Block Dimmer

With this control element a dimmer is controlled.

This control element comes in two variants, Presence operation and Standalone operation. In the Standalone variant the settings Clock, Presence are not available. See also Presence in general.

The control element is available in two different views, Block and Basic Screen. Depending on the design of the visualization, the element is shown in the following two variants:

With the setting "Switch in Basic Screen" the light can be switched on/off with a short click on the element. Otherwise the operation dialog is shown. This applies to the Basic Screen view, in the Block view a click on the switch turns it on/off and a click on the remaining area shows the dialog.

The brightness can be set continuously via the circle. A click on the center of the circle toggles between 0% and 100%, with +/- it can be adjusted by 1% each.

With the lower elements preset values can be recalled. These can also be changed. To store new values, set the corresponding value and click long on the element, after 2 seconds the value is saved.

In the title bar of the dialog the functions Time switch, Presence and Settings are accessible via the respective icons.

Time switch

With the Time switch function the lighting can be switched time-controlled. To add a new switching time, press the symbol at the bottom left, to delete switching times, click on the symbol at the bottom right.

Using the calendar icon in the switching time list, switching times can be imported from a calendar file (iCal, *.ics) - via a link (including Google Calendar, Apple iCloud, Google Drive and Dropbox), from a file or from the clipboard. One on (value 1) and one off (value 0) switching time are created per event. For details on the import see Block Time switch; where to find the calendar links in the respective services is described in the help of the Holiday time clock.

In the first row the symbols for clock type and presence are shown. On the left side the clock type is set. As type Week clock, Date and Sunrise/Sunset can be selected. On the right side it is set when the clock should be active (dark background is active).

On the right side it is set when the switching time should be active. Present, Absent and Holiday. This way it can for example be selected that a switching time is only executed when you are present, but not when Absent or on Holiday. If none of the three symbols is active, the switching time is not executed, in the overview the clock is then shown as deactivated.

Under Execute, once or always can be selected. With once, after execution the symbols Present, Absent and Holiday are deactivated again and thus the switching time is also deactivated.

If the brightness input of the function block is linked, switching times of type weekly clock offer an additional Brightness setting that determines when the switching time is executed: Always, When bright or When dark. The corresponding thresholds are defined in the settings under Brightness. Without a linked brightness input the selection is not shown and the switching time is always executed.

The configured time is the earliest possible switching moment. If the condition is already fulfilled at that time (for example it is already dark at 19:00), switching happens immediately. If it is not yet fulfilled, the switching time is queued and executed as soon as bright or dark is detected - in the example only at nightfall. The queued switching time expires after six hours; if it does not get dark by then, no switching takes place. It is also discarded as soon as another switching time of the same element is executed - the more recent switching time always takes precedence. The brightness is checked every ten seconds. If Execute: Once is set as well, the switching time is only used up after it has actually switched.

Presence

Via this dialog, different light values can be set when the Presence status changes. For example when switching from Present to Absent or Holiday, in the above example the light is switched off. When switching from Absent to Present the light is set to 100%, but only when it is dark.

For each of the three states Present, Absent and Holiday it is set via the respective symbol whether a value should be executed when switching to this state (dark background is active).

Value: Light value in percent that is set when switching to the respective state.
Execute: Defines when the value is executed: Always, If bright or If dark. This selection is only shown when the input Brightness is connected at the function block.

Tip: The setting Dark or Bright is only shown when the input Brightness is connected at the function block. The threshold for Dark/Bright is defined in the settings.

Settings

Settings are made via this dialog.

Presence simulation

The presence simulation can be used to switch the light on/off during absence to simulate that the building is inhabited and thus deter potential burglars. The light is here switched on/off randomly.

With the symbols for Present, Absent and Holiday it is set whether the simulation should be started. In the above example the right symbol Holiday has a dark background, so the simulation is started as soon as switching to Holiday.

Start / End: With Start and End the time is set during which the simulation is active.
Start only when dark: With this setting (Yes/No) the simulation only starts when darkness is also detected at the start time. For this the input Brightness must be connected at the function block. The threshold when Bright / Dark is detected is set in the Brightness section.
Count from/to: Here the number of switching operations can be set. The number is randomly varied within this range and also randomly distributed over the time from/to.
Duration from/to: Here the duration of the switching operations in minutes can be set. The duration is randomly varied within this range.

Brightness

This setting is only available when a value is connected at the input of the function block. Here two thresholds define from when on a distinction is made between Bright and Dark. This switching threshold applies to all settings on the control element in which Bright/Dark can be selected.

Threshold bright: If the measured brightness (in Lux) exceeds this value, it is considered bright.
Threshold dark: If the measured brightness falls below this value, it is considered dark.

Switch-on time / Maintenance

In the Switch-on time section it can be set after which operating time a maintenance is due. For example when the light should be checked. Once the operating time is reached, this is indicated by a yellow symbol on the control element.

Switch-on time: Shows the currently accumulated operating time in hours (not editable).
Maintenance after: Operating time in hours after which the maintenance indication is triggered.
Reset counter: With the button Reset the accumulated switch-on time is set back to 0, e.g. after maintenance has been carried out.

Configuration

First create the corresponding function block and connect the variables, right-click on the control element and select the function block to link the control element.

This control element comes in two variants, Presence operation and Standalone operation. Presence is linked with the corresponding logic block, see function block Structured Block Dimmer, Standalone without link. With Presence the variables are linked with the function block, see also Presence in general, with the Standalone variant directly with the control element. First create the corresponding function block and connect the variables, right-click on the control element and select the function block to link the control element.

Display
Display	Display Block, Basic Screen or List.
Text	Text to be shown. The size of the text is automatically scaled with the control element. Line breaks can be inserted with the special character "\n", for example "Line1\nLine2", a maximum of two lines can be specified.
Switch in Basic Screen	With this parameter the light is switched on a short click on the control element, on a long click the dialog is shown.
Scene selection	This parameter determines whether the element should be shown in the Scene group.
Telegram Limit	Limits the send rate while dragging the dimmer slider. While dragging, values are sent at most every configured number of milliseconds (0 ms … 5000 ms, step 100 ms). At 0 ms the limit is disabled and values are sent on every change as before. Switching via the +/- buttons or the centre click is not affected.
Connected variables See Block Dimmer

See also General properties of all control elements