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Home Assistant is open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first. Powered by a worldwide community of tinkerers and DIY enthusiasts. Perfect to run on a Raspberry Pi or a local server. Available for free at home-assistant.io

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Automation based on brightness (discuss.tchncs.de)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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So, I want the following to happen, does anyone have any advice the best way to make the conditions in HA?

If it’s bright outside, close the blind and turn on the light If it’s dark outside, close the blind and turn on the light If it’s anywhere in between, keep the blind open - if it’s ‘dark enough’ turn on the light as well.

I haven’t bought any lux sensors yet. I do believe it’s a lux sensor I need. Can I make this automation with 1 (pointing outside and using that value to control both the light and blind) or would I need to have 2? (I assume, one pointing outside controlling the blind, the other in the room controlling the light?

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You might be able to get a long way without the sensors. Using a weather sensor + sunrise/sunset sensors?

I think just one sensor for outside is enough, you'll probably need to experiment with the "bright" and "dark" values. Leave a decent gap in between the two bright and dark values to avoid the blinds bouncing up and down.

You can probably make the sensor yourself with a LDR (light dependant resistor) and a microcontroller (esp32 or similar)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Relying on sun positions and weather data can be a bit hit and miss for lighting automations. I originally used to limit some of my light automations to only turn on between sunset and sunrise - when it should be dark.

But often when there was heavy cloud during daylight it would be dark enough to want lights, but the available weather data I had was never accurate enough to tell heavy gloomy clouds from lighter clouds.

I added some light sensors to the mix and my automations have been a light more accident and flexible.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah, I’ve played around with basing it on sunrise/sunset and a local weather api, but it often says it’s cloudy outside when it’s not, and vice versa. Or there’s various types of cloud; the API can’t differentiate.