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Turning lights off automatically
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Kasper:

--- Quote from: james_s on October 26, 2022, 04:48:00 pm ---
--- Quote from: Kasper on October 26, 2022, 04:33:54 pm ---
--- Quote from: AVGresponding on October 26, 2022, 04:02:48 pm ---
[...]I find it very annoying to have to wave at the damn things every 5, 10, 15 minutes, or whatever the timer has been set at.

--- End quote ---

A contact sensor on the door and a bit of logic can help with that: room can't become vacant while door is closed.

--- End quote ---

I think you'd have trouble making that reliable. It's fairly common for somebody to open the door as they are entering/exiting and then somebody else passes the other way before it closes. There are also times when multiple people will enter a room at once and only a portion of them leave.

--- End quote ---


It's extra info into a system that suffers from lack of info.  Don't rely on it heavily and it can yield an improvement.  Don't remove the occupancy hold time, just make it longer when you think the room is occupied.

If it falsely assumes an occupied room is vacant for example when someone leaves while the remaining occupants sit still then you have the same problem and solution as before: wave your arm.

If it causes a false assumption an empty room is occupied then lights stay on a bit longer than they would have otherwise but perhaps without this system the lights would always stay on that long anyways because people get tired of waving their arms and increase the occupancy hold time.  Either way, this case should be rare with a motion sensor of decent quality. 
james_s:
I suppose it is an improvement, still I would prefer a conventional switch, or a conventional switch augmented by an occupancy sensor that turns off the light after an hour or two, or at a fixed time after the business is closed. Modern lighting uses so little power that I don't think it's worth major efforts to shut it off constantly, it would be better to teach people to turn it off when not needed, or have it shut off at night but leave it alone the rest of the time.
Kasper:
I agree for some lights, it doesn't seem worth it.  If you're using occupancy to adjust HVAC limits, then it could be worth it.  In that case the lights are a warning to the occupants: wave your arm or else the temperature is going to get slightly less comfortable in here.
MathWizard:
Yeah there should be lots of smartbulbs these days. But for older ways, there's relays and SCR/triac type stuff, which I don't have laying around.

But what about wall mounted devices, that would flick the switch, with the use of a little motor, or spring, or electromagnet to release some latch, etc. Does anyone try making something like that ? I sometimes think of trying to make such a thing, but IDK, I walk by the switches all the time anyways.

I would like to make an alarm for my stove, and my house doors too.
james_s:

--- Quote from: MathWizard on October 27, 2022, 09:32:11 pm ---Yeah there should be lots of smartbulbs these days. But for older ways, there's relays and SCR/triac type stuff, which I don't have laying around.

But what about wall mounted devices, that would flick the switch, with the use of a little motor, or spring, or electromagnet to release some latch, etc. Does anyone try making something like that ? I sometimes think of trying to make such a thing, but IDK, I walk by the switches all the time anyways.

I would like to make an alarm for my stove, and my house doors too.

--- End quote ---

I don't think I've ever seen a motorized switch like that but it would be cool.

The switches in most office buildings are spring loaded and rest in the center. You push up to turn the light on and down to turn it off. They traditionally would control latching relays that mount in a junction box for the first light on the run, I don't know if it's still done like that.
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