My first SmartApp and I need help! Cree Bulb to dim when turned on

Not directly.

One of the main points of a mesh network is “resilience.” They were designed for set ups where many of the devices would be relatively cheap, relatively dumb devices who might often be offline, either sleeping to preserve battery life or having batteries changed. The controller isn’t supposed to panic if one of the devices hasn’t been heard of for awhile, nor do the devices themselves check in as they come and go. This is part of what keeps mesh networks cheap in terms of both money and energy draw.

You can attach an energy monitoring device to the line and try to guess that way, but this is rarely successful with just a couple of light bulbs, because their energy draw is so low that dim tends to look like off.

A far easier way is to either change out the dumb switch for a smart one, or put a switch lock on the dumb switch and add a battery powered smart switch next to it. The first requires electrical wiring, the second does not. Or you can add a cheap tablet control center. For any of these, the cost is typically around $50 -$75. Once you eliminate use of the dumb switch, scheduling is easy again.

some links to forum topics discussing options:

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