Dimming Different Percentages at Different Times or

hi
looking for some type of app or way to configure my hallway dimmers to come on at different percentages at different times. ie - early AM and late at night 30% and during the regular hours 100%
is there an app? or a way to do this? thanks going crazy looking

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@tslagle13 created a smart app that does just that with motion, if that is what you are looking for.

https://github.com/tslagle13/SmartThings/tree/master/Director-Series-Apps/Lighting-Director

There is also the Dim and Dimmer SmartApp by @geko, which is basically a lighting scene controller when changing modes.

And auto dimmer which I wrote, where the lighting levels are controlled via LUX readings.
Plenty of stuff to choose from.

thanks for the replies
it looks like all of these work only with a lux sensor? not sure what this is?? really wanted something i could just simply say between 11:00PM and 6:00AM the dimmer should be 30% and other hours 100% or similar
not sure how the Lux thing works???

LUX is a measurement of light intensity.
This smart app adjusts dimmer levels based on outside light intensity only.

so nothing available by time NOT lux then correct?
i need to get a Lux sensor? any recommendations?

I wrote auto dimmer to meet a specific use case, namely it controls the active dim level of dimmer devices that are turned on by other smart apps or from the physical switch. It does not turn on dimmers directly, it only modifies the current level based on readings obtained from a LUX sensor.
If that’s what you are looking for, I use a Fibaro motion sensor as my LUX input as it supports a very large range (up to 32K LUX) which is pretty much full on daylight. The other popular choice being an AEON multi, however it doesn’t have sufficient lux range (1K LUX) to capture outdoor readings much beyond overcast.

The use case you describe was pretty much the incentive for writing this app.

so bear with me i am new to this
if i bought this sensor

Everspring ST815 Z-Wave Wireless Illumination Sensor with LCD Screen

how would i configure the settings if as an example i wanted the dimmers at 30% after i go to bed 9:00PM until i wake up 6:00AM
how do you dictate the light if it is still dark out?
wouldn’t the time be a better choice? thanks again

For me, I’m more interested in the interior lighting levels in relation to the exterior lighting levels, I could care less what time it is.
The problem with using time is that it doesn’t correlate in absolute terms with the interior lighting requirements.
This app works best with a LUX sensor pointed outside, that way it’s getting the true values, not those subject by interior lights, sensor location ect.
Simplistic use case, its dark out, say 50 lux (doesn’t matter what time it is), you turn on a light, autoDimmer sets the level to 30%, you turn the light off. The next time you turn the light on, its very bright out say 4000 lux, autoDimmer sets the level to 100%, again doesn’t matter what time it is, you turn the light off… You turn it on again, this time it’s over cast or dawn outside, say 800 lux , auto dimmer sets the level to 50%, or whatever level you set in the preferences. It doesn’t care about time, all it considers are the lux level as reported by your lux sensor.

I live in the pacific northwest, it rains, it’s cloudy, the conditions change all the time, and have little to do with weather forecasting or zip codes… sunrise and sunset have little to do with how much lighting the interior of my home needs, however how bright/dark it is outside, has everything to do with how much lighting I need inside…
Hope that makes sense.

Another way to do it, which I use, is with modes. I have Day, Evening, and Night. Those in turn are tied to times, that is, modes change at specified times. I use Sunrise and Sunset for two of the changes.

The advantage of using modes is that you can restrict certain things from happening in certain modes. Usually, you can also restrict things by time period, or days of the week.

Here is yet one more app, which uses modes to select dimmer levels. Read the comment at the beginning to see what it does.

Hey Mike, this is super nice idea. I cannot believe I didn’t discover it sooner. Setting dim levels based on Lux and not tied to a trigger is just briliant! Thank you for sharing…

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Thanks to Mike, I found his awesome app!

Thanks,

LJ

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