Ambient Light Sensors?

[vdeangel]

I have an Elk M1G and would like to add an ambient light sensor in my "great room", probably on an analog zone so that I can adjust lighting based on how much ambient light there is in the room (overcast day, sunny, rain, etc.) Has anyone done this? Can anyone suggest a sensor (and where to get it) that would work for this? Thanks

 

[Rupp]

I have an Elk M1G and would like to add an ambient light sensor in my "great room", probably on an analog zone so that I can adjust lighting based on how much ambient light there is in the room (overcast day, sunny, rain, etc.) Has anyone done this? Can anyone suggest a sensor (and where to get it) that would work for this? Thanks

The Z-Wave HSM100 motion sensor not only senses motion but reports light levels, temps and battery level.

 

[vdeangel]

I have an Elk M1G and would like to add an ambient light sensor in my "great room", probably on an analog zone so that I can adjust lighting based on how much ambient light there is in the room (overcast day, sunny, rain, etc.) Has anyone done this? Can anyone suggest a sensor (and where to get it) that would work for this? Thanks

The Z-Wave HSM100 motion sensor not only senses motion but reports light levels, temps and battery level.

But wouldn't I have to setup a zwave interface to my elk m1 panel? I don't own any zwave presently. Thanks

 

[WayneW]

I have an Elk M1G and would like to add an ambient light sensor in my "great room", probably on an analog zone so that I can adjust lighting based on how much ambient light there is in the room (overcast day, sunny, rain, etc.) Has anyone done this? Can anyone suggest a sensor (and where to get it) that would work for this? Thanks

Welcome to CocoonTech! You should be able to do this with a cds photocell and some resistors. By using different resistor values, you should be able to get a usefull voltage change into the Elk. I would start here http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=1505 and search other threads for photocell.

 

[vdeangel]

I have an Elk M1G and would like to add an ambient light sensor in my "great room", probably on an analog zone so that I can adjust lighting based on how much ambient light there is in the room (overcast day, sunny, rain, etc.) Has anyone done this? Can anyone suggest a sensor (and where to get it) that would work for this? Thanks

Welcome to CocoonTech! You should be able to do this with a cds photocell and some resistors. By using different resistor values, you should be able to get a usefull voltage change into the Elk. I would start here http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=1505 and search other threads for photocell.

Thanks. Really just looking for a plug and play solution. Two wires, hooked to an elk panel zone which I configure as analog, read the voltage changes and act accordingly. Anything else is way beyond my abilities unless there is a step by step plan or procedure with specific part numbers and instructions on how to install and use. Thanks again.

 

[Rupp]

I have an Elk M1G and would like to add an ambient light sensor in my "great room", probably on an analog zone so that I can adjust lighting based on how much ambient light there is in the room (overcast day, sunny, rain, etc.) Has anyone done this? Can anyone suggest a sensor (and where to get it) that would work for this? Thanks

The Z-Wave HSM100 motion sensor not only senses motion but reports light levels, temps and battery level.

But wouldn't I have to setup a zwave interface to my elk m1 panel? I don't own any zwave presently. Thanks

Yes.

 

[vdeangel]

I have an Elk M1G and would like to add an ambient light sensor in my "great room", probably on an analog zone so that I can adjust lighting based on how much ambient light there is in the room (overcast day, sunny, rain, etc.) Has anyone done this? Can anyone suggest a sensor (and where to get it) that would work for this? Thanks

The Z-Wave HSM100 motion sensor not only senses motion but reports light levels, temps and battery level.

But wouldn't I have to setup a zwave interface to my elk m1 panel? I don't own any zwave presently. Thanks

Yes.

There has to be an easier/cheaper/simpler way; but thanks a lot for replying.

 

[Rupp]

I have an Elk M1G and would like to add an ambient light sensor in my "great room", probably on an analog zone so that I can adjust lighting based on how much ambient light there is in the room (overcast day, sunny, rain, etc.) Has anyone done this? Can anyone suggest a sensor (and where to get it) that would work for this? Thanks

The Z-Wave HSM100 motion sensor not only senses motion but reports light levels, temps and battery level.

But wouldn't I have to setup a zwave interface to my elk m1 panel? I don't own any zwave presently. Thanks

Yes.

There has to be an easier/cheaper/simpler way; but thanks a lot for replying.

There are other ways depending on your setup. HomeSeer offers interfaces to the older X10 Motion sensors that have dusk/dawn sensors built in. These can be had for less than $10 from x10.com.

There's also the X10 Sundowner, Dusk to Dawn Controller that has a light detector in it.
http://www.smarthomeusa.com/Shop/Lighting/...ers/Item/SD533/
Many of us use our solar sensors on our weather stations to send data to our automation controller to adjust lighting events. I have HomeSeer turn on several lights when the light outside drops below a certain level so if we have a thunderstorm during the day the lights come on when the storm is over they go off.

There are inexpensive 1-Wire sensors like the Solar Radiation Detector available here:
http://www.hobby-boards.com/catalog/index....9619b034c8a0cca

Most of these are inexpensive if your controller can communicate to them.

 

[vdeangel]

I have an Elk M1G and would like to add an ambient light sensor in my "great room", probably on an analog zone so that I can adjust lighting based on how much ambient light there is in the room (overcast day, sunny, rain, etc.) Has anyone done this? Can anyone suggest a sensor (and where to get it) that would work for this? Thanks

The Z-Wave HSM100 motion sensor not only senses motion but reports light levels, temps and battery level.

But wouldn't I have to setup a zwave interface to my elk m1 panel? I don't own any zwave presently. Thanks

Yes.

There has to be an easier/cheaper/simpler way; but thanks a lot for replying.

There are other ways depending on your setup. HomeSeer offers interfaces to the older X10 Motion sensors that have dusk/dawn sensors built in. These can be had for less than $10 from x10.com.

There's also the X10 Sundowner, Dusk to Dawn Controller that has a light detector in it.
http://www.smarthomeusa.com/Shop/Lighting/...ers/Item/SD533/
Many of us use our solar sensors on our weather stations to send data to our automation controller to adjust lighting events. I have HomeSeer turn on several lights when the light outside drops below a certain level so if we have a thunderstorm during the day the lights come on when the storm is over they go off.

There are inexpensive 1-Wire sensors like the Solar Radiation Detector available here:
http://www.hobby-boards.com/catalog/index....9619b034c8a0cca

Most of these are inexpensive if your controller can communicate to them.

I have an x10 interface in place but don't use it much. Can I determine varying levels of light using this method?

I'll check on the sundowner.

I don't know how to have a weather station communicate to my elk m1 panel. I would like to know when it starts raining, etc.

I'll look into the 1 wire sensor you mentioned too. Thanks!

 

[MStan]

I have an Elk M1G and would like to add an ambient light sensor in my "great room", probably on an analog zone so that I can adjust lighting based on how much ambient light there is in the room (overcast day, sunny, rain, etc.) Has anyone done this? Can anyone suggest a sensor (and where to get it) that would work for this? Thanks

The Z-Wave HSM100 motion sensor not only senses motion but reports light levels, temps and battery level.

But wouldn't I have to setup a zwave interface to my elk m1 panel? I don't own any zwave presently. Thanks

Yes.

There has to be an easier/cheaper/simpler way; but thanks a lot for replying.

There are other ways depending on your setup. HomeSeer offers interfaces to the older X10 Motion sensors that have dusk/dawn sensors built in. These can be had for less than $10 from x10.com.

There's also the X10 Sundowner, Dusk to Dawn Controller that has a light detector in it.
http://www.smarthomeusa.com/Shop/Lighting/...ers/Item/SD533/
Many of us use our solar sensors on our weather stations to send data to our automation controller to adjust lighting events. I have HomeSeer turn on several lights when the light outside drops below a certain level so if we have a thunderstorm during the day the lights come on when the storm is over they go off.

There are inexpensive 1-Wire sensors like the Solar Radiation Detector available here:
http://www.hobby-boards.com/catalog/index....9619b034c8a0cca

Most of these are inexpensive if your controller can communicate to them.

Hi Rupp,

Could you explain how to set up the solar sensor in the Davis weather station to control HomeSeeer events.

are you using the solar sensor or the solar panel that charges the battery?

I am using the Pro2 with weather display.


Thanks
Mark

 

[vdeangel]

I have an Elk M1G and would like to add an ambient light sensor in my "great room", probably on an analog zone so that I can adjust lighting based on how much ambient light there is in the room (overcast day, sunny, rain, etc.) Has anyone done this? Can anyone suggest a sensor (and where to get it) that would work for this? Thanks

The Z-Wave HSM100 motion sensor not only senses motion but reports light levels, temps and battery level.

But wouldn't I have to setup a zwave interface to my elk m1 panel? I don't own any zwave presently. Thanks

Yes.

There has to be an easier/cheaper/simpler way; but thanks a lot for replying.

There are other ways depending on your setup. HomeSeer offers interfaces to the older X10 Motion sensors that have dusk/dawn sensors built in. These can be had for less than $10 from x10.com.

There's also the X10 Sundowner, Dusk to Dawn Controller that has a light detector in it.
http://www.smarthomeusa.com/Shop/Lighting/...ers/Item/SD533/
Many of us use our solar sensors on our weather stations to send data to our automation controller to adjust lighting events. I have HomeSeer turn on several lights when the light outside drops below a certain level so if we have a thunderstorm during the day the lights come on when the storm is over they go off.

There are inexpensive 1-Wire sensors like the Solar Radiation Detector available here:
http://www.hobby-boards.com/catalog/index....9619b034c8a0cca

Most of these are inexpensive if your controller can communicate to them.

Hi Rupp,

Could you explain how to set up the solar sensor in the Davis weather station to control HomeSeeer events.

are you using the solar sensor or the solar panel that charges the battery?

I am using the Pro2 with weather display.


Thanks
Mark

Not that it matters to others but I am not using Homeseer at present. Is this the only way to use the weather station method to read ambient light levels? Thanks

 

[Rupp]

Hi Rupp,

Could you explain how to set up the solar sensor in the Davis weather station to control HomeSeeer events.

are you using the solar sensor or the solar panel that charges the battery?

I am using the Pro2 with weather display.

Thanks
Mark

Mark,
That's what I use. Weather Display comes with a couple of scripts that can be used to update devices in HomeSeer. Are you using these scripts?
Edit....
I just checked into how I'm getting solar and it's not from the weatheroutside.txt script. I apparently setup a customtextout.txt and have WeatherDisplay write the solar percentage to this file. I then added the ability to parse this data to weatheroutside.txt. Unfortunately I have no idea how I setup WeatherDisplay to produce the customtextout.txt file. Let me look and I'll see if I can find that in Weather Displays setup.

 

[MStan]

Hi Rupp,

Could you explain how to set up the solar sensor in the Davis weather station to control HomeSeeer events.

are you using the solar sensor or the solar panel that charges the battery?

I am using the Pro2 with weather display.

Thanks
Mark

Mark,
That's what I use. Weather Display comes with a couple of scripts that can be used to update devices in HomeSeer. Are you using these scripts?
Edit....
I just checked into how I'm getting solar and it's not from the weatheroutside.txt script. I apparently setup a customtextout.txt and have WeatherDisplay write the solar percentage to this file. I then added the ability to parse this data to weatheroutside.txt. Unfortunately I have no idea how I setup WeatherDisplay to produce the customtextout.txt file. Let me look and I'll see if I can find that in Weather Displays setup.

Ok Thanks,

Yes I am using the weather display scripts, but need to figure out how to add the solar info to be parsed by a customtextout file.

Please let me know what you find out.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[MStan]

Hi Rupp,

Could you explain how to set up the solar sensor in the Davis weather station to control HomeSeeer events.

are you using the solar sensor or the solar panel that charges the battery?

I am using the Pro2 with weather display.

Thanks
Mark

Mark,
That's what I use. Weather Display comes with a couple of scripts that can be used to update devices in HomeSeer. Are you using these scripts?
Edit....
I just checked into how I'm getting solar and it's not from the weatheroutside.txt script. I apparently setup a customtextout.txt and have WeatherDisplay write the solar percentage to this file. I then added the ability to parse this data to weatheroutside.txt. Unfortunately I have no idea how I setup WeatherDisplay to produce the customtextout.txt file. Let me look and I'll see if I can find that in Weather Displays setup.

Ok Thanks,

Yes I am using the weather display scripts, but need to figure out how to add the solar info to be parsed by a customtextout file.

Please let me know what you find out.

Thanks,
Mark