Periodic lights (formally update lights) is an automatic light brightness and color temperature adjustment tool for AppDaemon. This code will act on a provided list of lights to keep them in sync with the current light parameters. What makes this app different from others (namely custom components Circadian Lighting, Adaptive Lighting or the built-in Flux component) is the implementation of brightness change thresholds; this allows for manual adjustment of a light outside of the threshold range that the app will then ignore until and unless the light is either manually adjusted to the current threshold range, or the light is toggled. The brightness/color temperature is calculated by determining how far from the middle point of the start and end time the current time is. All light types can be mixed (e.g. you can have a list with RGB, color temp, and brightness only lights together). There are numerous options that can be configured to suit your needs.
| Key | Required | Description | Default | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| entities | True | List of lights | None | List |
| run_every | False | Time interval in seconds to run the code, set to 0 to disable time-based updates | 180 | Seconds |
| event_subscription | False | Home-assistant event to listen for, forces lights to update, can take transition and threshold variables | None | string |
| start_time | False | Time in format 'HH:MM:SS' to start; also can be 'sunset - HH:MM:SS' | sunset | Time |
| end_time | False | Time in format 'HH:MM:SS' to start; also can be 'sunrise - HH:MM:SS' | sunrise | Time |
| start_index | False | With this option you can push the middle point left or right and increase or decrease the brightness change gradient and point of minimum brightness/temp, takes time the same was as start/end times | None | Time |
| end_index | False | Same as start index but changes the end time rather than start both can be configured to have 2 minimum brightness points | None | Time |
| brightness_threshold | False | Residual threshold between calculated brightness and current brightness if residual > threshold no change | 255 or 100 | Bit or percent |
| brightness_unit | False | percent or bit | bit | None |
| max_brightness_level | False | Max brightness level | 255 or 100 | Bit or percent |
| min_brightness_level | False | Min brightness level | 3 or 1 | Bit or percent |
| color_temp_unit | False | Kelvin or mired color temp unit | kelvin | |
| color_temp_max | False | Maximum color temp | 4000 | kelvin |
| color_temp_min | False | Min color temp | 2200 | kelvin |
| perfer_rgb | False | Prefer RGB or xy over color temperature | False | Boolean |
| disable_entity | False | List of entities that when active disable the functionality of this code. Can take a comma separated condition rather than disable condition key below (e.g. input_boolean.party_mode,on) | None | List |
| disable_condition | False | Override default condition check for disable_entity | on, True, or Home | Boolean or string in list form |
| sleep_entity | False | List of entities that track whether a 'sleep mode' has been enabled this immediatly brings lights to the lowest brightness and color temp defined. Can take a comma separated condition rather than disable condition key below (e.g. input_boolean.sleep_mode,on) | None | List |
| sleep_condition | False | Override default condition check for sleep_entity | on, True, or Home | Boolean or string in list form |
| sleep_color_temp | False | Color temperature when sleep_mode is True | None | Color temperature in mired or kelvin |
| sleep_color | False | Color in string format (e.g. 'red') | red | String |
| color_unit | False | Color unit if you intend to use XY colors (set to 'xy' if you intend to use xy color) | None | String |
| color_max | False | Color value for xy max (required if using xy colors) | None | list |
| color_min | False | Color value for xy min (required if using xy colors) | None | list |
| sleep_xy_color | False | Color value for xy sleep mode | None | list |
| transition | False | Light transition time in seconds | 5 | Seconds |
| companion_script | False | Script to execute before changing lights, useful to force Zwave lights to update state | None | |
| sensor_log | False | Creates a sensor to track the dimming percentage, mostly for diagnostic purposes, format: sensor.my_sensor | None | |
| sensor_only | False | Only creates a sensor that tracks the brightness and color temperature, will not adjust lights. | False | Boolean |
| watch_light_state | False | Whether or not to watch individual lights and adjust them when they are turned on | True | Boolean |
| keep_lights_on | False | Forces the light to turn on, in other words ignores that it is off | False | Boolean |
| start_lights_on | False | Turn on the lights at the start time | False | Boolean |
| stop_lights_off | False | Turn off the lights at the stop time | False | Boolean |
AppDaemon constraints can be used as well, see AppDaemon API Docs https://appdaemon.readthedocs.io/en/latest/APPGUIDE.html#callback-constraints
This app works by calculating the time that occurs exactly in the middle of the start_time and end_time. The current time is then compared to the middle point to determine at what point in the day the current time is relative to the middle point. This is then fit to a sin function (running from 0 to pi in the x direction). This returns a percentage, if your defined light brightness is from 0-100 then the direct reading from the sin function will be used. In practice this is calculated by:
The color temperature is calculated the same way as the brightness.
The values are updated 24 hours a day, therefore, setting the run_every variable to a very short time will not result in the lights updating faster. There are 256 brightness bit values, assuming the maximum is set to 100% brightness and the minimum is set to 0%. This means there are only 512 brightness steps that can be taken in 1 day, or in other words, about 1 every 3 minutes. Therefore, in terms of brightness, the app should be set to update about once every 3 minutes. A similar calculation can be made for color temperature, assuming the default range in mired. Using the default settings, the brightness of the lights would look like this over the course of a day:
Both brightness and color temperature are subject to the ranges provided by the user or the default values described above.
This is a fine tuning feature that allows for the lights to be dimmer or brighter close to the start or end than they otherwise would by extending the middle-point. Using these effectively creates two middle points during the start and end window. A start_index value effects the result after the middle point, an end_index effects the result before the middle-point. If the lights are watched closely one would observe the lights dim to the lowest point from the start->middlepoint1 then hold at the minimum between middlepoint1->middlepoint2; after middlepoint2 the lights will become brighter as usual.
This should be tested by setting up a sensor only configuration and observing the behavior to see if the desired result is achieved.
This is an example of the behavior of the light brighness with sunset->sunrise start and end times and the index settings below:
start_index: sunset + 02:00:00
end_index: sunrise - 02:00:00
Note the step change in brightness at the start and end times as the code switches from one mid-point to another, and the two hour minimum point in the middle of the night. The brightness step change should be accounted for in your threshold settings if you want the lights that are on to smoothly transition at that point. In the case of this example the step change is about 15%, therefore a brightness threshold above 15% should be sufficient to account for this change.
xy colors can be set in place of color temperature. This is set as a list like in the example below. Refer to the xy color chart below to choose your color range:
The sensor only option allows you to create a sensor only configuration. This will not adjust any lights and will ignore any lights defined in the app, instead it will simply create a Home Assistant sensor. This can be used to observe the app behavior, or to use the sensor data with another automation or app.
main_periodic_lights:
module: update_lights
class: update_lights
run_every: 180
event_subscription: main_update_lights
entities:
- light.back_hallway
- light.coffee_bar
- light.dans_bedside
- light.erins_bedside
- light.group_family_room
- light.guest_room
- light.kitchen2
- light.kitchen_spotlight
- light.kitchen_spotlight_left
- light.kitchen_spotlight_right
- light.living_room_dimmer
- light.living_room_lamp
- light.living_room_lamp_2
- light.main_cabinets
- light.mb_fan
brightness_threshold: 25
color_temp_max: 250
color_temp_min: 500
color_temp_unit: 'mired'
max_brightness_level: 100
min_brightness_level: 1
brightness_unit: 'percent'
sleep_entity:
- input_boolean.bedtime
- switch.dan_bedtime
- switch.erin_bedtime
red_hour: '21:00:00'
start_time: sunset - 3:00:00
end_time: sunrise + 2:00:00
start_index: '17:00:00'
end_index: '08:00:00'
transition: 5
keep_lights_on: False
stop_lights_off: True
watch_light_state: False
disable_entity:
- input_boolean.party_mode,on
- input_boolean.hold_lights,on
- input_boolean.disco,on
- sensor.arbitrary_sensor,arbitrary_condition
sensor_log: sensor.main_lights
exterior_periodic_lights:
module: update_lights
class: update_lights
run_every: 180
entities:
- light.group_backyard
- light.group_exterior_garage
min_brightness_level: 102
start_time: sunset - 0:20:00
end_time: sunrise
transition: 0
start_lights_on: True
stop_lights_off: True
xy_colors:
module: update_lights
class: update_lights
entities:
- light.living_room_lamp
- light.living_room_lamp_2
color_unit: 'xy'
color_max:
- 0.3
- 0.35
color_min:
- 0.45
- 0.45
script:
- force_light_update:
sequence:
- event: main_periodic_lights
event_data:
threshold: 255
transition: 0
sensor_only_periodic_lights:
module: update_lights
class: update_lights
run_every: 30
sensor_only: True
start_index: sunset + 02:00:00
end_index: sunrise - 02:00:00