I’m no expert; just savvy enough to tinker with gadgets and pick up gems from this forum as needed. I’ve built a device comprising a plastic box plugged into a wall outlet, housing a 5v DC converter, two motion sensors, and a Wemos D1 Mini. One motion sensor is directed across the threshold of the dining room door, so it captures motion as soon as I enter. The other sensor captures motion in the entire room, with an adjustable delay (HC-SR501). FYI for anyone trying to build something similar, I’d advise shielding the motion sensors within the box by using some foil (enclosed well inside a layer of tape, so you don’t short anything).
My issue:
My automation turns on the chandelier to 50% as I enter, as shown below. However, the light goes from 0 to 50% in an instant. How I can slowly “dim” the lights up to 50%? It’s a Lutron Caseta dimmer, which automatically dims the lights down to 0% nicely when turned off. I’d like the same effect (with respect to the speed of the action) when turning the light on via the automation.
- id: '1615507202487'
alias: 'Lights On with Motion: Dining Room'
description: ''
trigger:
- platform: state
to: 'on'
entity_id: binary_sensor.dining_room_door
condition:
- condition: state
entity_id: alarm_control_panel.ha_alarm
state: disarmed
action:
- type: turn_on
device_id: [Lutron Caseta Device ID]
entity_id: light.dining_room_chandelier
domain: light
brightness_pct: 50
- wait_for_trigger:
- platform: state
from: 'on'
to: 'off'
for: 00:00:15
entity_id: binary_sensor.dining_room_room
- type: turn_off
device_id: [Lutron Caseta Device ID]
entity_id: light.dining_room_chandelier
domain: light
mode: single
Via which integration does that Lutron Caseta work? I can find the brand but not the dimmer. But there is the transition parameter to a turn on call. But the device does need to support this to work.
I initially used the Lutron Caseta Add-On (available in Supervisor > Add Ons), but as of a couple of months ago the integration is built into core. I’ve integrated it this new way and removed the old Add On instance. Lutron Caseta devices are commanded by a Lutron Caseta Smart Bridge, which is integrated into HA. Any commands from HA are sent to the wall switches via the Smart Bridge.
Edit: to be clear, if I press the “on” button on the wall-mounted dimmer switch in my dining room, the light “dims up”. It is the dimmer’s natural way of turning on and off, to dim up and down as such. It is only when the automation turns on the dimmer that it goes from 0 to 50% in an instant. …I want the dimmer to behave naturally.
transition
Number that represents the time (in seconds) the light should take to transition to the new state.
From the documentation for Lutron Caseta:
Available services: light.turn_on, light.turn_off and light.toggle. The light.turn_on service supports attributes brightness, brightness_pct and transition.
For example, turn on to 50% brightness over a period of 4 seconds.
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In case anyone comes here looking for a solution for lights that don’t support transitions (my Sengled bulbs don’t) here is a system that fades the lights on over a ~9 minute span at around sunset or if it gets dark enough outside during the day.
It takes two automations to make the transitions work. You might be able to whittle it to one but I originally had the automation triggering on a one second interval so I could catch the second when the automation got turned on. But then I realized I could use the action of turning on the fade in automation to trigger it. But I never took the time to move it all to one automation.
- alias: LC Deck Light On at Dusk
trigger:
- platform: state
entity_id: sensor.dark_outside
to: 'true'
- platform: sun
event: sunset
offset: "+00:07:00"
action:
- service: automation.turn_on
entity_id: automation.lc_deck_light_fade_on_at_dusk
- alias: LC Deck Light Fade On at Dusk
initial_state: 'off'
trigger:
# - platform: time_pattern
# seconds: "/1"
- platform: state
entity_id: automation.lc_deck_light_fade_on_at_dusk
to: 'on'
action:
- service: light.turn_on
data:
entity_id: light.deck_light_0a4c
brightness: 5
- repeat:
sequence:
- service: light.turn_on
data:
entity_id: light.deck_light_0a4c
brightness: "{{ state_attr('light.deck_light_0a4c', 'brightness') | int + 1 }}"
- delay: 2
until:
condition: or
conditions:
- condition: template
value_template: "{{ state_attr('light.deck_light_0a4c', 'brightness') | int >= 254 }}"
- condition: state
entity_id: light.deck_light_0a4c
state: 'off'
- service: automation.turn_off
entity_id: automation.lc_deck_light_fade_on_at_dusk
If the light gets turned off by some other method during the transition then it gets reset and the transition automation stops running.
But if you reload your automations or restart HA during the time the transition automation is running it never gets retriggered. So the light gets stuck at that brightness.
So I added a couple more automations to handle that. If it’s not a big deal if the light ever reaches full brightness then you can ignore these.
I’ve compared this transition solution against another method: Without using a scene, simply call the Device (light.dining_room_chandelier) and set the Action to “Increase Brightness”. …and repeat this command within the automation until the desired brightness is achieved. In my test, there were five Device > Increase Brightness actions in immediate succession. The outcome was indeed a “dim up” effect, but it was very fast and was not the outcome I was seeking. ← FYI, in case someone is looking for a quick fix for a rather fast lighting transition.
Hi @123 I am so glad I found this. Lutron “dumb” Maestro dimmers can control the fade on and a separate fade off ramp for each individual switch and have been able to do this for at least 15 years. The Lutron integration with the Caseta line doesn’t have any such customizability so I am thrilled you found that transition works. So thank you.
I have a question… is it possible somehow to tie the transition speed for any defined Lutron dimmer to the actual on and off switch?
I am not smart enough to figure out templating or the like. I was thinking about having my Node-Red instance listen for the light press and then send the turn on or off command but add the transition speed.
Any ideas how I can do this?
Many thanks again
So thank you.