Hi there,
Sharing a tip about my outdoor infrared warming lamp automation, something that keeps a wind-shielded terrace area warm for a number of hours, adjusting the infrared lamp based on the temperature.
Gear needed:
- Aqara hub (like Aqara M3)
- Matter-enabled outdoor plug (like Tapo P410M)
- Infraled lamp that can turn on once it’s plugged in (or plug is turned ON)
- Climate sensor with a button, installed on the terrace (like Aqara W100)
There are a few automations, some are workarounds, but overall they act as a single system to control the temperature for a set number of hours.
A. Main automation
Once a selected button on the W100 sensor is long-pressed, turn on “Automation value”, then after 3/4/6 hours, turn off “Automation value”, plus turn off the Matter plug. This acts as the timed automation that handles the rest of the system, so the heating will be auto-managed for a set number of hours.
B. Automation value
A useless, empty automation that really never runs by default, acting as a true/false value. This automation tells other automations that the infrared lamp should be on (as long as the automation is turned on), then the main automation switches this off after X hours.
C. Automation to turn on infrared lamp plug
If the temperature (from climate sensor W100) is below X °C, turn on the Matter plug where the infrared lamp is plugged into, only if “Automation value” is ON (so if the system should be heating).
D. Automation to turn off infrared lamp plug
If the temperature (from W100) is above X °C (indicating that the area has warmed up enough), turn off the Matter plug, but only if “Automation value” is ON.
These four automations working together ensure that the terrace is warmed up to a desired temperature, and the infrared lamp is not unnecessarily on if the weather is warmer. I hope this inspires some other outdoor automations!
(Aqara, please release an outdoor Matter plug and the ability to use variables in automations instead of this workaround. 
)
