Lights turn on if back door is still open after sunset?

SmartApps & Automations Automation Ideas
1

Hi all,

I’m new to smartthings, so please forgive me if this question is a little silly. I have a ST door sensor on my back door and hue bulbs in my outside lights.

Currently I have it set up so if the door is opened after sunset, the lights turn on. This works great, but I want the lights to turn on even when they doors are left open all day. At the moment we have to close and reopen them to get them to turn on.

Any ideas?

2

So what would be the trigger to make the lights come on? Perhaps a time of day? You need to think about how would the hub know you want the lights to turn on. The hub knows only when you open/close…Maybe upgrade to a multi-sensor that detects acceleration and have the lights come on when the door is moved. Or the best way would be to use a motion sensor. If time of day is what you have in mind, you can set the lights to turn on at sunset and then off when the door is closed or any combination of time and contact sensor event.

1 Like
3

I’ve just come up against exactly the same thing - I want the garden lights to come on if the big door at the back of the house is open. Quite often, it’s open during the day and into the night, and I’d like the lights to come on before sunset.

CoRE is your friend here, although I can only get the results I want with two separate pistons, I’d like to do it in one. This is my first rule.

4

I agree with CoRE. I know you are new but it’s good to just go straight to it. @SBDOBRESCU is also a CoRE guru so it won’t be a problem walking you through it. I have so many little smartapps it’s kind of crazy. Slowly I am moving everything to Smart lighting and CoRE. By the way. Welcome to SmartThings.

1 Like
5

Thanks so much for the advice. We have cats, so a motion censor is a not go. I will have a think.

6

There are motion sensors that are pet immune, if that idea attracts you…

7

I’m not sure I’m ready for CoRE, but maybe I should dive in. I was hoping there was a way I could say ‘at sunset, if door sensor is open, turn on lights’ but I guess that’s not possible without delving into the code.

Thanks for all the advice though!

8

Humm. That’s a good idea. I will have a look into that.