I just created a flow, but it’s not working exactly as I want. Here’s the idea: when the garage door opens at night, the light should turn on and stay on for 5 minutes after the garage door closes.
The smart devices I’m using are:
Meross smart garage door (HomeKit version)
Generic Matter smart plug
Non-smart LED strip connected to the plug
The flow is working fine so far, but the problem is that the light turns off immediately when the door closes, leaving me in the dark.
Does anyone know how I can make the light stay on for 5 minutes after the door closes? Could you suggest a card or prompt to add a delay to the light?
Instead of using an internal delay flow card, I recommend using a timer app.
The advantage of timer apps is that it’s possible to stop the timer, e.g. if the garage door is opened again within the 5-minute delay. This is not possible with the internal delay card!
Example (internal delay card):
Garage door is opened → light is switched on
Garage door is closed → 5-minute delay is started
4 minutes later, the garage door is opened again → the light will be switched off after 1 minute, even though the garage door is open
I also included Wim’s suggestion that the light should only be switched on when it is dark.
To do this, I used the internal “Date & Time” flow cards, which refer to sunrise and sunset. Of course, you can also use a light sensor as a reference.
You don’t necessarily have to use the Chronograph app, it should also be possible with other apps, such as the CountDown or FlowBits app.
