Is there any method to set the fading time of presence detect to less than 10 seconds
I have an automation that turns on a light but the fading time of the presence sensors all have a lowest setting of 10 seconds
I want to change this to 5 seconds but seems everytime I set, it then defaults to 10 second again
The automation works, the light switches on immediately on entering the room
The light also goes off but takes 10 to 15 seconds
It depends on the presence device you are using - can you let us know what you are using?
Hi Neil. I am using this Zigbee Model
Zigbee Human Presence+ PIR Motion
ZG-204ZM
HOBEIAN (PIR 24Ghz human presence sensor)
I also have this one from Aliexpress
Zigbee 24G Mmwave Radar Presence
but several others have the same time out issue
In my experience, fade times are extremely difficult to pin down as they work in conjunction with detection delay. For this reason, they can be great at detection, but I don’t solely rely on my presence sensors for consistent room occupancy to keep lights (or whatever) on.
What I do instead is use an automation that is as robust as I want it to be, as it takes into consideration other devices being used in a specific room. For example, my family room has a fire stick and an echo dot. I use a timer helper with a short setting, like 3s. If presence is detected, the main light turns on, but so does the timer helper. Every time the timer helper resolves, I have conditions that check again for presence detected, but also if the fire stick or echo dot are in a state of playing. If any of those things are “on”, the timer resets. Should the timer resolve and none of the devices are playing and no presence is detected, then the light will turn off.
That’s a simplified explanation of my automation, but it’s actually more robust than that, cause media players have more states than just “playing”. Some rooms have other devices that I can take into consideration, like fans, humidifiers, contact sensors, etc. Sky’s the limit as they say.
EDIT with that in mind, I use input Boolean helpers and schedule helpers with these room occupancy automations. The input Boolean is tied directly to the room occupancy automation (whether it’s enabled or disabled). The schedule helper toggles the Boolean on my preferred schedule, but pending circumstances like having company over, I can manually toggle the Boolean if I need to.
It might be better if i try to explain what it is i am trying to do
The presense sensors are battery powered in the bathroom (there is no power available in there)
This will activate the light ring on the bathroom light switch showing there is someone in there
After exiting the ring light should go off showing the bathroom is unoccupied
The light switch is a sonoff T5-2C-86. This has leds showing if a switch is in the on position and a ring of leds which can be controlled
That sounds simple enough. For my bathrooms, I use PIR sensors and my switches also have ring lights. But I still use an occupancy automation to determine occupancy in the bathroom, but with a much larger timer helper setting, at least 5 minutes.
Is your presence sensor having false positives or is it failing to detect at times?
The fade time is a value of time before the presence sensor will change from a detected state to no presence.
EDIT - but even after the fade time, many presence sensors have a cooldown before the state actually changes. So if you’re experiencing delays after the fade time, that’s probably why. This, again, is just another reason why I use occupancy automations.
Sorry, just reread your OP. Have you investigated the device to see if it can actually go under 10 seconds? That may be baked into the firmware and no matter what HA lets you seemingly do, if it’s baked into the firmware, there’s nothing you can do about it unless you’re lucky enough to find a custom firmware that you can flash on it (which do exist, but are rather rare).
EDIT A google search shows this is a “thing” with this sensor. In fact, a couple forums have people reporting they have issues setting anything under 30 sec fade times.
It seems to be stuck at minimum of 10 seconds even though the HA shows it can go to as little as 0. But setting below 10 it automatically pops back up so will just have to accept this
Thanks for your comments and advice
Remember that for a battery operated device you need to activate it (usually press a button) for it to accept a change.
Hi
This one does not need to press anything
Zigbee Human Presence+ PIR Motion
I just use to configure an Automation to test the state