Philips Dynalite


Philips Dynalite support is integrated into Home Assistant as a hub that can drive the light, switch, and cover platforms.

There is currently support for the following device types within Home Assistant:

  • Lights
  • Switches
  • Covers

A Philips Dynalite hub connects to the Dynet network, which is composed of areas, channels, and preset.

A Dynalite area typically (although not necessarily) defines some physical area, such as a room.

Each area can have one or more channels that correspond to the different devices they control. A channel can relate to a dimmable light, or other devices.

Additionally, each area can have one or more presets that determine the behavior of all the channels, and sometimes trigger additional actions. Typically, preset ‘1’ in an area means ‘on’, and preset ‘4’ means ‘off’. Additional presets could be used for scenes and dimming.

Configuration

Since Philips Dynalite has virtually no auto-discover capabilities, it needs to be configured via the configuration.yaml file:

# Example configuration.yaml entry
dynalite:
  bridges:
    - host: DEVICE_IP_ADDRESS

Configuration Variables

host string Required

The IP address of the bridge (e.g., 192.168.1.10).

port integer (Optional, default: 12345)

Port number of the bridge.

name string (Optional, default: dynalite)

Name for the bridge.

active boolean | string (Optional, default: false)

Actively query network. When starting, it will query all devices for their current status, and also will send queries when some changes are in progress (e.g., lights dimming or covers moving). Better experience but creates more load on the Dynalite network. Value can be on, off, our init, where init will only send queries during the initial init of Home Assistant.

polltimer float (Optional, default: 1.0)

Polling interval for devices in transition. Value in seconds. When devices are in transition (e.g., a light fading), it will ask for a new state every X seconds until it is at the target level. Only relevant when active is set to on.

autodiscover boolean (Optional, default: false)

Enable auto-discover. As Dynalite does not support native autodiscovery, this tracks events on your network, so if you turn on a light, it will be added to Home Assistant.

default map (Optional)

Global defaults for the system

fade float (Optional)

Default fade

area map Required

Definition for the various Dynalite areas.

AREA_NUMBER map Required

The Dynalite area number, 1-255.

name string Required

Name of the area.

template string

Type of template to use for the area. Supported values are: room and time_cover. They are described in detail below in the template section. If the template parameters are different than defaults, they can be overridden in this section as well.

TEMPLATE_PARAMS integer | float (Optional)

This can be any of the settings of the template. For example, for template room: room_on and room_off are possible options.

Default:

Value from template section or system defaults

fade float (Optional, default: 2.0)

Fade time for the area, in seconds.

preset map (Optional)

Specific presets for the area.

PRESET_NUMBER map Required

The Dynalite preset number in the area.

name string (Optional)

Name of the preset.

Default:

AREA_NAME Preset PRESET_NUMBER

fade float (Optional, default: 2.0)

Fade time for the preset, in seconds.

level float (Optional)

Level of the channels when the preset is selected, between 0 and 1.

nodefault boolean (Optional, default: false)

Do not use the default presets defined globally, but only the specific ones defined for this area.

channel map (Optional)

Map of the channels in this area.

CHANNEL_NUMBER map Required

The Dynalite channel number in the area, 1-255.

name string (Optional)

Name of the channel.

Default:

AREA_NAME Channel CHANNEL_NUMBER

type string

Type of entity this channel should appear as. Can be either light or if this is a device that is not a light (e.g., water heater), can be switch.

fade float (Optional, default: 2.0)

Fade time for the channel, in seconds.

preset map (Optional)

Default presets for any area without the nodefault option.

PRESET_NUMBER map Required

The Dynalite preset number in the area.

name string (Optional)

Name of the preset. When used in an area, it will be ‘AREA_NAME name’. For example, if a room’s name is ‘Kitchen’ and preset 4 is defined with the name Off, it will appear in HA as ‘Kitchen Off’.

Default:

AREA_NAME Preset PRESET_NUMBER

fade float (Optional, default: 2.0)

Fade time for the preset, in seconds.

level float (Optional)

Level of the channels when the preset is selected, between 0 and 1.

template map (Optional)

Set the default parameters for the templates.

room map (Optional)

This is used to define a room that has a preset to turn on all the channels in the area and a preset to turn off.

room_on integer (Optional, default: 1)

Preset to turn area on.

room_off integer (Optional, default: 4)

Preset to turn area off.

time_cover map (Optional)

This is used to define a cover that has 3 presets: open, close, and stop. Potentially can also use a channel that some systems (e.g., Control4) use to also send commands to open and close the cover. It uses the duration it takes to open or close to determine position. In addition, many times, these covers include tilt by opening or closing for a short time, so this can be defined as well.

open integer (Optional, default: 1)

Preset to open the cover.

close integer (Optional, default: 2)

Preset to close the cover.

stop integer (Optional, default: 4)

Preset to stop the cover.

channel_cover integer (Optional)

Channel that monitors the cover.

duration integer (Optional, default: 60)

Time in seconds it takes to open or close the cover.

tilt integer

Time in seconds it takes to open or close the cover tilt. 0 means that the cover does not support tilt.

class string

Type of cover for Home Assistant. Any of the possible cover classes (e.g. blind, garage, shutter) are possible.

Examples

# Example configuration.yaml entry specifying optional parameters
dynalite:
  bridges:
    - host: DEVICE_IP_ADDRESS
      port: 12345
      autodiscover: true
      polltimer: 1
      area:
        '1':
          name: Office
          template: room
        '2':
          name: Living Room
          template: room
          nodefault: true
          room_on: 2
          room_off: 5
          channel:
            '2': 
              name: Entrance Spot
              fade: 10.0
            '3': 
              name: Dining Table
          preset:
            '5':
              name: Blinking Lights
            '6':
              name: All Off
              fade: 3.0
        '4':
          name: Curtain
          template: time_cover
      preset:
        '1':
          name: "On"
        '4':
          name: "Off"
      template:
        room:
          room_on: 1
          room_off: 4

Initial Configuration and Discovery

Maybe the most difficult thing about a Dynalite system is finding out the areas and channel mapping. If you have them or have access to the Dynalite software and your configuration files, this could be easy, but in the likely case that your system was installed by an integrator, you will have to discover them on your own.

This is where the autodiscover option comes handy. If it is on, the component will track the Dynet network and every time a device is used, it will be added to Home Assistant. It will initially show as “Area 123 Channel 7”, but you can then add it to your configuration.yaml with the correct configuration.

For example, you would go to your kitchen light and turn it on. Now you log into Home Assistant and see what the channel was. If there was more than one discovered (e.g., someone turned off the living room lights), you can try one, turn it on and off in Home Assistant and see which light it affects.

The initial process can be a bit time consuming and tedious, but it only has to be done once. Once you are done configuring, it is better to set autodiscover to false, since there are many “fake” channels and areas that the system uses for internal communication and you do not want to have visible.

Services

Service dynalite.request_area_preset

Send a command on the Dynalite network asking an area to report its currently selected preset. Normally, channel 1 (default) is used, but in some implementation, specific areas will need other channels.

This does not return the area preset. It sends a network command asking the area to report its preset. Once it reports, that will be caught and handled by the system.

Service data attribute Optional Description
host yes Which gateway to send the command to. If not specified, sends to all configured gateways.
area no Area for the requested channel.
channel no Which channel to request.

Service dynalite.request_channel_level

Send a command on the Dynalite network asking a specific channel in an area to report its current level.

This does not return the channel level. It sends a network command asking the channel to report its level. Once it reports, that will be caught and handled by the system.

Service data attribute Optional Description
host yes Which gateway to send the command to. If not specified, sends to all configured gateways.
area no Which area to request the preset for.
channel yes Which channel to use. If not specified, uses the area configuration or system default.

Events

Event dynalite_preset

Event dynalite_preset is fired every time a preset is selected in a given Dynalite area.

Field Description
host Host IP of the Dynalite gateway
area Area number where preset was selected
preset The specific preset that was selected

Event dynalite_packet

Event dynalite_packet is fired whenever there is a packet on the Dynalite network.

Field Description
host Host IP of the Dynalite gateway
packet List of integers representing the 8-byte packet, including the checksum