Interpreting lux values

Does anybody have any reference to interpret

Lighting condition From (lux) To (lux) Mean value (lux)

Basically is there any standard/good way to determine what lux is considered dark, very dark, bright etc.?

Use case:

Based on Fibaro Motion Sensor outdoors, I want to determine whether it is dark outside and turn on lights inside the house. Do not want to go with Sunrise/Sunset.

I also wrote a smart app to auto dim up and down triggered from physical dimmer on states, using selectable lux levels.

Not answering your question, but I think this app will do what you want. You don’t have to use the motion-sensing component. If this doesn’t quite do what you want, I might be interested/willing to make changes to accommodate your use case. Also, I’m having some trouble with the scheduled events that may or may not get better with some revisions in approach that I am investigating.

Thanks a lot @Mike_Maxwell and @AaronZON as always.

I do have my own similar app. What I am looking for is something like this…

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd319008(v=vs.85).aspx but is in context of laptop display.

OK, you don’t need 10 configurable or automatic dimmer levels, that a bit over kill IMHO.
The app I wrote supports three distinct lux range to dimmer mappings, which is more than enough for my needs.

@Mike_Maxwell Absolutely agree with you… Just wanted to know typically what lux level is considered “dark outside” and “dark indoors” so, that you want to turn on lights. Totally understand it may be on a person’s perception but typically what would you guys use say If I was using your app.

Wikipedia gives this example. :wink:

Examples

Illuminance Surfaces illuminated by:
0.0001 lux Moonless, overcast night sky (starlight)
0.002 lux Moonless clear night sky with airglow
0.27–1.0 lux Full moon on a clear night
3.4 lux Dark limit of civil twilight under a clear sky
50 lux Family living room lights (Australia, 1998) @wackware was rolling on floor when he saw 51 lux in my family room here in US when I started using Fibaro Motion Device Type
80 lux Office building hallway/toilet lighting
100 lux Very dark overcast day
320–500 lux Office lighting
400 lux Sunrise or sunset on a clear day.
1000 lux Overcast day;[3] typical TV studio lighting
10000–25000 lux Full daylight (not direct sun)
32000–100000 lux Direct sunlight

I currently use < 50 dark, 50 to 200 dusk/dawn, > 1000 pretty bright.

Indoor levels appear in my house about 10 times less than the outdoor levels.
But this depends, on location, windows ect.
Best to write your smartapp with configurable values, vs statically assigning them.

Interestingly, I have an Aeon and a Fibaro sitting pretty near each other outside right now:
Aeon: 801 Lux
Fibaro: 264 Lux
Who’s right?, no idea…

Thank you, sir! :smile: Will make it configurable. Just needed some meaningful number to go with.

If you have enough time on your hands… and just plain curious…

// This is from Illuminating Engineering Society.
http://sustainabilityworkshop.autodesk.com/buildings/measuring-light-levels

Sunny day here in Jersey today. So, was yesterday.:

Aeon inside Garage: 201 lux
Fibaro - Family Room (All shades down. No lights on. 19 lux)
Fibaro - Front Patio (7372 lux). At times it gets direct sunlight and hits much higher number.

I think Fibaro’s are the more reliable ones because I do see the one in Front Door changing very frequently as sunlight changes and the numbers kind of makes sense.

Just to give you a basic idea… from last evening 4:00 PM till now… Looks pretty decent numbers except for highlighted entry…

2015-01-08 11:39 AM EST - 31 minutes ago illuminance 7372 lux lux
2015-01-08 11:22 AM EST - 49 minutes ago illuminance 6912 lux lux
2015-01-08 11:17 AM EST - 53 minutes ago illuminance 6451 lux lux
2015-01-08 11:09 AM EST - 1 hour ago illuminance 5990 lux lux
2015-01-08 11:05 AM EST - 1 hour ago illuminance 5356 lux lux
2015-01-08 11:02 AM EST - 1 hour ago illuminance 4608 lux lux
2015-01-08 10:50 AM EST - 1 hour ago illuminance 4147 lux lux
2015-01-08 10:28 AM EST - 2 hours ago illuminance 3456 lux lux
2015-01-08 10:12 AM EST - 2 hours ago illuminance 3182 lux lux
2015-01-08 10:10 AM EST - 2 hours ago illuminance 3441 lux lux
2015-01-08 9:46 AM EST - 2 hours ago illuminance 3686 lux lux
2015-01-08 9:41 AM EST - 2 hours ago illuminance 4579 lux lux
2015-01-08 9:25 AM EST - 3 hours ago illuminance 5040 lux lux
2015-01-08 9:11 AM EST - 3 hours ago illuminance 5616 lux lux
2015-01-08 9:00 AM EST - 3 hours ago illuminance 4608 lux lux
2015-01-08 8:58 AM EST - 3 hours ago illuminance 4147 lux lux
2015-01-08 8:53 AM EST - 3 hours ago illuminance 3686 lux lux
2015-01-08 8:35 AM EST - 4 hours ago illuminance 1612 lux lux
2015-01-08 8:30 AM EST - 4 hours ago illuminance 1152 lux lux
2015-01-08 8:25 AM EST - 4 hours ago illuminance 864 lux lux
2015-01-08 8:20 AM EST - 4 hours ago illuminance 633 lux lux
2015-01-08 7:59 AM EST - 4 hours ago illuminance 403 lux lux
2015-01-08 7:39 AM EST - 5 hours ago illuminance 201 lux lux
// Curious why the numbers did not change here for couple of hrs here.
2015-01-07 4:55 PM EST - 19 hours ago illuminance 19 lux lux
2015-01-07 4:24 PM EST - 20 hours ago illuminance 229 lux lux
2015-01-07 4:09 PM EST - 20 hours ago illuminance 444 lux lux
2015-01-07 4:07 PM EST - 20 hours ago illuminance 662 lux lux
2015-01-07 4:05 PM EST - 20 hours ago illuminance 430 lux lux
2015-01-07 4:04 PM EST - 20 hours ago illuminance 655 lux lux
2015-01-07 4:04 PM EST - 20 hours ago illuminance 972 lux lux

And as far as motion is considered outside Fibaro is actually not bad. Mine is a relatively very quiet dead end street with only neighbors cars triggering the motion. If you see between 10:53 PM thru 4:24 AM. No motion. 4 something… my neighbor leaves for work. :wink: After that several motions… Mostly passing neighbors may be… Or sunlight/passing cloud… who knows… But million times better than Aeon’s.

2015-01-08 4:24 AM EST - 8 hours ago motion active
2015-01-07 10:53 PM EST - 13 hours ago motion inactive

Night? Lux values changes below the threshold defining a lux change event?

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And the lux value is constantly increasing as my house is getting more sunlight… Its now near 9000 something. So, at least I can vouch for the luminance part of it outdoors.

Yes correct, unless you change the parameters default lux reporting requires a change of 200 lux to send a report, I changed all of my lux reporting parameters, as well as turning off the motion flashing nonsense…

@Mike_Maxwell

Did you change it here? What value did you set, if you don’t mind me asking. Also, do I need to do anything else but publishing it to me again?

cmds << zwave.configurationV1.configurationSet(configurationValue: [0,200], parameterNumber: 40, size: 2).format()

These are the two parameters I changed for lux:
configurationValue: [0,0], parameterNumber: 40, size: 2 //ILLUMINATION REPORT THRESHOLD
configurationValue: [2,88], parameterNumber: 42, size: 2 //ILLUMINATION REPORTS INTERVAL

0 for the threshold, indicates there isn’t a minimum change for reporting
the reporting interval [2,88] translates to 600 seconds or 10 minutes
so every 10 minutes I get a lux reading, no mater the change involved.

Make the changes above to resetParams2StDefaults, connect the ide to your actual device, wake it up (triple click b button), then click the resetParams2StDefaults button in the ide.

Thanks a lot for the clarification. I updated my question after realizing my stupidity. :smile:
Will try reducing the sensitivity too as I use it outdoors as I need to trigger it only when somebody is already on my porch and see how that goes. Thanks as always. Never played around with devices. Only SmartApps.

Its probably the most well documented product. The parameters and what it means.

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You can find these types of documents for most zwave devices, the fibaro ones just have lots of tweekables in them, way more than most.

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@Mike_Maxwell followed these steps but for some reason not getting the 10 minute updates.

I must be missing something:

  1. In the ide, open the fibaro motion that you created in “my device types”.

  2. Edit the code for preferences you want to change, then save.

configurationValue: [0,0], parameterNumber: 40, size: 2 //ILLUMINATION REPORT THRESHOLD
configurationValue: [2,88], parameterNumber: 42, size: 2 //ILLUMINATION REPORTS INTERVAL

// 0 for the threshold, indicates there isn’t a minimum change for reporting
// the reporting interval [2,88] translates to 600 seconds or 10 minutes

so every 10 minutes I get a lux reading, no matter the change involved.
  1. Click the set location button.

  2. Click the device drop down, then select your actual Fibaro from the list (it should be one of the first in the list), then install.

Once this is done your device will be using the device driver that’s loaded in the IDE.
You should see some logs in the log section.

  1. Now wake up the fibaro.

  2. Click the resetParams2StDefaults thats under the custom commands section on the right side of the IDE.

  3. Click uninstall when done

After the reset command how long should I wait to uninstall?

Did you click the button three times to wake it up?
The param changes can only be applied when the things blinking blue.