Method and apparatus for a switch having a light pipe for combined LED display and light level sensing

An electrical switch comprising:

• a faceplate comprising a manually adjustable switch;
• a housing coupled to the faceplate;
• a printed circuit board (PCB) disposed within the housing;
• a microcontroller electrically coupled to the PCB and disposed within the housing;
• an occupancy sensor electrically coupled to the PCB and communicably coupled to the microcontroller;
• at least one light emitting diode (LED) electrically coupled to the PCB;
• a light sensor electrically coupled to the PCB and communicably coupled to the microcontroller;
• and
• a light pipe comprising a channel for transmitting light, wherein the light pipe is disposed about the at least one LED and the light sensor and wherein the light pipe transmits light from the at least one LED to the faceplate and receives ambient light from an external environment outside of the electrical switch and adjacent to the faceplate and transmits it to the light sensor,
• wherein prior to detecting a level of the ambient light from the external environment and when a first condition is met, the at least one LED is turned off and the at least one LED remains turned off for a period of detection of the level of the ambient light,
• wherein responsive to turning off the at least one LED, the light sensor detects the level of ambient light from the external environment via the light pipe and the level of ambient light is stored in a storage device associated with the electrical switch, and
• wherein responsive to storing the level of ambient light detected by the light sensor, the at least one LED is turned on.

A method of detecting ambient light with an electrical switch comprising the steps of:

• receiving a signal at the electrical switch to de-energize a load;
• de-energizing the load at the electrical switch;
• responsive to de-energizing the load, reducing the amount of light emitted by a light emitting diode (LED) through a light pipe at the electrical switch to a dimmed state;
• waiting a first predetermined amount of time;
• turning off the LED after the first predetermined amount of time;
• responsive to turning off the LED, detecting a level of ambient light adjacent to and external to the electrical switch with a light sensor by receiving ambient light through the light pipe, the light pipe comprising a first end, a second end, and a channel configured to transmit light between the first end and second end, wherein the LED and the light sensor are disposed in the first end of the light pipe, and wherein the LED remains turned off while the level of ambient light is detected by the light sensor;
• storing the detected level of ambient light in a storage device associated with the electrical switch;
• and
• after storing the detected level of ambient light, turning on the LED to emit the amount of light emitted prior to waiting for the first predetermined amount of time.