Lighting Control

[purplehayes]

Hello all, first post so go easy.....

I have recently had a HAI Lumina system installed in the house and I am now tinkering with PC Access to set up certain home automations.

I am wondering if anyone knows of a way to set the system up so that if it is dark outside that the lights will only come on to a maximum of 75%, or whatever.

Cheers

Ron

PS. Sorry if this has already been answered elsewhere.

 

[cornutt]

I am wondering if anyone knows of a way to set the system up so that if it is dark outside that the lights will only come on to a maximum of 75%, or whatever.

You want some lights to come on at 75% at sunset? Do something this (if you have PC Access):

16. TIMED 10 MINUTES BEFORE SUNSET MTWTFSS
THEN SET LIGHTING LEVEL Den TV lamp TO 75%

 

[purplehayes]

Hi Cornutt,

May of not posted that as clearly as I could of...

What I want to do is actually restrict the lights so that if someone turns them on (after sunset) then they will only come on to say 75%, but while it is daylight they will be able to come on to the full value.

Cheers

R

 

[PaulD]

I can think of a way but it may not fit your needs. Write a rule like....When Light X is On and after dark, then set Light X level to 75%

This would cause your light to come on at 100% during the day but if it is dark when you flipped the switch, your system would then immediately reset it to 75%.

 

[purplehayes]

I can think of a way but it may not fit your needs. Write a rule like....When Light X is On and after dark, then set Light X level to 75%

This would cause your light to come on at 100% during the day but if it is dark when you flipped the switch, your system would then immediately reset it to 75%.

Hi Paul,

Seems simple enough, I will write it into a few lights and test it to see how it works out...

Out of curiosity... I tried to write a code to be action-ed with the arming of the alarm:

34. WHEN SPECIAL
AND IF AWAY
THEN Airconditioning Control MODE OFF
THEN RUN All Downstairs Lights Off
THEN RUN All Upstairs Lights Off

The SPECIAL is the mode which the installer recommended keeping the system in... So I assumed that this would be able to work ... but it does not seem to work... is there anything obvious in it the code above... I am sure I am missing something either in the code or in the understanding of what I can and cannot do.

Cheers

 

[PaulD]

Hi Paul,

Seems simple enough, I will write it into a few lights and test it to see how it works out...

If you don't like the lights going to 100% and then dropping down to 75%, you could take the reverse approach to have your switch always turn on lights to 75% and bump up to 100% when it is "not dark"

Out of curiosity... I tried to write a code to be action-ed with the arming of the alarm:

34. WHEN SPECIAL
AND IF AWAY
THEN Airconditioning Control MODE OFF
THEN RUN All Downstairs Lights Off
THEN RUN All Upstairs Lights Off

The SPECIAL is the mode which the installer recommended keeping the system in... So I assumed that this would be able to work ... but it does not seem to work... is there anything obvious in it the code above... I am sure I am missing something either in the code or in the understanding of what I can and cannot do.

I am not familiar with the SPECIAL situation. Does not show up on my menu as an option for my Omni Pro II. You should be able to trigger your THEN statements via a "WHEN Security" command and then pick your options.

 

[purplehayes]

Hello All,

Just for info in case anyone else is looking for something similar. Following the ideas above I have written code for most of the lights in the house....

Basically as recommended:

WHEN Unit XXX on
And DARK
THEN set Unit XXX 75%

The feedback from my wife, (as I am currently traveling and not home), is that she does not notice the lights coming on to bright and then dimming down... so it appears as though the command of 75% is happening quickly enough while the lights are in the fade to on that it is not noticeable if it is different after I get home I will post it for information.

Regards

 

[purplehayes]

Hello All,

Just for info in case anyone else is looking for something similar. Following the ideas above I have written code for most of the lights in the house....

Basically as recommended:

WHEN Unit XXX on
And DARK
THEN set Unit XXX 75%

The feedback from my wife, (as I am currently traveling and not home), is that she does not notice the lights coming on to bright and then dimming down... so it appears as though the command of 75% is happening quickly enough while the lights are in the fade to on that it is not noticeable if it is different after I get home I will post it for information.

Regards

An additional update for anyone looking for something similar:

A few Buttons I had which set up lights for certain things, movies etc etc were running into issues with the above code. If they were not turned on yet and the button was run then they would turn on and subsequently be set to 75%... regardless of the code I had written. For example Movies was setting the Mantle and Living Room lights to like 50%... so I would run the button and then have to adjust it... my solution which seems to work was to add a condition in the code as well. I added an: AND UNIT XXX LEVEL is less than 10%... this now seems to allow for settings above 10% to be rendered properly while if you turn it on with the switch it will work as desired.. run up then back to 75%.

Just for into...

Rgds

 

[Kevin L]

I'd prefer Paul's suggestion to do it in the reverse, coming on at 75% and letting it ramp up to 100% in the day. Stressing a lamp by turning it on at 100% decreases lamp life. Going from 75% to 100% should let the lamps last longer.

Kevin

 

[felixrosbergen]

This 'stressing the lamp bit'.. don't most automated dimmers have a default ramp rate to prevent this? I don't know how fast or slow the ramp needs to be to prevent damaged, but image i won't be much. My automated dimmer probably take 250-500ms to get to 100% even if you tell them to jump straight there.

I'm just curious if this kind of 'stock' protection...i believe they call it 'fillament saver/protection' is sufficient or if i need to program something slower.

 

[Kevin L]

This 'stressing the lamp bit'.. don't most automated dimmers have a default ramp rate to prevent this? I don't know how fast or slow the ramp needs to be to prevent damaged, but image i won't be much. My automated dimmer probably take 250-500ms to get to 100% even if you tell them to jump straight there.

I'm just curious if this kind of 'stock' protection...i believe they call it 'fillament saver/protection' is sufficient or if i need to program something slower.

Gee, I don't know. I use LiteJet in my home and there aren't any switches that I have come on at 100% (except when an alarm triggers, then all downstairs and exterior lights come on at 100%), so I never bothered to see if there was any built-in protection.

Kevin