Groups and Scenes

Groups and Scenes are two distinct ways combine devices for simplified automation.

Groups let you select a collection bulbs, dimmers and switches that you would like to control together as if they were a single device. This means they will all turn on and off, adjust levels, and change color together using a single Group Bulb Dimmer device for use with Hubitat™ Simple Lighting, Motion Lighting, Button Controller, Rule Machine^®, Hubitat™ Dashboard, or with Alexa and Google Assistant. In addition to making lighting easier to use, the Zigbee Group Messaging option allows you to group supported Zigbee lights together to eliminate the "popcorn effect" when you turn them on or adjust levels..

Scenes are used to capture a group of devices in their unique states. Once that scene is captured, Hubitat Elevation™ can activate the devices to same captured state. The scene is linked to virtual Scene Activator device that can be used with Hubitat™ Simple Lighting, Motion Lighting, Button Controller, Rule Machine^®, Hubitat™ Dashboard, or with Alexa and Google Assistant

Installing Hubitat Groups and Scenes

1. From the Hubitat Web Interface select Apps
   
2. Choose the Amazon Echo Skill from the list of Hubitat Elevation™ Built-In Apps
   

Building a Hubitat Group

1. Open the Groups and Scenes app in the Hubitat Web Interface.
   
2. Select Create New Group
   
3. Give your new group a name, then press the Tap key or click in the space at the bottom of the setup page to refresh. Your Hubitat Group name is the same name you will use to control the group with Alexa and Google Assistant, so be sure to make it easily understandable.
   
4. Use the drop-down menus to select the devices you'd like to include in your group. You can include bulbs, dimmers and switches. You will find bulbs directly connected to Hubitat Elevation™ and Hue Rooms will be in the first drop-down, Bulbs for group. Individual Hue bulbs, virtual and physical dimmers will be in the second drop-down, Dimmers for group. Virtual and physical switches will be in the last drop-down Switches for group
   
5. Use the toggle to select if you would like to Enable Zigbee group messaging. This option uses the Zigbee Multicast capability for supported devices in order to more efficiently deliver Zigbee messaging data. This can potentially reduce or eliminate the so called "popcorn effect" were lights turn on, or adjust one by one instead of simultaneously as a group. Hubitat Groups may still contain devices that do not support Zigbee group messaging when this feature is enabled, but there is a possibly that some popcorn effect may still occur.
   
6. Once your group options are selected, select Done. Your new group will now be available as a Group Bulb Dimmer device for use with Hubitat™ Simple Lighting, Motion Lighting, Button Controller, Rule Machine^®, Hubitat™ Dashboard, or with Alexa and Google Assistant

How to create and capture a Scene

Creating a scene is a multistep process. The first step is to select the device you want in your scene using the app. Next you will need to set and capture those devices. Finally you will be able to activate the scene .

Create a New Scene

1. Open the Groups and Scenes app in the Hubitat Web Interface.
2. Click Create New Scene
3. Give your new scene a name. This is the name you will use to activate the scene via your smart speaker so make it easy to understand.
4. Use the drop down menus to select the devices you'd like to include in your scene. You can include bulbs, dimmers and/or switches.
5. If you would like a button to be pressed when you activate a scene (which you can configure using the Button Controllers app or Rule Machine), select it here.
6. You have the option to add restrictions to your Scene. This limited the Scene to only being active during certain modes or conditions. Your restriction options include:

   Only between two times - Select specific times, Sunrise/Sunset, a combination.

   Only on certain days of the week - Restrict to specific days

   Only when mode is - Restrict by mode, for example Evening

   Only when illuminance is Select an illuminance sensor and light level

   Switch to disable scene Toggle Disable when off switch to on if you want the switch to disable the scene when it is in the off position.

   Ignore Off of disable switch Toggle this switch on if you do not want the scene to turn off when the activation switch is turned off. The default is that the entire scene will turn off when the switch is turned off.

   Transition Time Select a time for your scene to transition back to their normal state.

7. Once your devices and restrictions are selected, click done.

Now that your devices are selected you need to capture the state of those devices as you want them in the scene. If you go into your the Devices page in your Hubitat Web Interface, you'll notice two new devices have been added. One is the name of Scene you just created. The the other is the name of the scene you created followed by "capture." You can use this second device to capture the state of your devices to build your scene.

Capture the Scene

1. Start by adjusting all of the devices in your scene to the level you desire. Turn off the devices you want off, turn on the devices you want on, set dimmers and colors to create the perfect setting.
2. With your devices set, go to your devices list in the Hubitat Web Interface and click on the [Scene Name] Capture device you just created. When the device opens, click the on button. Your scene is now captured. To make capturing a scene easier, you can add the [Scene Name] capture device to your Hubitat™ Dashboard as a momentary button, then turn it on from the dashboard to capture the scene. You could also add it to your Alexa device list, then say Alexa, turn on [Scene Name] Capture to capture your scene.
3. You can adjust your scene capture settings at any time simply by adjusting your devices, then turning on the [Scene Name] Capture device.

Activate the Scene Once your scene has been captured,

To Activate a Scene you will use the newly create Scene device. The Scene device can be used as a button or switch in other automations, including Simple Lighting, Motion Lighting, Button Controller or Rule Machine, or it can be placed in a Dashboard. You can also activate your scene using Alexa. If the scene Switch is turned off, all of the member devices are turned off. There is an option for a Scene when activated to push a button of a button device, such as a keypad. This is useful for activating scenes (phantom buttons) in a Lutron system.