Need help making a routine to control my blinds depending on weather

Hi There!

I’ve been using Smartthings for many years, since Nvidia Shield got me into it, and up until now all my routines have been time based and worked flawlessly.

What I’m trying to do now is control a blind to close 35% only between the hours 10a-2p when the weather conditions are clear. Reason being we got a new leather couch and the winter sun absolutely bakes the top of the couch (burn your hand hot), and we’re worried about the sun causing premature wear and tear on that spot.

I wrote the routine IF>

10:00am - 2pm (everyday) (Precondition)
+
Weather (Clear)

Then

Blind 2 (Shade Level 35%)

However this routine never triggers, even when my Weather channel app states Abundant Sunshine.

Can anyone tell me what I’m doing wrong?

Thanks

These are always kind of funky for me. Time and Weather… I always try to put a device in to act as a trigger. In this case, what happens if you put in “shade level < 30%” and make both the weather and the time preconditions?

I’d really prefer doing it with a rule, rather than a routine. Something like

every 15 minutes
between 10-2
if
the weather is sunny
then
set the shade to 35%
else
set the shade to open

That way it checks the weather, and if it gets cloudy it’ll open the shade.

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Never found the weather control very reliable (neither in Smartlife nor Aqara) as a trigger, and not much better as precondition. Better to think in terms of some sort of sensor. Light sensor?

I’ve used time, light and temperature sensors to control different blinds. Takes a bit of fine tuning, but works great now to avoid east glare during summer am and west heat in pm. Temp is used on the west to leave blinds open during the cooler months when warm is desired.

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How do I write a rule in Smartthings app? I only see how to make a Routine or Scene?

It’s pretty easy to do rules, but you need a little more than the app to do them.

Rules-api

Install the smartthings cli, then get postman. They provide a bunch of sample json rules.