Presence Simulation

The Presence Simulation smart rule simulates someone being home by randomly turning your lights on and off. It operates during natural dark hours — from wake-up time until sunrise in the morning, and from sunset until bedtime in the evening — creating a realistic pattern of activity that deters intruders while you are away.

Getting started

Setting up Presence Simulation takes three steps:

1. Add lights — select the lights you want the simulation to control.
2. Set your daily routine — define your typical wake-up and bedtime.
3. Choose an intensity — how frequently the lights change.

Basic example

You have three lights — hallway, living room, and bedroom — and you want them to switch randomly while you are on vacation.

1. Create a new Presence Simulation smart rule.
2. In the Lights section, tap Add new device and select your three lights.
3. Leave the Your typical daily routine at the defaults: wake-up at 07:00, bedtime at 23:00.
4. Leave the Simulation intensity at the default: Medium (5-10 min).
5. Tap Save.

Your lights now switch randomly from wake-up time until sunrise and from sunset until bedtime, every day. At any given moment, one light is on and the others are off, changing every 5 to 10 minutes.

Lights

Tap Add new device to select lights you want the simulation to control. You can add any device that supports switching — standard switches, dimmers, and color lights are all compatible.

Tap a light in the list to see options: rename it, remove it from the list, or open its detail page.

For a realistic simulation, use at least two lights. With only one light configured, the simulation keeps that light on continuously during the active window — it never turns off because the smart rule always needs at least one light on. Two or more lights allow the simulation to cycle between them naturally.

Your typical daily routine

The daily routine slider defines the time window when the simulation is allowed to run. Set it to match a typical day at home — when you would normally wake up and go to bed.

The simulation does not run during the entire window. It only activates when it is dark outside:

Both times are adjustable in 15-minute increments from 00:00 to 23:45.

Sunrise and sunset times are calculated from your installation’s GPS location and adjust automatically throughout the year. On long summer evenings, the simulation may only run for a short period — or not at all — because sunset occurs close to bedtime.

Simulation intensity

The intensity controls how frequently the lights change — how long each light stays on before the simulation picks a different one.

Each time a light turns on, the exact duration is randomized within the range shown above, making the pattern unpredictable.

When Testing mode is selected, the simulation runs continuously regardless of the daily routine — it ignores sunrise, sunset, wake-up, and bedtime. This lets you verify your configuration at any time of day. The daily routine slider is disabled while Testing mode is active.

Number of turned on lights

This section appears after you add at least one light. It controls how many lights are on at the same time during simulation.

The slider lets you set a minimum and maximum number of simultaneously active lights. Each time the simulation picks new lights, it randomly chooses a count within this range.

Adding or removing lights from the list recalculates the default min/max values and resets any custom adjustments you made. If you have specific min/max preferences, set them after you have finalized your light selection.

Limiting condition

The limiting condition controls when the smart rule is allowed to run. While the daily routine defines the time window, the limiting condition gates the entire smart rule — if the condition is not met, no simulation happens at all.

When you create a new Presence Simulation smart rule, TapHome automatically looks for a Presence sensor at your location. If one is found, it is pre-configured as the limiting condition — the simulation activates only when the Presence sensor is set to “Away” (value 2).

You can change the limiting condition to any other condition type (time-based, formula-based, or switch-based), or disable it entirely if you want the simulation to run regardless of other conditions.

Examples and scenarios

Vacation mode

Goal: Simulate occupancy every evening as a general deterrent.

Configuration:

• Lights: hallway, living room, bedroom, kitchen (4 lights)
• Your typical daily routine: wake-up 06:30, bedtime 23:00
• Simulation intensity: Decent (10-20 min)
• Number of turned on lights: min 1, max 1

Behavior: Every evening, as soon as the sun sets, the simulation starts. One light turns on for 10 to 20 minutes, then a different light takes over. The pattern continues until bedtime (23:00). In the morning, the simulation resumes from 06:30 until sunrise. This window may be very short or nonexistent in summer when sunrise is early.

Active household with many lights

Goal: Simulate a busy household with multiple lights on simultaneously.

Configuration:

• Lights: 9 lights across the house
• Your typical daily routine: wake-up 06:00, bedtime 00:00 (set to 23:45 — the maximum)
• Simulation intensity: Heavy (1-2 min)
• Number of turned on lights: min 2, max 4
• Limiting condition: Presence sensor, triggers on “Away”

Behavior: When the Presence sensor is in “Away” and the sun sets, 2 to 4 lights turn on simultaneously. Every 1 to 2 minutes, the simulation shuffles which lights are on — some turn off, others turn on — keeping between 2 and 4 lit at all times. This creates the impression of a busy household with people moving through different rooms.

After reducing the maximum number of lights, there may be a brief period where more lights are on than the new maximum allows. The extra lights will turn off naturally as their current cycle ends — the simulation does not force them off mid-cycle.

How the simulation works

Active windows

The simulation uses your location’s sunrise and sunset times together with your daily routine to determine two active windows:

• Morning: wake-up time to sunrise
• Evening: sunset to bedtime

The smart rule does not control your lights outside the active windows.

Light cycling

During an active window, the simulation:

1. Picks a random number of lights (between your min and max settings).
2. Turns those lights on.
3. Assigns each a random duration based on the selected intensity.
4. When a light’s duration expires, turns it off and picks a new random light to replace it.

This creates a continuous, non-repeating pattern. The exact timing and selection are different every evening.

What happens when the simulation stops

When the active window ends (sunrise or bedtime), the simulation releases all its lights. The lights return to whatever state is determined by other active smart rules or their default settings. If no other smart rule is controlling a light, it typically turns off.

System restart

If TapHome restarts during an active window, the simulation resumes automatically. The scheduler recalculates the current time window and begins a fresh simulation cycle.

Parameter changes

Changes to the simulation settings take effect immediately when you save:

• Daily routine changes: The new wake-up and bedtime are applied right away.
• Intensity changes: The new timing range applies to the next light that is scheduled. Lights that are already turned on keep their current duration.
• Light list changes: Removed lights stop being controlled immediately. Added lights become available for the next cycle.