Insteon Bulb Manual State Override

[ticobird]

I would like to clear up my understanding of how Insteon home automation functions. Please feel free to expand your answer to cover any concept you think I may be misunderstanding.

If an Insteon bulb has been turned on or off through the Insteon Central Controller can it still be manually turned on or off using the actual lamp switch by cycling it, e.g., on - off - on?

[lilyoyo1]

If you turn your lamp off manually, you cut power to the bulb so it would turn off. Since there is no power flowing to the bulb while the switch is off, it not work again until you turn the lamp on manually.

Once power is restored, the bulb will revert to its last state. If on, it will turn on. If off When the lamp was manually turned off, it will stay off

[ticobird]

[USER="9369"]lilyoyo1[/USER]

"Once power is restored, the bulb will revert to its last state."

My question restated in all of its great complexity is; When the power path is manually restored at the lamp does the Insteon bulb remember if it was last commanded to turn off and remain off despite the existence of a restored power path (manual turn on)? After articulating my question a little better I now conclude/understand the Insteon bulb will turn on if the power path to the Insteon bulb is restored because all Insteon commands are fleeting in nature (stateless?) and need to be sent again in order for an action to occur. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[ticobird]

I have another Insteon bulb question. Can an Insteon bulb be controlled using a time function?

[stusviews]

Insteon devices use non-volatile memory. that means that the device remembers its last state. That state remains even if power is removed and subsequently restored. Only a reset will bring the device back to factory condition. The Insteon bulb has no reset button, so only software or an app can reset the bulb.

The Insteon bulb can be controlled like any other Insteon device, so yes, you can use an app to schedule turning the bulb on and/or off.

[ticobird]

Thanks for that insight stusviews. It makes sense now that I've read a cogent answer although the case of an Insteon bulb that has no reset button sure does make it a lot less useful.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I understand an Insteon controlled item can only be controlled through the Insteon app unless it has a manual button to change Insteon states which I suppose is exactly what a switch is capable of doing? This begs the question of how vulnerable is an Insteon controlled house if the Insteon controller breaks? Without getting into details I can well imagine the cussing a homeowner might go through if their Insteon controller breaks with regard to programmed behavior.

Do Insteon commands reside in the Insteon controller?

I do not like stating this but I now have reservations about implementing anything programmatically now that I understand the process. Do many new Home Automation customers go through this?

[stusviews]

Insteon controllers or, more accurately, Insteon managers are not needed at all. Insteon scenes can be created by pushing buttons on the devices themselves in a specific sequence. Once scenes are created, they reside on the devices.

Insteon managers take the tedium out of creating scenes by linking devices electronically. Insteon managers also add features such as schedules and alerts, and in the case of an ISY or software, programs. It is those added features which are not available if the managers fails. But the scenes remain intact.

[EVIL Teken]

My reply is to offer a little more technical insight about the Insteon LED bulb. The Insteon bulb has two operational states when power is applied

1. If power is lost and restored the bulb can be programmed to come full on. To date no home automation controller has been programmed to take advantage of this feature.

2. The most common operational behavior is *Last known state* as others have noted up above.

I offer this insight because there have been a few cases where people thought the bulb was defective when it wasn't. Meaning for what ever reason the bulb they received was programmed from the factory using method 1. This of course is seen where electrical power is not reliable or inconsistent and power blips are common.

Hence a person would come home to see a bulb that was off - is now on.