Ok, so here is a use case that I am probably not alone with needing a solution to, so I thought I would post it here and maybe this can something we work on together.
The biggest problem with the Hue lighting system when it comes to integration is dealing with the switch problem. The hue taps are 'ok' but not great and using a traditional switch causes the problem of actually turning off the hue bulb power source. Blah blah, I'm sure you guys get this.
SO..what I'm doing and I'm sure others will be doing too, is using a connected dimmer switch that reports back to HomeSeer it's current state. I'm not connecting the switch to the actual load, just using it as a controller that everyone is comfortable with.
Here is what needs to be done (it can be accomplished several ways, but W.Vuyk might want to consider making this capability part of his best of class plugin due to the amount of people that would benefit). Associating a Hue Group with another HomeSeer device, so that when the other device turns on/off so does the group AND (here's the kicker) support for dim levels. If the other device dims to 50%, then drop the brightness of the group to 50%. Strictly talking about brightness here. One can use other methods if saturation or color level changes are required.
What you end up with is a switch that actually controls a group of hue lights as though they were connected, dimming too. This is such a cool option and fixes such a common problem with the Hue system that I thought it may be better suited for being part of the plug-in verses an add-on script.
Summary: add the ability to associate a hue group to another automated switch (zwave, radiora, leviton, etc) so that on/off/dim is matched by the group.
Thoughts?
The biggest problem with the Hue lighting system when it comes to integration is dealing with the switch problem. The hue taps are 'ok' but not great and using a traditional switch causes the problem of actually turning off the hue bulb power source. Blah blah, I'm sure you guys get this.
SO..what I'm doing and I'm sure others will be doing too, is using a connected dimmer switch that reports back to HomeSeer it's current state. I'm not connecting the switch to the actual load, just using it as a controller that everyone is comfortable with.
Here is what needs to be done (it can be accomplished several ways, but W.Vuyk might want to consider making this capability part of his best of class plugin due to the amount of people that would benefit). Associating a Hue Group with another HomeSeer device, so that when the other device turns on/off so does the group AND (here's the kicker) support for dim levels. If the other device dims to 50%, then drop the brightness of the group to 50%. Strictly talking about brightness here. One can use other methods if saturation or color level changes are required.
What you end up with is a switch that actually controls a group of hue lights as though they were connected, dimming too. This is such a cool option and fixes such a common problem with the Hue system that I thought it may be better suited for being part of the plug-in verses an add-on script.
Summary: add the ability to associate a hue group to another automated switch (zwave, radiora, leviton, etc) so that on/off/dim is matched by the group.
Thoughts?
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