Maybe im missing something but are luminance sensors a joke?
This is my situation. If i put a luminance sensor to control a light under a certain lumosity its works first try, but the next time the luminance snesor checks in and the lights are on it shuts the lights off and won’t turn them back on until the lights go off and a new lux value is sensed. Now i get why this is happening, the lux sensor is picking up on the newly introduced light.
My question is… am i missing something? is there some way to keep this from happening?
So for me i put the luminance trigger at anyhting under 10lux.
So if the Aeon MultiSensor reports while lights are on in that room then i have to wait 5 minutes unitl the sensor reports again at the lower lux level so it will turn my lights on again.
Doing this already. OK let me try explaining again I don’t think I was clear before.
If I go into my kitchen the lights turn in fine because the lux value is under 10. I’m in there for 5 minutes and it sends a new lux value of 67. I then leave my kitchen, the lights turn off after not sensing motion for 2 minutes. I goo back to my kitchen 1 minute after the lights turn off but before the lux value is reported again i get no lights.
Also i’ve seen many people on the forum say they use the lux value to automate others lights in the house, this seems impossible to me. I’m sure its just me but i can’t wrap my head around this issue for some reason.
Am I the only one having this problem? I know its a timing issue but i can’t figure out how to make it better.
Sounds like the sensor you’re using has a very long polling interval. Probably for a reason. In your app, you can subscribe to motion and force-poll the lux sensor to read the new value. Makes sense?
I position both of my luminance sensors to catch the motion I need but out of the direct bright light from room lights. I also set the threshold to turn on in the App to be about 100 lux and increased the “turn off when xxx lux” to a much higher number within the SmartApp code. So if it is fairly dark, like rainy day or night in the living room the lights come on with motion and stay on when motion continues or “turn off after xx minutes” timer expires.
I have switches and motion sensors in some of the other rooms with windows that reference my two Luminance sensor lux readings in the living room or upstairs walkway. Again if those register under 100 lux, my lights in other rooms with windows will turn on with motion. This way the rooms with windows light up unless it is bright and sunny outside and no room light needed. Helps with light deprivation in my rainy northwest climate by keeping occupied rooms well lit when needed. Off when it’s already bright enough.
All I did was modify the Luminance related lighting SmartApp (“Improved Smart Nightlight”) to hard code to turn on if motion when lux under 100 or something close to that. I planned to add an input setting in the app to allow setting the lux threshold per switch within the App preferences. Hard coding to <100 lux has worked perfectly for our needs so I never bothered finishing that.
Thanks all your suggestions have been helpful. I think a repositioning of the Aeon Multi is needed. Plus some careful thought of the different settings.
This is one of the reason I bought only one Aeon motion sensor just to test. Tried it in the hallway and I had the same conundrum. Dark and motion, lights come on. Charges up the lux level and the next time down the stairs no light due to polling times. Pulled it and replace it with an ST sensor. I have tried various things to no avail but I hope ST integrates the dawn, dusk options more completely. I simply want to say if it’s dusk and motion turn light on, if it’s dawn then don’t. I know this can be done in code but I just don’t want to learn another language, call, libraries etc. any more. I did that for 35 years and now it’s time to look up from the monitor and see the world.
I have one Aeon Multi that I keep outside my front door. I basically use it to tell me if it’s night or day, or if its very, very overcast. Even having many outdoor lights around the sensor, it flawlessly determines night and day. The lights basically can’t compete with the sun.
I use this information to power the Smart Nightlight app. Typically if it is light out I get enough light through windows, etc, where I don’t need the light to turn on. Basically if its light out enough for the sensor, I can see fine in the given room.
I have some interior rooms, a bathroom, a stairway to the basement. I always want the lights to come on in these places so I just don’t use the luminescence and simply turn them on with motion.
