This is more so a “what’s your opinion” thread on the use of CoRE [standard or web] and or Routines.
Do you:
Use CoRE statements to trigger routines (which have set actions)
Ditch routines all together and use CoRE statements and dedicated CoRE actions.
I’m not sure if there is a sure benefit either way, including if it’s “six in one, a half dozen in the other.” However, I was curious on what the community thought/how others in the community program their automations.
I have zero routines. I don’t have numbers to back this up but routines seem to be one of ST’s failure points when something goes wrong with the platform (just from observation when people complain things are not working during an outage).
The two main advantages to routines are just in the UI, I think.
First, they have their own place in the official mobile app, so it’s quick to find them for manual execution.
Second, right now they are the only thing that you can make an official widget for, which is nice on a smart watch.
Of course there are unofficial ways to do it, including the IFTTT DO Button, so that one’s easy to work around as long as you know how.
There’s another possible advantage, which is that a routine is the only way to officially automate changing the smart home monitor armed status. But it this point, it seems unlikely that they will withdraw the method that core uses. But you never know.
I use the 4 stock routines to trigger mode changes and do bulk on/off commands. Everything else goes through core/webcore.
Goodbye -> Mode Away
Goodnight -> Mode Night
I’m Back/Good Morning -> Mode Home
All of my routines except I’m Back are triggered by core pistons too, the conditions for executing the routines are more complicated than the routine’s built in triggers allow for.
@JDRoberts the widget is definitely useful! Good point there!
@anon36505037 Interesting setup. So essentially, you use the routine as a virtual switch that core is triggering actions on? This would still allow use of the widget and use CoRE for, hopefully, a more reliable execution method. Neat idea!
What is the best way to activate a bathroom extractor if room activity continues for a minute after the initial motion activates the lights?
if BathroomMotion is active then
BathroomLight Turn On
Wait 60 seconds
BathroomExtractor Turn On
else
Wait 2 minutes
BathroomLight, BathroomExtractor Turn Off
endif
I have some large rooms that require 2 motion sensors covering them. I have created a SimulatedSwitch to address this -
if Any of BedroomMotion1 or BedroomMotion2 is active then
BedroomMotion Turn On
else if Each of BedroomMotion1 or BedroomMotion2 is active then
BedroomMotion Turn Off
else
endif
And then trigger actions within those rooms based on the state of the SimulatedSwitch.
Hey,
I have the same problem. The activation of the extractor fan in the bathroom.
So, if im going to shower, i grab the value from a humidity sensor and them it activates the fan, easy, but if im going to poop, i need to create a rule to check if the room is still occupied pass the first motion was detected. Help?