Guide 20 : Circadian Lighting in Home Assistant

A Simple Guide to Healthier, Smarter Lighting

💡 What Is Circadian (Adaptive) Lighting?

Circadian lighting adjusts the color temperature and brightness of your lights throughout the day, mimicking the natural daylight cycle. This supports:

• Better sleep quality
• Improved mood and focus
• A more natural home atmosphere

Cool, bright light in the morning = wake up
Warm, dim light in the evening = wind down

🛠️ Step-by-Step: Set Up Adaptive Lighting in Home Assistant

To get circadian lighting in your smart home, we recommend using the Adaptive Lighting integration.

✅ 1. Install the Integration

• Go to HACS > Integrations
• Search for Adaptive Lighting and install it
• Restart Home Assistant if needed

✅ 2. Add an Instance per Zone

Each zone or room should have its own Adaptive Lighting instance:

• Go to Settings > Devices & Services > Integrations
• Click “Add Integration”
• Choose Adaptive Lighting
• Name it (e.g., Living Room, Bedroom)
• Select the lights to control

One instance per area keeps everything in sync and easy to manage.

⚙️ Key Configuration Tip: autoreset_control_duration

You can leave most settings default, except:

autoreset_control_duration (in seconds):

• This controls how quickly Adaptive Lighting re-takes control after you manually change a light
• We recommend setting this to 1200 seconds (20 minutes)

🔘 The 4 Switches Per Instance

Each Adaptive Lighting instance creates 4 switches in Home Assistant:

😴 Why Use Sleep Mode?

Sleep mode forces your lights into an ultra-warm, dim state — ideal for evenings and nighttime. You control it using the _sleep_mode switch, either manually or via automation.

⏰ Automating Sleep Mode (Recommended)

To enable or disable sleep mode automatically, create two automations:

Turn Sleep Mode ON at 22:00

alias: Enable sleep mode
trigger:
  - platform: time
    at: "22:00:00"
action:
  - service: switch.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: switch.adaptive_lighting_living_room_sleep_mode

Turn Sleep Mode OFF at 07:00

alias: Disable sleep mode
trigger:
  - platform: time
    at: "07:00:00"
action:
  - service: switch.turn_off
    target:
      entity_id: switch.adaptive_lighting_living_room_sleep_mode

🧼 Optional: Manual Sleep Mode via a Master Switch

You can also create a global input_boolean.sleep_mode and link it to all Adaptive Lighting sleep mode switches using automations. This allows easy manual control from a dashboard.

✅ Done!

You now have smooth, adaptive lighting that follows the sun — boosting wellness and comfort in every room.