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tbeckman
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Posted: January 03 2008 at 15:47 | IP Logged Quote tbeckman

Anyone know how to go about the following:

I would like to have all bathroom lights that are turned on between the hours of 1am and 6am only come on dimmed?

Thank you.

Edited by tbeckman - January 03 2008 at 18:47
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TonyNo
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Posted: January 03 2008 at 21:16 | IP Logged Quote TonyNo

Assuming these are Insteon, you can only do this via a "trick". You need to set up each of these switches with an On level of zero and then brighten accordingly through PH. There will be a delay between hitting the paddle and the light coming on.

The time check is easy...

jump if( hour(now()) > 0 or hour(now()) < 6, 3, 1)
light on full
jump 999
light on partial
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bhlonewolf
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Posted: January 04 2008 at 22:10 | IP Logged Quote bhlonewolf

It would be great if switches could be programmed and then have those settings take effect without air gapping -- that way, you could overwrite the current on levels and ramp rates via timed events...
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TonyNo
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Posted: January 05 2008 at 09:10 | IP Logged Quote TonyNo

I've heard that new switches will support this.
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ficklma1
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Posted: January 09 2008 at 08:52 | IP Logged Quote ficklma1

TonyNo,

What "new" switches? Is smarthome about to release a new protocol for Insteon? Just curious.
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TonyNo
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Posted: January 09 2008 at 13:42 | IP Logged Quote TonyNo

I have no idea when they would be out, but I've heard the feature mentioned.
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dhoward
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Posted: January 15 2008 at 17:19 | IP Logged Quote dhoward

There may be a couple ways to get similar functionality. I have the same requirement and what Ive done is set the switches "local" level to a low value (20%). When I turn the switch on, it *always* comes on dimmed, however a second tap brings it full on. A quick double tap (Insteon faston) will also bring the light full on without first coming on dimmed. It's a pain, but Ive learned to live with it.

Another possibility is you *may* be able to achieve the functionality directly if the switches involved are KeypadLincs. KPL's do not need to be airgapped in order to update direct memory changes. Im not sure if PowerHome has a "backdoor" command though that will allow you to programmatically alter the "on" level in order to be able to use this feature.

One last possibility that I can think of (other than what Tony already described) is that I know older Insteon switches had a peculiar *bug* in that local control would cause the light to turn on at the last level that it was controlled from a group command (not a PLC direct command). You may be able to control the light from a PLC group that sets the light to the desired dim level at the *start* time. Then, the next time the light is controlled locally, it should return to the "dimmed" level. At the end of the *dimmed* time, send another group command to turn it full on. The problem with this though is that the lights will flash dimmed at the start of the interval and flash full at the end of the interval and you would want to restore the light to it's previous level after the command to set it.

Ideally, this will be fixed in the next generation of switches that Tony is referring to.

Dave.
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