I recently added a new smart bulb to the landing light with the view of triggering it through motion detection. This was not a complex task as my hall light was already configured in a similar way. However after dropping off to sleep and getting up midway through the night, the brightness of the bulb certainly took me by surprise.
I was therefore left with a problem. In the evenings I wanted it bright to match my existing lights and clear for everyone going up and down the stairs. During the period 11pm to Sunrise I needed the bulb to be a fraction of the brightness. Just enough for the sleepy eyed to locate the bathroom without shocking them into being fully awake.
The solution – reduce the brightness of smart bulbs during particular time frames
What you need:
- SmartThings
- LIFX Bulb (or other SmartThings compatible bulb with dimming)
- Motion Sensor (compatible with SmartThings)
- Smart Lighting App (Available for free on SmartThings)
The process is based on setting up 3 different Smart Lighting responses during different periods of time.
As it’s currently approaching the summer period here in the UK, it doesn’t start getting dark until around 8.30pm. We’re also experiencing lighter mornings so we might not need the 3rd response.
Step 1 – Setting light to trigger on motion at full brightness before usually bed time.
Under the automation option at the bottom of the app, select the SmartApps and locate or add the app Smart Lighting. Open this up and create a ‘new lighting automation’.
The app has been well designed so it’s fairly easy to understand.
Select the following options:
Which lights do you want to control? (The light you wish to use)
What do you want to do? Turn on and set level
Dimmer Level? 100%
Select trigger? Motion
Which motion sensor? (The associated sensor)
Turn off after motion stops? Slide to active
After this number of minutes – 1
Select more options
Only during a certain time
Starting at – a specific time
Start time – 8.30pm
Ending at – a specific time
End time – 11pm
Click done
Click next
Click done
Step 2 – setting the app to reduce the brightness of smart bulbs during particular time frames
Once you go to bed and settle down, you don’t want the light to activate on full brightness. To make the bulb a different brightness during sleep periods set up a 2nd lighting automation. This time change the brightness and the time period.
Select the following options:
Which lights do you want to control? (The light you wish to use)
What do you want to do? Turn on and set level
Dimmer Level? 20% (depending how comfortable the brightness is for you)
Select trigger? Motion
Which motion sensor? (The associated sensor)
Turn off after motion stops? Slide to active
Select more options
Only during a certain time
Starting at – a specific time
Start time – 23.01pm
Ending at – a specific time
End time – 5.00am
Click done
Click next
Click done
Step 3 – Changing back to full brightness in the morning
Finally you may wish to change back to the full brightness depending on the time you wake up in the morning. To add this step create a third lighting automation with the waking up times. You may wish to set this at a lower than full brightness to adjust slowly.
Select the following options:
Which lights do you want to control? (The light you wish to use)
What do you want to do? Turn on and set level
Dimmer Level? 60% (depending how comfortable the brightness is for you)
Select trigger? Motion
Which motion sensor? (The associated sensor)
Turn off after motion stops? Slide to active
Select more options
Only during a certain time
Starting at – a specific time
Start time – 5.01am
Ending at – a specific time
End time – 7.00am
Click done
Click next
Click done
Once those options are configured, your bulb will alter it’s brightness depending on your time period settings. No more waking up to super bright motion sensors late at night.