Hello. I really like the fadeLevel option but I have a question about setting a rule for one of my lights. More specifically, would it be possible for you to add fadelevel from a certain start and end time? I see there is a fadelevel duration selection but I am trying to turn on a light at sunset (which as I’m sure you already know is dynamic) and then gradually increase brightness from sunset to a specific time. Hopefully my question was understandable.
Also, is there any chance that blink lights will be available in the near future. Right now I’m using The Flasher II in my ST app, but didn’t see that feature among the SharpTools smart lighting choices.
Hi @Dennis, welcome to the community. I think this can be a great use case for our Variable feature design to allows user to specify dynamic fadeLevel duration (specific time minus current time). Though unfortunately this is not currently supported, I’ve noted this use case.
Can you provide a bit more details for the flashing light needs? Ex: with the option to adjust how fast, for how long, color with each flash, and etc? We currently don’t have “flash” action, so I 'd like to understand better and note it as a feature request. Meanwhile, the option for you now is to add delay between turning lights on and off in the rule flow thought this is far from ideal.
Hey James. Thanks for taking the time to answer. Just so I understand correctly, the start and end time setting is not supported for fadelevel? Does that means it isn’t possible to add this option variable to the Flow rule in the future?
As for your flash/blink light suggestion: Lol! I would rather not create an explicit rule for every individual on/off action of the bulb. Right now I am using The Flasher II smartapp with my motion sensor as the trigger. The motion sensor is on my porch and it triggers one my lights to flash if/when someone is at my door - until I get a Nest Hello Video Doorbell installed. The groovy code for The Flasher smart app can be found on Github - maybe someone can add it to SharpTools.
Start time is kind of supported as you can add Sunset as the trigger of the rule (see screenshot below), but not the end time. Variable is currently not available, but will be in the future.
Thanks for linking the SmartApp source code. It seems the options are pretty straightforward, but my concern is if it is practical or can provide a good user experience if the flashing interval is set to fast (ex: 500ms). Since there can be network latency from Rule Engine to ST and eventually to the light bulb, it may not flash exactly as expected. BTW, you don’t need to create individual rule for each on/off action, but you will if you want the same action for multiple bulbs. You can add multiple activities in the flow, though it’s still not an ideal ux.
Flow : turn on → delay 2 secs → turn off → delay 2 secs → turn on → delay 2 secs → turn off → delay 2 secs → turn on
Yep, I saw the start time in the trigger but I meant start and stop in Flow but thanks anyway - and it’s good to know it will be there eventually. Of course it’s up to you guys if and how you want to implement flash/blink or not, but I think having more options on the menu is a good thing.
Right now I am using The Flasher II smartapp with my motion sensor as the trigger. The motion sensor is on my porch and it triggers one my lights to flash if/when someone is at my door - until I get a Nest Hello Video Doorbell installed. The groovy code for The Flasher smart app can be found on Github - maybe someone can add it to SharpTools.