Smart Lighting That Adapts to Seasons: Day/Night Scenes with Aqara Automation 2.0
Setup
- Hub: Aqara Hub M3
- Lamp: Aqara T1M (ceiling, RGBW + tunable white)
- Switch: Aqara H2 (single channel, logical mode)
- App: Aqara Home with Automation 2.0
The Problem
When I first set up my child’s bedroom lighting in late winter, I created six time-based scenes:
- Early Morning: 06:00–07:00
- Morning: 07:00–08:00
- Day: 08:00–16:00
- Early Evening: 16:00–18:00
- Evening: 18:00–21:00
- Night: 21:00–06:00
It worked perfectly in February. But as spring arrived, I noticed something wrong: at 16:00, the automation was switching to “Early Evening” mode — warm, dimmed light — while outside it was still bright daylight. In summer, sunset in Warsaw is around 21:00, so “Early Evening” would fire nearly 5 hours before it gets dark.
The root issue: fixed time boundaries don’t account for seasonal changes in sunrise and sunset.
The Solution: Two Parallel Scenes with Acting Time
Instead of one scene with fixed times, I created two parallel scenes using the Acting Time feature from Automation 2.0:
- “Daylight” — Acting Time: Day (active from sunrise to sunset)
- “Nightlight” — Acting Time: Night (active from sunset to sunrise)
Each scene contains its own set of time slots and lighting effects. They run in parallel but only one is ever active at any given moment — Aqara handles the switching automatically based on the sun’s position.
This approach uses the scene scheduling system described in Automation 2.0, Lesson 4 (Scene with time-based light sequences):
Automation 2.0. Lesson 4. Lighting control by time periods
Scene Structure
A parent scene “Main Light” calls one of the two child scenes depending on the time of day. This gives a single entry point — one scene to assign to a button, a voice command, or any automation trigger.
"Main Light"
├── "Daylight" (Acting Time: Day)
│ ├── Early Morning 05:00–06:45
│ ├── → Early Morning–Morning transition 06:45–07:00
│ ├── Morning 07:00–07:45
│ ├── → Morning–Day transition 07:45–08:00
│ ├── Day 08:00–15:45
│ ├── → Day–Early Evening transition 15:45–16:00
│ └── Early Evening 16:00–21:00
│
└── "Nightlight" (Acting Time: Night)
├── Early Morning 05:00–06:45
├── → Early Morning–Morning transition 06:45–07:00
├── Morning 07:00–08:00
├── Evening 16:00–20:45
├── → Evening–Night transition 20:45–21:00
└── Night 21:00–05:00
Each scene slot uses an existing lighting effect (static white with tunable color temperature, dynamic color, or transition effect). No new effects needed — just reorganized into two acting-time groups.
The gap periods (e.g. 09:00–16:00 in Nightlight) are intentional — Acting Time: Night is inactive during those hours anyway, so nothing fires.
How It Behaves Across Seasons
| Time | Month | Sun position | Active scene | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18:00 | June | Above horizon | Daylight | Early Evening  |
| 18:00 | December | Below horizon | Nightlight | Evening  |
| 17:00 | October | Above horizon | Daylight | Early Evening |
| 19:00 | October | Below horizon | Nightlight | Evening |
| 16:00 | December | Below horizon | Nightlight | Evening |
The system automatically adjusts every day without any manual changes.
Lighting Effects Used
| Scene slot | Color temp | Brightness | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early Morning | Dynamic color | — | Blue-green tones, dynamic effect |
| Morning | 4694K | 60% | Warm white, moderate |
| Day | 5000K | 100% | Neutral white, full brightness |
| Early Evening | 3164K | 45% | Warm, dimmed |
| Evening | 2777K | 30% | Amber, low |
| Night | Red | 10% | Static, minimal |
Transitions between slots are 15-minute gradual effects built as separate effect sequences inside each scene.
Key Takeaways
- Acting Time: Day / Night is the core mechanism — Aqara calculates sunrise/sunset automatically based on hub location, no manual updates needed ever
- Parent scene as a wrapper simplifies everything — one scene to assign to a button, voice command, or any trigger
- No duplicating effects — same lighting effects are reused across both scenes, just arranged differently
- The two scenes overlap in clock time but never conflict — only one Acting Time is ever active at once
Known Limitation
In Warsaw, summer civil twilight starts around 03:45. This means Acting Time: Night ends very early, and the Nightlight “Early Morning” slot (starting 05:00) has a gap. A workaround is planned — either shifting the Early Morning boundary or adding a separate condition.
If you have a similar setup or found a cleaner solution for the summer gap — would love to hear it in the comments.
Thanks for sharing!