Manual state change not being detected by automation for Wemo Dimmer

Configuration
1

I currently have a bunch of LIFX bulbs and Wemo dimmers. The bulbs have continuous power, and the dimmers simply act as dummy controls.

I have automations set up to sync the on and off state of the dimmers to the switches. The problem I’m running into is when I have to adjust brightness. I have a YAML automation to detect a state change on a dimmer, and apply the brightness level to all the lights in the automation. It works as expected when I adjust the brightness via home kit. But when I physically adjust the brightness, the automation does not trigger. Is this supported in home assistant? If not, is there some additional resource I can leverage. I’ve attempted node-red and home bridge but found it lacking. It would detect the change, but not fire a an hb event for them.

I’m using the following automation :

alias: Kitchen Main Brightness
description: ''
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: light.main_switch
condition: []
action:
  - entity_id: light.main_switch
    condition: state
    state: 'on'
  - service: light.turn_on
    entity_id:
      - light.stove
      - light.window_right
      - light.window_left
      - light.fridge
    data:
      brightness: '{{ trigger.to_state.attributes.brightness }}'
      transition: 1
mode: queued
max: 10

Is there anything else I’m doing wrong here? Is there some sort of interval in which HA polls devices for state changes?

2

I’ve checked the developer tools → state → light.main_switch

When adjusting the physical brigthness, the state is not updated in home assistant. I’m guessing this is some issue with the wemo integration not broadcasting / polling for changes in brightness. Anyone have a work around?

3

Can you try using a device trigger instead of a state trigger?

I recently had an issue trying to use a state trigger on a motion sensor to turn a light on. It would not work. But when i swapped to a device trigger, where the trigger was “detected motion”, it worked.

EG this instead of a state trigger

Screen Shot 2021-11-27 at 2.55.12 PM
Screen Shot 2021-11-27 at 2.55.12 PM1101×456 18.8 KB

Its worth a shot, but im not sure what device triggers the “light” has.

4

I actually just figured out a work around using home kit controllers. Using integration forces the devices to communicate via the manufacturer’s cloud. That leaves you at their mercy on how they emit events and what data they choose to include. Homekit controller allows WLAN communication between devices. So the devices talk to eachother directly. Also much better response times on the devices