Bulb rules

How do I get a bulb to reset to normal brightness after motion is no longer detected or a preset time?

You can setup another rule as follows:

Trigger - Motion has cleared or been cleared for x minutes
Action
    Front Porch Bulb L, Set the Brightnes to x%
    Front Porch Bulb R, Set the Brightnes to x%

Also note: You can create a Device Group for the bulb, maybe call it Front Porch. Then you can use the group in your Actions and set things for all the bulbs in the group.

Motion cleared is not an option when using cameras as motion detectors.

So is the only way to do this with outside lights to use one of the motion sensors outside? I didn’t think they were rated for that. Under my porch I don’t think it’s a big deal, but my lights on my garage may be an issue. Rain would ruin the sensor right? And the cameras don’t support a “Motion cleared” rule.

You can’t use cam motion clear as a trigger until Wyze implements one of these two triggers:

  • Wyze Cam Motion/Person no longer detected
  • Wyze Cam Motion clear (not detected) for X minutes

You can’t use the motion clear trigger of a v1 or v2 motion sensor unless you figure out a way to shield the sensor from wet weather. And even then, they probably won’t work well for your scenario without a lot of mods, effort and frustration. v1 motion sensors are very sensitive (fixed) with long range and the PIR pattern is uniform and rectangular. v1 motion sensors are no longer sold and require a v2 cam with an installed v1 Sense Bridge. v2 motion sensors are less sensitive (adjustable) and have more of a keystone PIR pattern. v2 motion sensors require a Sense Hub which isn’t currently sold standalone (sold as part of the Home Monitoring System).

You can’t easily use preset time without Wyze implementing one of these actions:

  • Pause (wait) X seconds/minutes
  • Change Bulb brightness/color temp/color/on/off for X minutes then return to previous state

But there is a way to use time as a trigger if you have either a Wyze Plug or any type of Wyze Bulb as a sacrificial timer. It’s a convoluted process that requires 2 rules, but if you have a spare plug or bulb and care to try it let me know and I’ll mock it up for you.

I definitely have some extra bulbs and plugs (the v1 older ones). I have 110 Wyze devices currently lol. Even have an extra Sense Hub not being used since I couldn’t get extra sensors early on without buying another hub. And I have several of the v1 Bridges as well from older uses.

I only have the v2 motion detectors and sensors at this point, replaced about 20 v1’s a few months back. So I am trying a motion sensor under the porch right now, which does appear to work, although it does seem to detect motion much further away than I thought it would outside. But my garage is quite far from the porch, the downsides of a large house on several acres of land.

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Will post back after the Wyze Community Fireside event is over…

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I think the only way to do this in a way that doesn’t overly complicate things… is to use door or location triggers…

i.e. door has been closed 2 min… turn garage lights to 1% and turn off porch light.

or

“location” trigger to turn garage lights to 1% and turn off porch light after I’m 1000 ft. away…

I setup opposite routines to turn things on… Location… “person detected” triggers… or door open triggers.

Hope that helps.

-Earl

You’re going to make two rules (triggers)…

The 1st rule will use a camera’s motion detection to trigger the action of:

  • Ensuring the exterior bulb(s) is on
  • Changing brightness to 100%
  • Changing color to your preference
  • and lastly, turning an interior Plug or Bulb on to act as a timer for rule 2 (example uses a v1 Plug)

Screenshot_20211230-202445_Wyze

Because Wyze implemented “has been on/off for X time” for Plugs and Bulbs, the 2nd rule will use the interior Plug’s (or Bulb’s) on state time of 5 minutes (or your preference) to trigger the action of:

  • Returning exterior bulb’s brightness to 50% or whatever your default was
  • Returning exterior bulb’s color to your default color
  • and lastly, turning the interior Plug (or Bulb) off as a timer reset

Notes:

  • You will receive a warning when attempting to save rule 2 because the trigger and action contain the same physical device. Ignore the warning.

  • I added the optional “If Time” parameters on both rules. I used Sunset-Sunrise to ensure daytime motion detection doesn’t turn the exterior bulb on.

  • You can specify as many bulbs as desired in the 2 rules. I used only 1 exterior bulb to shorten the example.

  • You can also specify bulb group(s) in the 2 rules if you have your bulbs grouped.

  • You can use any AI detection as your trigger for Rule 1… Pet, Person, etc.

  • Although feasible, I would NOT use multiple cams to trigger the 2 rules. You may get unexpected results when 2 cams simultaneously dump the same rules at the Plug and exterior bulbs.

  • An AWS outage will result in unpredictable behavior.

  • I’m running beta firmware on my plugs and bulbs, but the ability to use this method should be available to you if you’re running production firmware as I’ve been successfully running this scenario times two for about a year.

Feel free to ask questions and if you run into problems executing either Rule, please post screenshots of your rules as pictures are easier to debug than words. :grinning:

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I run Beta on everything usually as well. 20+ years in IT so I am alright with minor problems.

I will give this all a shot tomorrow. Do you know what will happen if there is still motion detected by the camera? Will it turn the bulbs back dim/off and then back on again when it gets re-triggered, or will they somehow stay on (doesn’t appear so from the rules)?

I’m also willing to sacrifice a motion sensor under the eave of the garage roof to test weather resistance in a covered location. I have several v2 indoor cameras that have been outside for 2+ years now with no problems, I even accidentally power washed one once lol.

I have found the motion sensor on the porch to be working great, seems to have a range of about 30 feet which is plenty for the porch.

Great question! 1st occurrence of motion will execute Rule 1 which starts the timer in Rule 2. Continued motion of this 1st occurrence will not declare a 2nd motion detected event to trigger Rule 1 again. But if motion stops and then restarts, Rule 1 gets executed again even if within the 5 minute timer. But the timer also gets reset on 2nd occurrence so the light stays on for as long as motion is detected. Not sure if that made sense.

The problem with using motion detection as a trigger in this case is that ANY motion detected will be turning your lights on. Rain, snow, bugs, dew, blowing leaves, etc. I only use AI for my rules to eliminate false triggers (pet and person for my front door; person for sides; and pet, person, vehicle for the rear).

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@Seapup is 100% right on this (and very well explained).

I have a fail-safe rule for my exterior lights to turn off after X minutes. I have several fail-safe turn off rules in my house to turn lights off.

I’m a bigger fan of physical triggers (the wall switch is fantastic) though.

Good job @Seapup

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Thanks, this worked for me with my new Wyze bulb in my post lamp. I have a Wyze plug on the porch for holiday lights that will facilitate this. In addition I can plug a floor lamp into it now for extra lighting.
I do think it would have made sense to add change brightness/color for a set time parameter in rules for the Wyze bulb. It seems like a popular use case.

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