I feel dense because I can't figure out an Automation

SmartApps & Automations Automation Ideas
1

I’d like to set a specific time for an Automation to run… From Sunset until 11 PM. For the life of me, I can figure out how to do this. I’m sure that I’m missing something! Thanks

2

Nope, you’re not dense :slight_smile: If you want something to turn on/off at Sunset and the opposite at 11pm, you need two Routines. If you want a Routine to only be triggered between Sunset and 11pm, you can’t do that because the time conditions in a Routine don’t allow mixing relative and specific times. In that case, many people use virtual devices to represent the state they want to track, in this case, is it between Sunset and 11pm. So, create a virtual device and in the Routines tab for that device, set its Power on time to Sunset and its Power off time to 11pm. The app will create two Routines for those two events. Let’s call your virtual device “Evening”. Now, you can use that device as a pre-condition (bounding condition) as part of your Routine:

If Evening is on (pre-condition)
Motion Sensor detects motion
then
Turn on some light

Here, your triggering event is motion being detected and your pre-condition must be true for the Routine to execute.

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3

You’re probably going to have to do it in two routines. One for the on and one for the off. At least with routines, if you use sunset / sunrise as a trigger on one end you also have to use the sunset / sunrise trigger on the other end.

4

Thanks for the replies! What you both are saying makes sense. Since I posted, I started reading about SharpTools. It looks like it may allow me to set the active time between Sunset and a specific time after Sunset.

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5

Their rules engine is quite flexible and allows you to do much more complex routines than in the ST app. One advantage to ST Routines is that assuming your devices support local execution and your Actions are able to execute locally, your Routine will execute locally. Sharptools routines run in their cloud and execute routine actions through the ST API’s.

6

There is also an edge driver with a virtual calendar that allows you to mix sunset and a specific time and it runs locally.

(EDGE Driver-Mc): Aplicaciones Virtuales Mc (virtual Switch Mirror, Virtual Calendar and virtual Switch Board…)

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7

Yes, I tend to forget that we have that as an additional option :slight_smile:

8

Really appreciate the replies, I’ve settled on SharpTools for this task.

1 Like