Thanks, Sam. The two "randomness" samples are helpful. Quite a work-around for a basic shortcoming in the M1, isn't it?
 
So far (several months), I seem to have rock-solid UPB reliability using a PCS Timed-Event Controller (TEC). I was having "noise" issues today with an indoor UPB receptacle (from SA) that I use to feed my outdoor Christmas lights (UpStart couldn't find the receptacle). The washer and drier were running simultaneously and I first thought I had a genuine noise problem. Turning them both off didn't help. Turns out the receptacle is downstream of another GFCI protected receptacle that had tripped. Once I reset the GFCI, voila, no more "noise" problem being reported in UpStart.

Desert_AIP...thanks. I was wondering if I could use a link to activate or suspend the timed events in my PCS Timed Event Controller. That's worth investigating. the TEC only supports 20 events, so I need to set up a number of scenes to make it work before running out of events.

Steve, as part of my quest, I have spend a LOT of time looking at the RUC-01 mentioned by Desert. 
 
I've had several conversation with Terrry in Customer Service at Web Mt., and I would urge you to look closely at the RUC-01 for its additional functionality over the timer.  The RUC will trigger links, and there are timed links for UPB devices that may serve your purposes. 
 
I suggest you down load the manual for the RUC and give it a good read. 
 
I haven't pulled the trigger yet because, while it will do a "delay" on certain incoming triggers, it is not precisely the randomness that I want.....
 
But then Christmas is right around the corner, and I may start dropping hints....

SteveInNorCal said:

Desert_AIP...thanks. I was wondering if I could use a link to activate or suspend the timed events in my PCS Timed Event Controller. That's worth investigating. the TEC only supports 20 events, so I need to set up a number of scenes to make it work before running out of events.

Click to expand...

Use a flag.
Then use a link to turn it on (activate) and off (deactivate).
Then test to see if the flag is on or off as a condition to fire the event.

TurboSam said:

Steve, as part of my quest, I have spend a LOT of time looking at the RUC-01 mentioned by Desert. 
 

I haven't pulled the trigger yet because, while it will do a "delay" on certain incoming triggers, it is not precisely the randomness that I want.....
 

Click to expand...

The home/vacation/both modes of the RUC can add a random offset each day.

Pages 50-51 "random"

http://www.webmtn.com/RUC/docs/user_guide/RUC_User_GuideR32029.pdf

TurboSam said:

Steve, I have used all of your alternatives.  I use #1 to control UPB links or scenes, which are generally just a collection of rooms or areas I want to control with the same settings.  I used to use #2 and #3 together to control things, but as you note, it doubles up on the number of rules.  Accordingly, I have started using #4 with mutliple rooms controlled, for example, dining room on for x minutes and hallway on for y minutes.
 
In the past, I have had some problems with noise on my power line affecting Elk and UPB, which made me concerned that the Elk rules would not find their intended source so I was using a format similar to this so the rule would retrigger several timers:
 
WHENEVER EVERY 34 SECONDS
    AND Area 1 (Area 1) IS ARMED AWAY
    AND THE TIME IS LATER THAN 25 MINUTES BEFORE SUNRISE
    AND THE TIME IS EARLIER THAN 15 MINUTES BEFORE SUNRISE
    THEN TURN Computer Rm OH [2 (A2)] ON, FADE RATE = 0 FOR 17 MINS
    THEN TURN BRm [3 (A3)] ON, FADE RATE = 0 FOR 18 MINS
 
As for randomness, there are a couple of other treads that address the issue, and I use something like this when I want the appearance of shorter term activiy in the same areas over a long time period:
 
WHENEVER EVERY 2 HOURS
    AND THE TIME IS LATER THAN SUNSET
    AND THE TIME IS EARLIER THAN 5 HOURS AFTER SUNSET
    AND Area 1 (Area 1) IS ARMED AWAY
    THEN TURN  BRm [3 (A3)] ON, FADE RATE = 0 FOR 24 MINS
 
For the appearance of longer activity in an area, I the shorten the "Whenever" part to, for example, 5 minutes, use a ten minute or so bracket to make sure it triggers at least twice, and then have the "on time" much longer:
 
WHENEVER EVERY 5 MINUTES
    AND THE TIME IS LATER THAN SUNSET
    AND THE TIME IS EARLIER THAN 10 MINUTES AFTER SUNSET
    AND Area 1 (Area 1) IS ARMED AWAY
    THEN TURN  BRm [3 (A3)] ON, FADE RATE = 0 FOR 2 HOURS
 
Again, my concern was to make sure the rules actually trigger.
 
One of the issues I face is that summer sunsets in Seattle are roughly six hours later than in winter so I have to adjust things for winter vs summer travel.  I've been experimenting with a universal set of on/off rules that have as an additional condition certain ouputs being on, but it gets complicated quickly.
 
Good luck.

Click to expand...

 
 
Sam...your concept works well -- plenty good enough for my needs. I set up a rule for each security light in the house with varying "WHENEVER" times and varying "ON FOR" times to make things look random enough. I tested with the alarm mode = disarmed (and shorter test intervals) and was able to see the lights going on and off around the house. (then my wife complained about all the lights going on and off which ended the test -- as usual). 
 
Thanks for the idea. I scouted around Cocoontech for other ideas on simulating randomization of lights but couldn't find any other threads on this topic. If you know of some, please post the links.
 
Set up a bunch of other utility rules today for Christmas lights, turning on undercounter kitchen and pendant lights when the entry delay starts, porch lights on 75% at dusk, then down to 45% until 11 PM, then back up to 75% at 5:30 AM, configuring some UPB switches for single-click to 75% and double-click to 100%, etc. It sure took a big chunk of time over the Thanksgiving break to figure all the lighting out, when to use UPB Scenes, how to set up Scenes in UpStart and then how to activate/deactivate them from Elk. Accessing Scenes from Elk RP was a huge chore. I FINALLY found the secret in the Elk-M1XSP manual, page 14, #7 in “Setting up to communicate with UPB.” I scoured the main M1 manual cover to cover and couldn't find anything.
 
For UPB link addresses, program M1 Lighting devices: 193-256 as: Format = Serial Expander, Type = On/Off Switch.
 
It boiled down to adding 192 to the UPB Link Numbers and then entering the info into that slot in the "Lighting" part of RP. After all these years, the system is still pretty rough around the edges.
 
Thanks again for the recommendation.
 
Steve

Actually, the credit should go to Work2Play, who posted the Elk Programming Rules in Post #5 HERE (another example of RTFM).  
 
Other links with some variations (depending on your needs):  HERE, HERE, and HERE.

TurboSam said:

Steve, I have used all of your alternatives.  I use #1 to control UPB links or scenes, which are generally just a collection of rooms or areas I want to control with the same settings.  I used to use #2 and #3 together to control things, but as you note, it doubles up on the number of rules.  Accordingly, I have started using #4 with mutliple rooms controlled, for example, dining room on for x minutes and hallway on for y minutes.
 
In the past, I have had some problems with noise on my power line affecting Elk and UPB, which made me concerned that the Elk rules would not find their intended source so I was using a format similar to this so the rule would retrigger several timers:
 
WHENEVER EVERY 34 SECONDS
    AND Area 1 (Area 1) IS ARMED AWAY
    AND THE TIME IS LATER THAN 25 MINUTES BEFORE SUNRISE
    AND THE TIME IS EARLIER THAN 15 MINUTES BEFORE SUNRISE
    THEN TURN Computer Rm OH [2 (A2)] ON, FADE RATE = 0 FOR 17 MINS
    THEN TURN BRm [3 (A3)] ON, FADE RATE = 0 FOR 18 MINS
 
As for randomness, there are a couple of other treads that address the issue, and I use something like this when I want the appearance of shorter term activiy in the same areas over a long time period:
 
WHENEVER EVERY 2 HOURS
    AND THE TIME IS LATER THAN SUNSET
    AND THE TIME IS EARLIER THAN 5 HOURS AFTER SUNSET
    AND Area 1 (Area 1) IS ARMED AWAY
    THEN TURN  BRm [3 (A3)] ON, FADE RATE = 0 FOR 24 MINS
 
For the appearance of longer activity in an area, I the shorten the "Whenever" part to, for example, 5 minutes, use a ten minute or so bracket to make sure it triggers at least twice, and then have the "on time" much longer:
 
WHENEVER EVERY 5 MINUTES
    AND THE TIME IS LATER THAN SUNSET
    AND THE TIME IS EARLIER THAN 10 MINUTES AFTER SUNSET
    AND Area 1 (Area 1) IS ARMED AWAY
    THEN TURN  BRm [3 (A3)] ON, FADE RATE = 0 FOR 2 HOURS
 
Again, my concern was to make sure the rules actually trigger.
 
One of the issues I face is that summer sunsets in Seattle are roughly six hours later than in winter so I have to adjust things for winter vs summer travel.  I've been experimenting with a universal set of on/off rules that have as an additional condition certain ouputs being on, but it gets complicated quickly.
 
Good luck.

Click to expand...

Sam, I learned that if I turn a controller on for X minutes or Y hours per the rule above, when we return home, our lights that were turned on via the rule will go off when the timer expires. That's a bit of a nuisance. It would be good to be able to cancel all timers when the system disarms.
 
Did you by chance find a way to do that?
 
Steve

It's not graceful, but if this is a big issue then I'd simply issue an OFF command to any affected lights when the system is disarmed or have a "return home" scene that turns on a couple entry lights and turns off everything else.  That should kill the timers so that when you turn a light on, it stays on.

--> W2P. Thanks. Your approach requires turning lights off then back on and, as you say, is not very graceful. I wanted to keep lights on if they are already on to avoid turning them off and (possibly) back on.
 
Thinking that they would only be on if they had been activated with a countdown timer, I tried a little experimentation this weekend. I learned that an Activate command sent to a switch that is in countdown timer mode turns off the timer. So a rule like this does the job (code from memory):
 
WHENEVER Area 1 IS DISARMED
    AND BR1 SW [3 (A3)] IS ON
        THEN TURN BR1 SW ON
 
The only possible problem I see is that I require several rules be fired in a row to manage all the possible lights that may be on. I've got about 10 lights going on and off for security, so I would have to fire this rule ten times, once for each security light -- not sure if the Elk M1G may miss sending out a few of the commands. I'll see what happens.