What turned my light off?

Configuration
, ,
1

I have a porch light (z-wave switch) that is turned on every night at sunset by an automation. Tonight I was away from home and when I returned (after sunset) the porch light was not on. When I checked the logbook, I can see that the automation fired (and the porch light was turned on), but 5 seconds later the porch light was turned off. Based on the (lack of) details in the logbook entry, it would seem the switch controlling this light was physically turned off; this cannot be the case as there was no one home.

Where can I look, other than the logbook, to find the source of this turn off action?

This is all the logbook shows:

Porch turned off
9:13:30 PM - 38 minutes ago

Porch turned on triggered by automation Outside Lights sunset
9:13:25 PM - 39 minutes ago
2

Check all the logs - SYSLOG, etc. around the same time

3

This can also mean that the turn on command failed.

Home assistant assumes it was turned on and logs it, but then some time later the light status is polled and the status is revealed as off and is logged as such.

1 Like
4

Thank you!

5

Are you sure about this? Other than some integrations which are using assumed state, many of them change their internal state after receiving confirmation.

The new dialog is misleading here, let’s say you turn on the lamp, it shows turned on and flips back to off after couple of seconds. But this should not record logbook if it is actually not updated.

I will try to find an example at home (hopefully)

6

Not 100% sure. Unfortunately I’m not in a position to test it.

7

I downloaded the full system log (from Settings > System > Logs) and there is nothing there around the time that the porch light turned off. Are there other logs I can check?

8

I would suggest that you need to replicate the issue. If you are able to do that, then you can check while the issue takes place if the light in fact ever went on - that will help in your debugging

9

I have been using this automation for over a year and this is the first time this has happened - probably won’t be able to replicate…

10

Events without context are driven by the device itself or physical on/off presses. If you weren’t home, I’d start looking at whatelse you connected the device to. I.e. Alexa, Google home, or it’s native app.

11

Thank you for the confirmation regarding Events without context.

The light is connected to a z-wave switch (Jasco/GE Enbrighten brand). I have an Aeotec Z-Stick 7 Plus as my hub. I do use Home Assistant cloud (Nabu Casa) to connect with Google, but have no other connections outside Home Assistant.

12

Then it sounds like an issue with the device. Check all the settings on the device, see if there’s default powerup/powerdown settings that adjust the lights behavior when power is regained.

1 Like