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Light levels
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I have done some searching on various forums and not been able to find
much on controlling light levels. There is a lot of stuff on DawnDusk
etc but I already do that. I don't know if the lack of information means
that it is very difficult to achieve but I thought I would try a few
experiments. I have been using light dependent resistors (in series with
a variable pot) connected to the analogue inputs of a Netiom-xAP. I seem
to get a very good range of readings when the pot is tuned - using
effectively the whole range of the analogue input. The readings are not
exactly linear but they do differentiate light levels quite well.
I am trying to use the light levels to alter the dimming levels via
Homeseer. First of all I created events to react to changes in light
levels but I think it works better if I just run recurrent events that
check the levels and then adjust the dimming level depending upon the
light level. The trials, so far, indicate that it should work but it
will need to be carefully tuned for levels and positioning.
The reason for this mail is to see if any one else has experimented with
this. If it works well then I will apply it to certain well-used rooms
where we want to keep the light levels fairly constant, eg the kitchen.
BTW the events only kick in when the lights are actually activated. Of
course, the idea is that other light sensors (that are not affected by
the internal lights will sense when the lights need to be activated and
occupancy sensors will determine if the lights need to be switched on. I
plan to do quite a lot of experimentation before unleashing the whole
thing on the family (otherwise it will go horribly wrong!) but I am
really interested to learn of any other experiences.
The whole thing could be extended with different scenes for room that
have more variable use although it could start to get rather
complicated!
Suggestions/thoughts/comments please.
BR
David
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<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><SPAN LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">I have done some
sear</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">c</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">hing
o</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">n</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial"></FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">various</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE=&
quot;Arial"> for</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">u</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">ms and
not been able to find much on controlling light
levels</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">.
Ther</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">e</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">
is</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">a lot</FONT>&l
t;/SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">of
stuff on DawnDusk etc but I already do
that.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> I
don</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">’</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">t know
if the lack of</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">information</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> means
that it is very difficult&l
t;/FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> to
achieve</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> but I
though</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">t</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">
I</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">would</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> try a
few experiments. I have been using light dependent
resi</FONT></SPAN&g
t;<SPAN LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">s</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">tors</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">(in series with a variable
pot)</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">connected to the analogue inputs
of a Netiom-xAP</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">. I
seem to get a very good range of readin</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">g</FONT&g
t;</SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">s when
the pot is tuned</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial"></FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">–</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> using
effectively the whole range of the analogue
input.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> The
readings are not exactly linear but they do differentiate light levels
quite well.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><SPAN LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">I am trying to use
the</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">light</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> levels
to alter the dimming levels via Hom</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">e</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">seer.
First of all I create</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">d</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SP
AN><SPAN LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial"> events to react to changes in light levels but I
think it works better if I just run recurrent events that check the levels
and then adjust the dimming level depending upon the light
level.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial"></FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">The
trials</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">,</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> so
far</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FA
CE="Arial">,</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">
indicate that it should work but</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">it will need to be carefully
tuned for levels</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">and</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">
positioning. </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><SPAN LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">The reason for this mail is to see if any one
else has experim</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">en</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">ted</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">with</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">
this</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">. If it
works well then I will apply it to certain
well</FONT></SPAN><SPAN L
ANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">-</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">used
rooms where we want to keep the light levels fairly constant, eg the
kitchen.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> BTW
the events only</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">kick</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> in
when the lights are actually activated. Of
course</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial&q
uot;>,</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> the
idea is that other light sensors (that are not affected by
the</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">internal lights will sense when
the lights need to be</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">activated</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> and
occupancy sensors will</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">determine</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG=&qu
ot;en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> if the lights
need to be switched on. I plan to do quite a lot
of</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">experimentation</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial"></FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">before</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">unleashing</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial"></FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
; <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">the whole
thing</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> on the
family (otherwise it will go horribly wrong!) but I am really interested to
learn of any other</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">experiences</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><SPAN LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">The whole thing could be extended with different
scenes for</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-gb">
<FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">room that have more variable use
although it could start to get rather
complicated!</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><SPAN LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">Suggestions/thoughts/comments
please.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><SPAN LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">BR</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><SPAN LANG="en-gb"><FONT SIZE=2
FACE="Arial">David</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
LANG="en-gb"></SPAN></P>
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