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You're reading: SimplySNAP Online Help > Basic Site Configuration > Configuring Lights, Sensors, Zones, and Scenes > Adding Sensors and Switches

Adding Sensors and Switches

Sensors and switches 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 can act as a manual way to activate lights without needing to log in to the SimplySNAP interface.

To add a sensor or switch access the SimplySNAP dashboard and then click the Devices & Zones menu choice in the Left Menu Bar.

To add a new sensor or switch:

  1. Click the Add Sensor Icon near the top of the page.
  2. Enter the desired name for the sensor or switch, the SNAP Address for the lighting controller the sensor or switch is attached to, and the controller type into the provided fields. You'll also need to select a sensor type from the Sensor Type drop-down list.
  3. In the Zone field, enter the Zone that the sensor will affect.

NOTE: A zone can only have one photocell sensor.

  1. Steps 2 and 3 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.
  3. On a successful save, an orange sensor panel for the newly added sensor will appear in the content area of the dashboard.
  4. At this point you'll need to configure how the sensor will control your lighting. Click the Devices & Zones menu choice in the left menu panel, then click the gear icon for the zone where you placed your sensor.
  5. Click the Behavior drop-down and select the Behavior that corresponds to your desired control mode, then click the Save Changes button to save, or the Cancel button to exit without saving changes.

The specified behaviors are:

Table 2.2: 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 defined 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, a zone might be set to bring the lights up to 80% brightness when motion is detected. They stay illuminated as long as motion is detected. When motion hasn't been detected for five minutes, the lights will dim to 40% brightness. If another five minutes passes without motion, the lights are dimmed to off.
Photocell-only When the photocell-only behavior is selected, the lights will be transitioned to a preset brightness when night 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 can be 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 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.