I recently started changing out my GE switches, to red switches. It worked great, except, i created a notification that fast blinks red when one of my doors is unlocked, or my sliding glass door sensor is open. The notification starts, blinks red, but when the doors are locked or the sliding glass door is closed, the notification continues. Is there a way, or am i missing something, that will turn the notification OFF without me having to reset the switch manually?
Also, i have my switch connected to 4 HUE light bulbs. Alexa responds to the command of turn off bedroom lights (the hue grouping name), but she doesnt complete the command to turn off master bedroom (the switch name). I have to manually go into the smart things app and turn if off. I know this because i have it set to turn the LED down to 10% intensity when the switch goes off.
I have the smart things version 2 hub, and I set the notification through the newer smart things app. I have the classic, but was told that everything works with the new one, so use that one. It is set with smart lighting…and basically is When either door lock is unlocked, or the sensor is open, to turn the LED fast blink red.
I will check with the classic app and see if i can find the setting for turn off when closed.
Oh, i see. So maybe i will just start using the classic app again. I just noticed one of the options is “turn on/turn off”. Maybe that is the equivalent to the “turn off when closed” option. I am waiting for my wife to check to see if it fixed it. I should get the “youre so annoying” call any minute now.
If that doesnt work, i will follow your suit and just use the classic app and use the “turn off when closed” option. I appreciate your help.
Now if i can get the switch to respond to alexa, id be fulfilled.
Is the switch physically controlling the bulbs? i.e. are you making and breaking power to the bulbs via the switch. If so, you should be because they are smart bulbs and powered constantly. The relay should be disabled with the lights controlled via a scene. I know this isn’t your exactly, but it goes to how you’re using the voice assistant.
The switch physically controls the lights, as well as the grouping of lights. So, for example, when i say…“Alexa turn off bedroom lights”, she turns off the actual bedroom lights and the switch remains on. I have to physically turn off the switch, or go into the smart things app and turn it off.
I can only explain part of your problem. Someone who uses a dimmer with scenes is going to have to chime in here.
Your problem is that you are trying to control smart bulbs with a smart switch as if the bulbs were dumb bulbs. So you have the switch physically making and breaking the power to the smart bulbs. This is bad in and of itself as it is generally held that you shouldn’t keep turning the power to smart bulbs on and off, as it will shorten their life span. (I don’t use Hue bulbs, but that is certainly true of others.)
So what is happening when your lights are on is that you have two things to turn off, the lights and the switch. As you described, it sounds like Alexa is turning off the Hue group of lights but not the switch. So the real solution isn’t how to turn off both things at once, it’s how to reconfigure properly so that you don’t have to.
When an Inovelli is used with smart bulbs, the relay is disabled so that the bulbs are constantly powered. The scene capability is then used to affect changes the smart bulbs.
All of my scenes controlled by Inovelli’s are for things unrelated to what the switch is controlling. I’m not using dimmers to directly control smart bulbs. In your case, however, you want the smart dimmer to act like a dimmer for the Hub bulb group. Someone here has to be doing that and will hopefully pick up where I’m leaving off.
I think the rest of the answer is to create an association between the dimmer and the bulbs so that you have dimmer control of the bulbs w/o having to create a scene.
I seemed to have fixed the issue, and that was by using alexa. I created a room, with the dimmer and the lights together. When i tell alexa “turn off bedroom lights” she now shuts off the lights, as well as the actual dimmer. I can still manually control the switch myself, or i can use the ST app, but either way it all works now.
I also found out that there is no trigger to turn off the notification when you use the actual door locks. There is a trigger on the door sensor, when the door is closed to turn off the notification. I am looking into other options to trigger the notification and then turn it off when completed, or turned back to normal.
Pretty standard, i should have thought of it sooner, i just didnt think that i would have to.
This is in the NEW ST APP. Basically, you create the automation to turn on when the doors are UNLOCKED. However, you have to create a second automation, to turn OFF the notification when the doors are LOCKED. This seems to apply only for the locks though. The door sensor i have (that lets me know when the door is opened) allows you to choose in the automation to shut it off when the door is closed. So i created a separate automation, just to make it easier.
All in all, it works! Im very happy with it, and now will be replacing my entire 25 switch set up from GE/JASCO to the Inovelli Red switches
I’d recommend using smart lighting in the new app instead. Gives you local function just like an automation but has the option previously referenced (turn on as well in my example). An example:
