[FLOW] Homey LED ring: Turn off when dark

Automation:
Flows that toggle LED ring depending on light illumination in the house.

Level:
Easy. Ability to use logic variables in flows.

Needed:
Homey LED ring, a light sensor, logic variable: LED Ring/Brightness and 3 flows.

Intro:
I love using Homey LED ring as indicator.
I’ve forgotten how bright it is by itself and that it causes the arc eye just by passing by it on your way to the bathroom visit past midnight.
The flow turns off LED ring when it gets dark enough, or you turn off lights to enjoy some TV, or do whatever you do in the dark, you playboy.

Architecture:

  1. Flow (switch)

logic variable: LED Ring/Brightness is a threshold (you’ll have to find a sweet spot that works for you and your home. Experiment with different light settings and note the lux value. I use 1.85 lux on a philips hue sensor under the TV in living room)

  1. Flow (OFF)
  1. Flow (ON)

THEN:
Set the [desired] screensaver (not needed if you never change screensavers)
Set Variable LED Ring/Brightness = [desired value] (they all glow in the dark)

Explanation:
Flow one, the switch, notices the change in lighting, calling the flows two and three to turn the ring ON and OFF respectively.
Flows two and three only change the state of the ring if its not in the state in which its supposed to be.

This way, when the lux in the room drops below given threshold, the ring will automatically turn off.

End notes:
I use Philips HUE sensor, and sometimes I have to wave to it to “see” that the light level has changed. This only happens if everyone is sitting while the lights turn off.

There are few other ways of doing this that turn off screen saver instead of reduce brightness, but sometimes the turned off screensaver has a small brightness value to it, which gives a need for a bit different approach.

You can disable these flows in your ‘Away mode’ so it doesn’t run when you’re not at home, and likewise activeta upon coming back home.

An alternative way: Shut down LED ring at night?

Flow or flaw?
Would you do anything differently to optimize the flows?
Do you have a homey script that does the same, that you would share with us?

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