I’ve been trying to set up my living room for the perfect movie night experience, and I thought I’d share my journey and some tips with the community.
So, here’s the deal: my TV is mounted above the fireplace, and I’ve noticed that the glare from the lights in the guestroom and kitchen really affects the viewing experience. I want the lights to automatically adjust when I turn on the TV. Specifically, I want the fan light to turn off and the kitchen lights to dim to 50%.
I did some research and found a few potential solutions. One option was using an Insteon IR receiver, but it doesn’t support any of the hubs I have. Since I already use Z-Wave locks, I was hoping to stick with Z-Wave for consistency.
Another idea was using a Wemo Insight switch with IFTTT. The plan was to have the switch detect when the TV is turned on (based on power usage) and then trigger a scene in SmartThings to adjust the lights. I’m not entirely sure if this will work, but it’s worth a try!
I also thought about leveraging my Sonos Playbar. If the Playbar detects a change in the audio source to the TV, it could trigger the scene. However, I’m not sure if this will be reliable since the Playbar usually defaults to TV mode.
If anyone has experience with similar setups or can suggest a native Z-Wave solution, I’d love to hear your thoughts! It’s been a fun challenge, and I’m excited to see how it turns out.
Cheers to the community for all the inspiration and support! 