One smart home tip: start small and tune presence timeouts

My best beginner tip is to start with one reliable automation and tune the timing before adding more. With my Aqara M3 hub, Camera Hub G5 Pro and presence sensors, I’ve found that setting a sensible “no presence” delay—and keeping a manual override—prevents lights or other devices from changing state while someone is still in the room. Start small, test it for a few days, then expand once it feels dependable. StarterTips

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@mainstone Love this approach—“start small, prove it’s reliable, then expand” is exactly how you avoid smart-home fatigue.

On the presence side, your point about a sensible “no presence” delay is spot on. For example, with the Aqara Presence Sensor FP2, the Absence state typically takes 6–30 seconds of continuous detection to switch from presence to absence, so building in a buffer (or using “absence for some time”) helps prevent lights flipping off when someone is still in the room. This information comes from community discussions and user experience summaries and may vary by environment. Please verify carefully. Original post link: (not provided)

Also, if you’re using FP2 zones, the “Presence for some time(Zone)” / “Absence for some time(Zone)” triggers are a great way to “debounce” automations (e.g., only turn lights off after the room has been empty for X minutes). This information comes from community discussions and user experience summaries and may vary by environment. Please verify carefully. Original post link: (not provided)

Curious—what timeout ended up feeling “right” for you (e.g., 1–2 min vs 5–10 min), and do you tie the manual override to a button/switch scene or just a direct device toggle?