I recently discovered a new shortcoming of the floodlight cam v1 : there is no ability to schedule between On/Off/Auto modes. Specifically, I want the following functionality:
- 30 minutes before sunset (or the corresponding time, I don’t care): switch to “Off” mode
- 11:00 pm: switch to “Auto” mode
For some context, the floodlight cam covers the front entrance to my house, which is a porch. It is the only source of light, and there are about 10 steps to get off the porch, which is very dicey in the dark. I added Christmas lights to the porch, and I don’t want the floodlight on while the Christmas lights are on. I also don’t want the Christmas lights to be lit all night, so I need the floodlight to resume “normal operations” once the Christmas lights are turned off for the night (which is Auto mode - off until motion is detected).
I have thought through several work-arounds, but nothing is quite right. Am I missing something? How is this still not possible? I have Home Assistant, Google Home, and Wyze devices (including a Wyze smart switch and an outdoor plug), and I’m open to any workarounds that you can think of.
My current workaround is better than nothing, but still annoys me. I created automations to turn the floodlight on for 3 minutes when either the front door opens (Wyze door sensor) or when a person is detected by the camera, both between 11 pm and sunrise +15 minutes. The shortcoming here is that the light will turn off after 3 minutes, even with continuous motion. It seems as if the automation will not re-trigger until it has completed (after the three minutes).
(Cue my yearly rant…)
This is another example of the Wyze team focusing on innovating the latest smart tissue box instead of just making the existing products work they way they should. I have posted several times about the shortcomings of this product in particular, and as far as I can tell, no progress has been made. Most recently, @WyzeJasonJ confirmed that there is no shortcut to place the floodlight back into auto.
I’m nearly ready to rip the whole thing out and replace it with a dumb porch light attached to a smart no-neutral switch. Right now, it seems like my headaches would be solved easiest by escaping the Wyze ecosystem.
(/rant)
ETA: I am trying to automate my way around Wyze’s shortcomings using Home Assistant. The default Wyze integration does not expose events (such as motion detection, either by the camera or the PIR sensor), nor does it expose the “Auto” mode (it only allows for continuous On/Off). Docker Wyze Bridge can supposedly detect camera events and trigger a Home Assistant automation, but I have not been able to get anything to work using this add-on. I will fool with it for a bit today, because the HA automation will re-trigger every time motion is detected, resulting in uninterrupted light until motion has been undetected for 3 minutes.