urbanmark Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 I'd like to have my shades lower/raise based on sun position (rather than using the Card Access motion/light sensor). Anyone have any ideas/suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wappinghigh Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 You have solar panels don't you? Maybe you could get a reading of UV intensity off those. Or alternatively get a UV meter integrated somehow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wappinghigh Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 When I meant UV reading off the panels I was actually meaning somehow equate the power being produced with sun "intensity"...So if power is > "x" for 20 mins, then: lower the shades. Something like that...This comes from the fact that power produced by panels is definitely related to sun position. Particularly if they are fixed on your roof. But you would need a time factor in the logic, or something like that. Otherwise there would be some days the blinds would be up, down, up, down all day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFUG Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 I just use the sensor offered by the shade maker. This and a Scheduler cover it nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanmark Posted March 18, 2012 Author Share Posted March 18, 2012 I just use the sensor offered by the shade maker. This and a Scheduler cover it nicely.That's an option I've considered. But, I would lose some other C4 programming. Specifically, I have sensors in all the windows and before a shade drops, I have C4 check to see if a window is open or closed - if a window is open, it prevents the shade from automatically dropping. If I use the sensor from the shade maker, I'll lose that integration.@wappinghigh - unfortunately, no solar panels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bk Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 program based on sunrise / sunset, that way you can follow the position of the sun year round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFUG Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 ^That feature is not too helpful in this case (only randomized time around the sunset is avail.). Shades don't need to be down at sunset. If there was a way to always subtract like 4 hours from the calculated sunset time, that would work nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bk Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 ^That feature is not too helpful in this case (only randomized time around the sunset is avail.). Shades don't need to be down at sunset. If there was a way to always subtract like 4 hours from the calculated sunset time, that would work nicely.There is in composer, this is what I was trying to suggest, an offset from sunrise or sunset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wappinghigh Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Yeh, but you don't want your shades down on an overcast day. And sometimes sun (say in Winter) is beneficial for heating. So it depends on a number of factors. That's why an actual sensor is better than a set piece of program logic based on sunrise/sunset. As a matter of interest I use a light sensor in a cbus device to dim/ramp lights in our family room. When the sun is out the lights are off. When it's not and the light level drops below a set intensity(say a cloud goes over), they slowly ramp on. That way there is always a set amount of light in the room.. So this sort of control can be done, it's just a matter of finding the correct sensor, setting it accurately and setting some safeguards in so it doesn't drive you nuts... Maybe you could sense outdoor surface temperature on the window, or wall. (rather than light). Use a thermostat with a surface temp probe. So when temp goes above "x"..(set to only occur if the sun was directly on the wall/window: and started to cause "overheating")..then lower the shades. This sort of sensing would be similar (in reverse) to say sensing a slab temperature for heating, and have a slower ramp up and be less prone to "up/down/up/down" of the shades.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bk Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Yes I am aware that ambient light levels can be used, however I was answering the question asked, not what others may want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFUG Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 ^That feature is not too helpful in this case (only randomized time around the sunset is avail.). Shades don't need to be down at sunset. If there was a way to always subtract like 4 hours from the calculated sunset time' date=' that would work nicely.[/quote']There is in composer, this is what I was trying to suggest, an offset from sunrise or sunset.Random means anytime, right? Not what I'd be using... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bk Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 An offset, eg 2 hours prior to sunrise each day or each week day if you like. Not ramdom as random would not acheive the requested result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
me23 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Yeh, but you don't want your shades down on an overcast day. And sometimes sun (say in Winter) is beneficial for heating. So it depends on a number of factors. That's why an actual sensor is better than a set piece of program logic based on sunrise/sunset. As a matter of interest I use a light sensor in a cbus device to dim/ramp lights in our family room. When the sun is out the lights are off. When it's not and the light level drops below a set intensity(say a cloud goes over), they slowly ramp on. That way there is always a set amount of light in the room.. So this sort of control can be done, it's just a matter of finding the correct sensor, setting it accurately and setting some safeguards in so it doesn't drive you nuts... Maybe you could sense outdoor surface temperature on the window, or wall. (rather than light). Use a thermostat with a surface temp probe. So when temp goes above "x"..(set to only occur if the sun was directly on the wall/window: and started to cause "overheating")..then lower the shades. This sort of sensing would be similar (in reverse) to say sensing a slab temperature for heating, and have a slower ramp up and be less prone to "up/down/up/down" of the shades..So that sensor you have is not controlled by control4? Sounds pretty cool. Where did you get the components for that?Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFUG Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Yeh, but you don't want your shades down on an overcast day. And sometimes sun (say in Winter) is beneficial for heating. So it depends on a number of factors. That's why an actual sensor is better than a set piece of program logic based on sunrise/sunset. As a matter of interest I use a light sensor in a cbus device to dim/ramp lights in our family room. When the sun is out the lights are off. When it's not and the light level drops below a set intensity(say a cloud goes over), they slowly ramp on. That way there is always a set amount of light in the room.. So this sort of control can be done, it's just a matter of finding the correct sensor, setting it accurately and setting some safeguards in so it doesn't drive you nuts... Maybe you could sense outdoor surface temperature on the window, or wall. (rather than light). Use a thermostat with a surface temp probe. So when temp goes above "x"..(set to only occur if the sun was directly on the wall/window: and started to cause "overheating")..then lower the shades. This sort of sensing would be similar (in reverse) to say sensing a slab temperature for heating, and have a slower ramp up and be less prone to "up/down/up/down" of the shades..Actually, I think this can be done with a CA Relay and external strip thermistor taped to an interior sill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenzig Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 ^That feature is not too helpful in this case (only randomized time around the sunset is avail.). Shades don't need to be down at sunset. If there was a way to always subtract like 4 hours from the calculated sunset time' date=' that would work nicely.[/quote']There is in composer, this is what I was trying to suggest, an offset from sunrise or sunset.Random means anytime, right? Not what I'd be using...Take a second look. Directly above the randomize button is the ability to define fixed offsets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoGo Delicious Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 What you need is a Photocell sensor. It measures in short it measures the ambient light coming from all sources and will Open/Close the shades based on a those factors. The amount of natural light outside, the amount of light inside and the desired amount of general light you require without using electrical light. This is called "Daylight Harvesting." As wappinghigh stated you don't want your shades down on an overcast day. And sometimes sun (say in Winter) is beneficial for heating.A Photocell sensor will help you with this. Here is an example of a Closed Loop Photocell Sensor (there are Closed Loop and Open Loop sensors), it's a Crestron product (as most of you know we are a Crestron dealer) BUT you can take a look at the specs and find something similar that will work with C4.Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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