Sensors and dimming lights

Discussion in 'C-Bus Wireless Hardware' started by Zorro, Jun 9, 2010.

  1. Zorro

    Zorro

    Joined:
    May 25, 2010
    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    sydney
    Hello,

    I have a number of 5753L PIR sensors that I recently installed in a home. The sensors work well and perform as I had hoped. However, I do not know how to change the settings so that the lights activated by the sensors come on at a specified level. For instance, I would like the bathroom lights to come on at, say 50%. Or I may want the same lights to come on at 30% after a certain time, like after 11pm. How would I achieve this? Do I need to compile some logic with the CTS, or is there another way. Any advice is appreciated.

    Thanks

    Alex
     
    Zorro, Jun 9, 2010
    #1
  2. Zorro

    NickD Moderator

    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2004
    Messages:
    1,420
    Likes Received:
    62
    Location:
    Adelaide
    The simplest way to do this is to use the "Logic" feature in the dimmer units.

    1) In Toolkit, create a group, say, called "Bathroom Light Level"
    2) still in Toolkit, in the UI for the dimmer that controls the bathroom light, select the Logic tab, and set one of the Logic groups to "Bathroom Light Level
    3) For the dimmer channel that controls the bathroom light, select "Min" logic
    4) Create a schedule in the colour touchscreen that changes the level of "Bathroom Light Level" according to the time of day.

    What this will do, is that the level of that channel will then take the minimum of the levels of the two groups... when the PIR is off, the light will be off. When the PIR is triggered on (100%), the dimmer will take the minimum of this, and the level of "Bathroom Light Level", so effectively, the PIR controls whether the light is on or off, and the schedule controls the level it comes on at when it's on.

    Nick
     
    NickD, Jun 9, 2010
    #2
  3. Zorro

    Zorro

    Joined:
    May 25, 2010
    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    sydney
    Thanks Nick will give this a go tonight.

    Alex
     
    Zorro, Jun 16, 2010
    #3
  4. Zorro

    ebbeckt

    Joined:
    Nov 5, 2010
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Sydney
    Zorro - a quick question. If you set this logic at the dimmer, i have found that it actually means that even on the light switch it applies the logic. In case of an emergency (for example) that would mean we have limited light in the room.
    How do I apply the logic for the PIR switch only?
    Thanks
    Tim
     
    ebbeckt, Dec 15, 2010
    #4
  5. Zorro

    Ashley W

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2004
    Messages:
    304
    Likes Received:
    3
    Location:
    Canberra
    Think you miss understand how it works. In simple terms this is what happens. You have a group (not a specific load) controlled by the PIR. This has the level set at say 30%. You then have a SEPARATE group that is controlled by the wall switch, this for example has a level of 100%. You then go to the programming of the dimmer and "assign" both groups to control the dimmer channel and tick the min logic. This then means that if the PIR and only the PIR has turned on the load, the load will go to 30%. If however the wall switch has activated it, it will go to 100%. As the groups are seperate there is no interrelationship between the two, except their effect on the load, which is what it is all about.

    So clearly in the example you give above, in an emergency the wall switch will give 'full power'
     
    Ashley W, Dec 16, 2010
    #5
  6. Zorro

    Newman

    Joined:
    Aug 3, 2004
    Messages:
    2,203
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Adelaide, South Australia
    Ashley W, what you have said is not correct. Re-read Nick's post. If you have 2 group addresses, one assigned to the dimmer channel and another assigned to a logic group, and 'Min' logic is selected, the final output of the dimmer channel will be the minimum value of the two groups. If one of those two groups is Off, then the minimum of Off and anything else is still Off.

    Zorro, if you want an easy way of having a PIR always set one level, and a switch to always set another level, you can do this by changing the programming of just the PIR. If you change the SP key microfunction on the Blocks tab from On to Recall 1, and specify a Recall 1 value of your desired level, then this level will be set whenever the PIR detects motion.

    If you want to have different things happening based on time of day, then the best way is, as Nick says, to use Min logic and run some schedules in a schedule-capable device that set the level of this group to the appropriate value at certain times of day. Even though the PIR/switch may be sending out go to 100% commands, the Min logic will make the final level the smaller of the two values between the switch/PIR and the logic group.

    ebbeckt, if you are concerned about not being able to get full brightness in an emergency this can be overcome by other means. For example, you could configure a long press on the switch to set the group address to a specific level. In logic, you could then look for this specific level and change the level of the logic group(s) to full brightness. If your emergency situation is that either the security or fire alarms have gone off, this could be configured to set a scene upon the alarm event that set all the logic groups to maximum.
     
    Newman, Dec 16, 2010
    #6
Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments (here). After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.