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Download a PDF of the SimplySNAP User Guide

Adding Sensors

Sensors contribute to the "intelligence" of your lighting system. With sensors in place your system will be able to respond to events such as a person entering or leaving the area. Switches are a type of sensor that provides a manual way to activate lights without needing to log in to the SimplySNAP interface.

To add a new sensor:

  1. In the navigation menu, click the Lights and Sensors menu item in the Devices sub-menu.
  2. Click the + Add Sensor button near the top of the page.
  3. Using the provided fields, enter the desired name for the sensor or switch, the SNAP Address for the controller the sensor is attached to, and the controller type. You'll also need to select a sensor type from the Sensor Type drop-down list.
  4. In the Zone field, enter the Zone the sensor will affect.

NOTE: A zone can only have one photocell sensor.

  1. Steps 2 - 4 are required as a minimum. Other information may be entered as desired including a description and location. The Threshold High and Threshold Low fields are used to fine tune the sensitivity of attached sensors, but only for cases of weak sensor response. Most sensors work fine with default settings.
  2. Click the Save Changes button to save, or the Cancel button to exit without saving changes.

At this point you'll need to configure how the sensor will control your lighting. A sensor can control lights at the zone or scene level.

To use a sensor for control via Scenes:

  1. Click the Scenes menu item in the navigation menu.
  2. Create a new scene, or edit an existing scene.
  3. Click the Add Behavior button .
  4. Click the Behavior Typedrop-down and configure the criteria for your sensor.
  5. Select the applicable Zones .
  6. Click the Create Scene button to save a new scene or Save Scene to save an existing scene, or the Cancel button to exit without saving changes.

The specified behaviors are:

Table 3.7: Behaviors
Name Activity
No Behavior No sensor or switch based changes will be made to the zone.
On When the On behavior is triggered, the zone is switched on with all lights at 100% brightness.
Off When the Off behavior is triggered, all lights within the zone are turned off.
Dimmer When the dimmer behavior is set, the lights are always on at a specified brightness level.
Occupancy-only In an occupancy only scenario, the lights within a configured zone are brought up to a defined brightness when an occupancy sensor detects motion. When motion is no longer detected after a user defined time, the zone is transitioned to a second brightness level and a new vacancy count is started. If no motion is detected after a second user defined time, the zone is transitioned to a 3rd state. For example, lets say a zone is configured with the default dimming and timeout periods for occupancy. The lights would stay illuminated at 80% as long as motion is detected. When the motion sensor switches to vacancy, the first timeout period begins. 30 minutes later, the lights would dim to 50% brightness. If another 15 minutes passes with no motion, then the lights would turn off.
Photocell-only When the photocell-only behavior is selected, the lights will be transitioned to a preset brightness when darkness is detected by the corresponding photocell. When daylight is detected, the lights will turn off.
Switch-only Just like the light switches you grew up with, the lights are turned on when the On button is pushed, and they're turned off when the Off button is pushed.
Switch and Occupancy This behavior is like the preceding switch, photocell and occupancy behavior, but both the switch and occupancy sensor can control the lights. This is useful in areas that receive some natural light, but more light is needed.
Switch and Vacancy Lights are activated via switch only. When motion is no longer detected in the area a countdown will start. When the countdown reaches zero, the lights will turn off. Further movement in the area will not trigger the lights nor reset the timer.
Switch Control with Blink Warning This is essentially a light with a timer. When a switch is pressed, the zone will be brought up to a specified level for a user configured amount of time. When the timer expires, the lights will blink to alert occupants and then begin a user defined countdown. When the timer reaches zero without a new button push, the lights will be turned off.
Photocell and Occupancy Lights within the Zone are switched off during the day. At night, the lights will be switched on when motion is detected. When motion is no longer detected, the lights will be transitioned as described under "Occupancy-only" control.
Photocell and Switch This behavior is much like the switch-only behavior, but the lights can only be switched on at night.
Switch, Photocell and Occupancy This is one of the most energy efficient settings. Lights will be switched off during the day. During the night, the lights will switch on when motion is detected, and step down like the occupancy-only scenario above when motion is no longer detected. Additionally, the lights can be manually brought up to a specified brightness level through the use of a SimplySNAP enabled switch.
Switch, Photocell, and Vacancy Lights are activated via a switch. When motion is no longer detected in the area, a countdown will start. When the countdown reaches zero, the lights will turn off. Further movement in the area will not trigger the lights nor reset the timer. Lights will not activate if daylight conditions are in effect.