Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[komobu]

Hi

I am trying to set up an artificial sunrise in the morning when I wake up and also would like the lights to come on to 50% power if they are turned on after 10:pm. From reading this forum, it looks as if the lights must be set on at 1% instead of Off. Is there a way that I can get the light switch to turn the light to 1%instead of off? I am thinking of some type of condition in the interface that if it senses a light off command it overides it and sets the light at 1 or 2 percent. Any help on setting it up would be helpful.

Thanks for any help
Pat

[Walt2]

I think you need one of the "fancier" wall switches which supports "pre-set dim".  With "pre-set dim", you can go directly from 'off' to a specific dim level, without needing the blinding reference point of 100%.

Or, you could do this with 2-way lamp modules (these support "pre-set dim") and have the wall switch do nothing but trigger a macro.  These macros could be set up to do, for example, wall switch 'on' means 50% lamp if after 10 pm, or 100% of between 8pm and 9:59pm, etc, plus lamp 'off' if wall switch is turned 'off'.

[Sham]

Hi Walt,

Could you elaborate on how you can get a wall switch to run macros? 

In my head, the wall switch won't work unless hooked into the power Line, and if it is, then it controls the load its hooked into (the light).  What am I missing?  (please don't say brain cells )

Thanks in advance,
Sham

[Walt2]

There are a couple of options for the wall switch.

Get one of the wall switches which send out X10 commands.  Don't set it to the lamp module house/unit code, but instead, set it to the macro's house/unit code.  When you wire in the switch, have the load bypass the switch (always 'on').

Get one of the RF wall switches, and like above, set it to the macro's house/unit code.  Just leave the regular wall switch you already have, always set 'on'.

Or do a kluge like I did.  I wired up an old AC power adapter to an X10 Powerflash.  The wall switch turns the AC power adapter (and just the AC power adapter) 'on' and 'off'.  The AC power adapter triggers the Powerflash to send out X10 'on' and 'off' codes to the macro.

The macro, in all three cases, based on conditions like time-of-day, will send out the appropriate X10 commands to the lamp modules in the room.