[Simple] Lights turning on/off based on motion

[FKey]

I agree with @Rocodamelshekima, for homey I don’t think it matters.
You need to decide what works best for your use…

For simple cases zone activity works the same as timers.
But timers are much more configurable (and the app store hase many timer apps… (Search for timer in the app store)

Just switching one light using one motion sensor? Zone activity will work fine

Multiple motion sensors switching one ligt, zone activity is easier

If you have many lights in one zone and you want them all to switch on and off at the same time, zone activity is good.

If you want to switch them (Off) at different times Zone activity will Require you to split the flows

If you have motion sensors triggering lights in other zones, zone activity will be more complicated then timers

If you have triggers that homey does not recognize as zone activity it will not work (You smart dishwasher being opened is not recognized as activity?)

Example
I have lights on my driveway, And a motion sensor at the driveway (zone driveway).

And a few Lights on the garage wall
I have a second motion sensor in the garden (zone garden)

When I walk in the garden toward the garage only want the garage lights to go on.

When I drive onto the driveway the ligths (driveway and garage) turn on.

While unpacking my car the driveway sensor (that switched on the lights) is no longer triggered.
So that zo e activity will switch off turning off the lights

But I want to keep them on! Because the garden motion sensor is still being triggered.

Using zone activity makes it complex.
Managing the garage lights and driveway Lights with seperate timers it much easier (both sensors can reset the same timer)

[FKey]

@Caseda

The biggest difference is just that you have “infinite” possibilities for times you want your lights to go off with timers. With zone inactivity you only have a few set values with a minimum of 1 minute.

Timers will even allow you to use a logic variable as a value.
Bij changing this variable you can configure the timers.

Example:
During breakfast lunch and diner we sit at the table. Motion sensors dont pick up a lot of movement, but we are there…
I increase the timer value during timeslot I expect to be sitting there.

[FKey]

@Paul_Scholte

I was wondering since you tried to minimize the running time of timers in one of your examples by starting a timer when “movement stops”

Dont think this is to minimize the timers…

Be aware:
You switch on you lights when activity starts
You start the timer when activity stops

You do not want to start the timer when activity starts…!
What if the activity does not stop?

Imagine a dance-floor with continuous activity

You switch on the light when activity start
And after 10 minutes you switch off the lights…

You better switch off the lights 3 min after activity stops…

[RogerSt]

Zone activity based solution here:

[Tutorial] Simple movement-triggered automatic light with zone activity cards (just 2 flows!)

Hi everyone, It’s time to share back what I learned here. I have -in the past- tried several strategies to use lights that automatically trigger when movement is detected. Also, a lot has been written about this topic, for example: Tutorial - Advanced automatic light control with flows [Simple] Lights turning on/off based on motion - #33 by EvR and many more. All of these either use the CountDown App -or- the Timer App This allows for a lot of flexibility. But it can be tricky to config…

[Rocodamelshekima]

This simple flow is to show peeps how to run some flows and get their lights on and off with motion detection. Linking to other solutions does not bring anything good to this specific topic.

[RogerSt]

Hi @Rocodamelshekima,
Some of the posts here refer to zone-activity based light switching. I use the referred implementation to do just that, without any custom timers, only using zone activity.
If it needs to be simple… this is simple. And of course there are pros and cons.
But simple it is.
R.

[Rocodamelshekima]

Whatever suits u best m8. Lets get this complicated!

[Rocodamelshekima]

" Disclaimer
These flow examples are just for helping other people to make some simple flows and have fun with Homey. Please don’t react with “i don’t like the countdown app” or something like that. Just trying to help peeps to enjoy their Home automation with Homey."

[RogerSt]

@Rocodamelshekima in this topic I never gave an opinion on specific apps or solutions. I just gave a reference to an alternative solution.
And yes in that alternative solution post I referred that I have used Timer and other apps before, but was looking for a simple solution. Zone activity worked for me m8.

[Rocodamelshekima]

@RogerSt

I just gave a reference to an alternative solution.

Exactly that! That is not what this topic is about m8. This is just some examples to help peeps getting started. If u wanna use zone activity then that’s fine with me. But again: that’s not what this topic is about.
Gonna ask @moderators to delete offtopic posts here.

[RogerSt]

It must be me.

[Rocodamelshekima]

Almost wanna say open ur own topic but u alr did haha.

[BertSP]

Great explain, now i finally understand how to use the countdown app.
Thanks for it…

[Rocodamelshekima]

Then just show us ur flows.

[Martijn_Hoogenbosch]

You should check if the timer actually get’s started. In my experience the ‘motion sensor off’ doesn’t work at all times. Haven’t figured out why this is. But you could try and start the timer when motion get’s turned on and remove the ‘stop timer’ or delay the ‘start’ with a couple of seconds.

[Rocodamelshekima]

And maybe check the “lamp wc” in devices. There it should tell u who turned the light off after a minute.

[Martijn_Hoogenbosch]

Let me get my glass bowl… it’s windy and cloudy now I guess it’s an entirely different device wit its own apps and circumstances …

[Rob_van_der_Poel]

Thank you.

[Otto]

Hallo,

De Flow werken niet bij mij.
Zou dit kunnen liggen aan dat ik niet exact dezelfde bewegingsmelder heb als die van jou??
Ik heb het volgende : beweging melder van Ikea en lamp van ikea

Wat ik gaarne wil is het volgende.
De lamp gaat 10 of 15 seconden aan als ik binnen loop.
Als ik op het toilet zit dan gaat ie dus na 10 of 15 seconden uit.
Als ik weer terug loop van de toilet over de trapopgang (na 30 of 40 seconden of zoiets) moet het licht weer aanspringen voor die 10 of 15 seconden.

Nu heb ik een flow gemaakt dat de beweging melder aangaat de lamp aangaat.
En een flow als de beweging melder uitgaat de lamp ook uitgaat.
Werkt goed hoor, alleen blijft de lamp 1 a 2 munten aan. Ikk dacht dit te kunnen verkorten!?

Zou je mij kunnen helpen ermee??
b.v.d.

Hey,

The Flow doesn’t work for me.
Could this be because I don’t have the exact same motion detector as yours?
I have the following: motion detector from Ikea and lamp from Ikea

What I would like is the following.
The light comes on for 10 or 15 seconds when I walk in.
When I sit on the toilet it turns off after 10 or 15 seconds.
When I walk back from the toilet and up the stairs (after 30 or 40 seconds or something) the light has to come on again for those 10 or 15 seconds.

Now I have made a flow that the motion detector switches on and the lamp switches on.
And a flow when the motion detector goes out, the lamp also goes out.
Works well, only the lamp stays on for 1 or 2 coins. I thought I could shorten this!?

Could you help me with it??
e.g.

[Blooddrunk]

Hello,
when using these three flows, but want it to be based on time and luminance level, do I have to add AND condition time and logic to all three flows or it is sufficient to add it only in to the first one?
Thanks in advance.