Adaptive Lighting Conflicts and Fixes

Resolve Adaptive Lighting conflicts with your automations. Learn why Adaptive Lighting overrides your light controls and how to fix Node-RED and YAML automation conflicts.

Adaptive-Lighting Automations Lighting Home-Assistant Troubleshooting

Adaptive Lighting Conflicts and Fixes

Adaptive Lighting keeps changing your lights back after you set them? This is one of the most frustrating issues for Home Assistant users, especially with Node-RED automations. Here’s how to fix it.

Understanding the Conflict

Adaptive Lighting is designed to adapt lights only when specific parameters are NOT provided. When you explicitly set brightness or color temperature, AL should respect those settings. However, timing issues and configuration conflicts can cause AL to override your commands.

Solution 1: Use Bare Turn-On Commands

The simplest fix is to remove explicit parameters from your automation when you want AL to work its magic:

Node-RED Example: Instead of:

{
  "entity_id": "light.living_room",
  "brightness": 255,
  "color_temp": 153
}

Use:

{
  "entity_id": "light.living_room"
}

This tells AL to handle the brightness and color temperature.

Solution 2: Configure Adaptive Lighting Settings

Key Setting: “Adapt only on bare turn on”

Go to Settings > Devices & Services
Find your Adaptive Lighting integration
Configure the “Adapt only on bare turn on” option

This setting tells AL to only adapt when lights are turned on without specific parameters.

Solution 3: Temporarily Disable AL

For critical automations where you need precise control:

# In your automation
service: adaptive_lighting.set_manual_control
target:
  entity_id: adaptive_lighting.living_room
data:
  manual_control: true

Then re-enable it later:

service: adaptive_lighting.set_manual_control
target:
  entity_id: adaptive_lighting.living_room
data:
  manual_control: false

Solution 4: Use Service Calls with Delays

If you need both specific settings AND AL adaptation:

sequence:
  - service: light.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: light.living_room
    data:
      brightness: 255
      color_temp_kelvin: 2000
  - delay:
      seconds: 5
  - service: adaptive_lighting.set_manual_control
    target:
      entity_id: adaptive_lighting.living_room
    data:
      manual_control: false

Troubleshooting

Test in Developer Tools

Always try the service call manually first:

Go to Developer Tools > Actions
Select light.turn_on or adaptive_lighting.set_manual_control
Test with your specific light entity
Check the response and light behavior

Check Timing Issues

If commands still get overridden:

Add delays between commands (see Solution 4)
Use automation modes to prevent conflicts
Check for multiple automations targeting the same lights

Review Configuration

Double-check these AL settings:

Adapt only on bare turn on (most important)
Sleep mode settings
Manual control behavior
Transition settings

Best Practices

Automation Design

Use meaningful names for your AL instances
Document your automation logic with comments
Test changes in a development environment first
Consider creating separate AL instances for different room types

Node-RED Specific Tips

Use the switch node to route between AL and manual control
Implement delay nodes when needed
Use debug nodes to track what’s being sent

YAML Automation Tips

Use mode: single to prevent overlapping runs
Add conditions to check current light state
Use templates for dynamic brightness/color decisions

Common Scenarios

Movie Time Scene

script:
  movie_time:
    alias: "Movie Time"
    sequence:
      - service: adaptive_lighting.set_manual_control
        target:
          entity_id: adaptive_lighting.living_room
        data:
          manual_control: true
      - service: light.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: light.living_room
        data:
          brightness: 20
          color_temp_kelvin: 2000

Morning Wake-up

automation:
  - alias: "Morning Wake-up with AL"
    trigger:
      - platform: time
        at: "06:30:00"
    action:
      - service: light.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: light.bedroom