Dom ScandinaroFeb 23, 2023

Today my partner left to walk the dog while our cleaning person was here and I was at work. The automation I added a couple months ago to stop getting in trouble for leaving the lights on activated and turned all the lights off on the cleaning person while they were in our apartment by themselves. 🙈

I guess I’m going to have to add a disable switch for cases like this?

#homeassistant

Show threadJohn DetersFeb 23, 2023
@DomScandinaro I added a Boolean helper called guest_present, and a calendar tie in that matches entries with the word "guest" that triggers the Boolean. Any automation that might disrupt them checks the Boolean before running.
Show threadDom ScandinaroFeb 23, 2023
@targetdrone I think I should implement something like this. It’s just unfortunate that we will need to remember to use it. I’d probably also put it on a timer so that we just use it when leaving the guest in the house so that things still work when we leave the home with the guest.
Show threadJohn Deters
@DomScandinaro Having the housekeeper on the calendar is one fewer person impacted by the ghostly actions. You can extend that to anybody you'd schedule to come to your home, like repair people.
I also have the "guest present" toggle visible on the dashboard so I can turn it off in other situations, like when I have family or friends over and need to make a run for take-out food. (I really need a push button near the door, though.)
Feb 23, 2023 at 1:04pmMastodon for iOS
Show threadDom ScandinaroFeb 23, 2023
@targetdrone thank you for the inspiration! We have a tablet dashboard so a toggle on it combined with a button by the door combined could work. We don’t use a shared calendar currently, so I’m not sure creating one just for automations would result in any use. 🤔some combination of this will work for us.
Show threadJohn DetersFeb 23, 2023

@DomScandinaro I apologize! It's easy to forget that not everyone does everything the same way we do.

About a decade ago we replaced the calendar-stuck-to-the-fridge-with-magnets with an old iPad-stuck-to-the-fridge-with-magnets, and created a shared calendar that is the default calendar on our phones. We still use our personal calendars for private appointments that don't need to be shared. It's worked out very well for us.