I’ve been diving into the world of smart home automation, and I wanted to share my experience with setting up a lighting system that’s both functional and customizable. While I’m still learning, I hope my journey can inspire or help others who are just starting out or looking to refine their setups.My goal was to create a lighting system that responds to motion, contact sensors, and voice commands, while also adjusting brightness based on the time of day. I wanted the lights to automatically dim or brighten depending on whether it’s daytime, evening, or nighttime. Additionally, I wanted the lights to adjust if the mode changes while they’re already on.To achieve this, I started by setting up Mode Manager and defined several modes: Day, Evening, Night, Party, and Away. Each mode corresponds to different brightness levels and behaviors:- Day runs from sunrise to sunset.- Evening is from sunset to 10 PM.- Night is from 10 PM to sunrise.- Away is self-explanatory, and Party overrides everything to set the brightness to daytime levels for entertaining.For the motion-triggered lights, I used the built-in Motion Lighting option since it worked well for my needs. For the contact-triggered lights (like doors or cabinets), I utilized the Rule Manager to set different brightness levels based on the active mode.The bedroom lights were a bit more complex. I created a group for the three lights and set up standalone rules for each. This allows each light to respond individually to voice commands or the dashboard while still working together as a group. I also added a Simple Automation Rule to turn on the group when needed, ensuring they all come on together at the correct brightness.While this setup worked for me, I can see how it might be overwhelming for someone just starting out. I struggled a bit with getting the rules and modes to work seamlessly, but breaking it down into smaller parts helped. I also had to experiment with different configurations to find what suited my lifestyle best.If anyone has tips or suggestions on how to improve this setup or make it more efficient, I’d love to hear them! Sharing knowledge is one of the best parts of being part of this community. Happy automating! 