Create "Away" and "At Home" Modes

I have a very simple requirement. When we are at home, I want to put Indigo into an "At-Home" mode such that all light timer automation functions OFF and no lights are going on and off automatically. I would still be able to manually activate scenes with a scene controller.

When we are going out at night or are away on vacation, I want to push an [Insteon>] switch by the front door that will put the system into an "Away" mode where the lights will now automatically go on and off for a “lived-in” look. Ideally, the switch would be like a security panel and show if the lighting is in Away or At-Home mode. Otherwise, the user would push the button and have no feedback the unit is in Away mode.

BTW, I accomplish this VERY crudely today with my X10 switches and a plug-in filter on a desktop X10 controller. I unplug the filter when I want lights going on and off automatically. I plug the filter in when we return home. Crude and kludgy, but it works.

Also, how do you make Indigo season- and Daylight Savings Time-aware? I want my programs to automatically adjust light "on" times for actual length of daylight. Or would I use an Insteon photocell to detect actual daylight and prevent any activation until between dusk and dawn? There used to be an X10 photocell accessory, but it was discontinued several years ago.

Thanks
Steve

[jay (support)]

Also, how do you make Indigo season- and Daylight Savings Time-aware? I want my programs to automatically adjust light "on" times for actual length of daylight. Or would I use an Insteon photocell to detect actual daylight and prevent any activation until between dusk and dawn? There used to be an X10 photocell accessory, but it was discontinued several years ago.

I gave you a quick answer to the first question via email, so I'll just address the second. Everyone else please feel free to chime in on both.

Indigo uses the Mac's built-in clock for all scheduling. Which means that DST is automatically taken into account when running schedules. You can also have schedules that run at sunrise and sunset (and plus/minus of those events) - those times are calculated based on the location you have set for your Mac - or you can enter your longitude/latitude for more precise calculations. It's also reflected in Indigo via the built-in isDaylight variable (and the built-in "Is daylight" and "Is dark" conditions in the condition editor).

There was just another thread updated today that talks about the INSTEON Motion Sensor's built-in dusk detection. I personally don't use it but apparently it does work - the MS will send a message when the daylight/dusk threshold is detected and you can then use that to trigger other events.

I believe there was also some other script posted that did even more specific calculations about sunrise/sunset but I don't recall where that was. Again, lots of options.