Just dived into the world of Caseta and came across a “need”
Example: Bathroom vanity light and a Caseta Diva dimmer. At full brightness during most of the day the light level is great. However I would like to add two periods of time. From 9pm to 12am, I’d like the lights to be halfway dimmed when the Lutron switch is pressed. Then from 12am to sunrise I’d like the lights to be all the way dimmed when the switch is pressed.
I attempted to set this up using an automation, but the automation kicks in 3-5 seconds after the switch is pressed. So if the dimmer is locally set high - say 100% (to clarify, the slider on the side) and the time is in one of these dimmed periods, the lights come on 100%, then it dims after a few seconds.
Is there a way to have that desired dimming level achieved instantaneously? (Middle of the night trips to the bathroom and automatically having a real dim light is the goal) Sure I could try and remember to put the slider down before tapping the switch, but as I’m sure many of you can identify with, thinking too much wakes me up and makes it difficult, sometimes impossible to go back to sleep - yes I struggle with insomnia and take pills for that!
My scenario is slightly different but might help you.
I want my house to be “zero control” - e.g. I want the right thing to happen at all times without me doing anything to control anything.
I also want the light level to be smart based on the environment and time of day, e.g. for my master bathroom I want:
if it’s bright in the bathroom due to light coming in through the windows, I want nothing to happen when I walk in.
if it’s dark in the bathroom (nighttime or overcast), but it’s during my waking hours, I want the lights to come on fully.
if it’s dark in the bathroom but it’s during my sleeping hours, I want the lights to come on dimly.
I have achieved this.
I use Lutron Caseta dimmers everywhere, and dimmable LED lights.
First I tried to do this with the Lutron Caseta occupancy sensor, but the Caseta app doesn’t give you enough control. I talked to a tech support engineer at Lutron for an hour, and he agreed that they currently don’t provide enough functionality to do what I want.
I added an Eve Motion (matter) sensor - currently I have this added to HomeKit with a HASS bridge; Lutron Caseta is only connected to HomeAssistant. When Matter support for Home Assistant is a little more mature, I will move the the sensor to Home Assistant.
I added two rules in HomeKit:
When the Eve Motion sensor detects motion in the master bath
and it’s after I wake up
and it’s before I go to sleep
and the light level in the master bathroom (Eve Motion also has luminance) is <= 20lx
Then run the scene to turn on the bathroom lights to full brightness
When the Eve Motion sensor detects motion
and it’s after my bedtime
and it’s before I wake up
Then run the scene to turn on the master bathroom lights to 15% brightness
This has been working perfectly for me for months; it’s not instance because the motion sensor has a short delay but it’s < 1 second.
