8
Votes

Motion and Lights - "Off Means Off"

 
8
Votes

Motion and Lights - "Off Means Off"

Motion and Lights - "Off Means Off"
Motion and Lights - "Off Means Off"
2022-12-12 17:38:54 - last edited 2023-02-22 23:33:58
Tags: #motion
Model: ES20M  
Hardware Version: V1
Firmware Version: 1.0.8

I currently have a Group with six (soon to be eight) KL135 bulbs and two ES20M switches.
The two switches are wired for power, but are not wired to a load, as I don't want them actually removing power from the KL135 bulbs or attempting to Dim them like standard bulbs.

 

After a lot of struggling through the app UI to figure out how to get motion sensing from the Switches to turn on the Lights using a combination of Smart Control and Smart Actions, I'm finding that on-with-Motion always works, and by that I mean ALWAYS - even after I've explicitly turned the lights Off.

The use case:

- When I have turned the lights On, I want them to stay On as long as the room is occupied (Motion recently sensed at the Switch).

- After some period of time without occupancy/Motion at the Switch, the lights should turn themselves Off.

- If the room becomes occuped again, the lights should turn themselves On again.

- There are times when I want to be in the room, but do NOT want the lights On, so I turn the lights Off (using either the Switch Power button, the app, or voice control). This might be to meditate or take a nap, for example.

 

What I expect:

- The lights remain Off until I explicitly turn them On again, after which they resume using Motion to dictate their state.

 

What happens:

- After some period of time, apparently dictated by the Manual Off Buffer, if the sensor on the Switch detects any Motion, the lights turn themselves On again, disturbing my rest.

 

 

If the Manual Off Buffer feature is indeed what is breaking this use case, recommend adding an option beyond 5-60 seconds (like "Never" or an infinity symbol), that will keep the light Off indefinitely until either the user explicitly turns the Switch On again, or the next Scheduled event that sets some other state.

#1
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20 Reply
Re:Motion and Lights - "Off Means Off"
2022-12-13 22:44:45

  @Vapian,

Thanks for reaching out, we recently update our app to a new version, however we do have a guide that may help. 

 

Configuring your Motion Settings

 

There should be additional options available for your device that will help; however I will pass along the feedback that there is a need for an override of some sort that can be triggered with a Smart Action or Scene. There should be an option when configuring the triggers to set Manual Only, however, this would break the motion detection for the set time period.

#2
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Re:Motion and Lights - "Off Means Off"
2022-12-19 03:32:43

I'll second this request.  I have a KS200M in the garage.  Motion sensing works great for turning the light on/off when coming and going ordinarily, but sometimes we will be working in the garage the light will turn off because we are too far from the switch or just not moving enough for a few minutes.  An override that could be set via button press or smart action (triggered by schedule or voice/app command) would be nice.  The only real option right now is to turn off Smart Control for the switch in the Kasa app and then hopefully remember to turn it back on later. 

#3
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Re:Motion and Lights - "Off Means Off"
2022-12-22 22:01:19

  @Riley_S 

 

For what this is worth, I've tried setting things up the way I want using Home Assistant running on a RaspberryPi4, and it can't be done there, either.

 

This is not because Home Assistant is not capable, but because the only two things the API for the ES20M expose to the integration is switch On/Off and LED indicator On/Off. As a result, it's not possible for HA to listen for a change motion sensor state, or to set up automations or scenes that would enable or disable Motion sensing on the switch.

 

It's my opinion that if there is an API for a device, it should expose everything the device is capable of sending or receiving, with the possible exception of on-device automations like creating schedule details, setting up smart control, activating scenes, and the like (though available enable/disable toggles should be available). For a device like the ES20M that should include at least setting and getting:

- Power button press/release

- Power state

- Dim + and - button press/release

- Dimmer level

- Motion Sensor state change

- Motion Sensor enable/disable

- Ambient Sensor enable/disable

- Ambient light level

- Ambient Sensor enable/disable

- LED Indicator enable/disable

- Smart Control enable/disable

- Schedule enable/disable (even if it's just "All schedules enabled/disabled" rather than individual toggles for each available schedule)

 

 

If most of that were available via the API (much of which must be do-able, or the app couldn't do what it does), then advanced users could make up for almost anything they want to do that the firmware or mobile app does not provide.

#4
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Re:Motion and Lights - "Off Means Off"
2022-12-22 22:43:07

  @Vapian,

We don't actually have an open API that is accessible to home assistant. Any concerns about the features that are available for a device in HA are completely dependent on the developer of the integration. This is similar to the Reolink Integrations in Home Assistant, and how there are a few different integrations that can be used for one service. Check the documentation and github for the integration to see if there is a limitation that is preventing the use of these triggers.

 

As is, all I can recommend to our developers is to provide more access to a device's features, with more specific instructions on what may be needed, I could then pass specific requests to our team to see what the response is. I have never checked but i would also take a look at the instructions for the integration to see if it passes events that can be used, rather than creating new entities for motion or actions.

#5
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Re:Motion and Lights - "Off Means Off"
2023-01-18 05:41:05

  @Riley_S I'm looking for something similar that might also satisfy the op's requirements. I want to control of the switch is motion activated through the Kasa scene e.g. movie night. Then I can turn motion off during the movie and turn it back on after the movie, just using a scene. Since a timer would be impractical and of I have multiple switches it doesn't make sense to have to go to each one. I could even then use that scene from Google Assistant.

Thanks,

Rick

#7
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RE:Motion and Lights - "Off Means Off"
2023-01-22 22:59:35
Yes! If I want to take a nap, the only way to keep the lights off is to go to the app and disable the smart control or motion sensor. If manually turning the switch off can overide either smart control or motion sensor. Or if it can be switched off through Alexa.
#8
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RE:Motion and Lights - "Off Means Off"
2023-02-17 22:20:57
I second this request. I want the movie night scene can temporarily disable the motion sensor and resume the motion sensor when I turn off the scene.
#9
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RE:Motion and Lights - "Off Means Off"
2023-07-08 17:28:01
This would be very helpful to connect to a scene (e.g. movies) so that the lights stay off until we turn the motion sensing back on
#10
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RE:Motion and Lights - "Off Means Off"
2023-07-24 05:25:50
I also vote for this feature, if the feature is in the app, why shouldn’t it be exposed for integrations to use.
#11
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Re:Motion and Lights - "Off Means Off"
2023-07-24 17:48:32

  @Vapian

I am actually preparing a survey for our motion light switches and dimmers to see what features everyone would find the most useful and how they would like to see the Smart Actions for the device implemented. Keep an eye out for the survey's official announcement over the next few weeks.

 

Meanwhile, are there any specific features or questions that you think should be added to the survey? Currently, most questions revolve around what Smart Actions and Rules you would like to see added, and which you use most often.

#12
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