Smart lights recommendation

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Smart lights recommendation

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#1861327 9-Sep-2017 15:09

Same problem as wemo ones. Only single gang and no 2 way switching. Almost all the switches at home have one or the other so can't put smart switches in.

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#1861364 9-Sep-2017 16:53

The sooner NZ/AU get the new version the better. I'm very reluctant to get anything hard wired from AliExpress.

http://www.belkin.com/us/F7C059-Belkin/p/P-F7C059/

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irongarment

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#1872060 24-Sep-2017 14:47

jonherries: I am glad of this too. Apparently the new Ikea bulbs are compatible with the hue bridge and home kit once they have been updated. They seem pretty cheap too.

https://developers.meethue.com/content/philips-hue-and-ikea-trådfri
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/search/?k=Tradfri

Jon

First time post. Came here because I am interested in Home Automation.

I have these (Tradfri). Not too expensive in UK/Europe, and should be coming to Ikea in Oz soon. So far I am using the GU-10 spotlight bulbs. I have these set up with two remote controls. I also have the Tradfri gateway, but I haven't set it up yet as I haven't decided which HA server to go with. Probably Domoticz.

AceVPD

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#1887657 22-Oct-2017 09:21

Also been looking at the Xiaomi ecosystem as an add on to Home Assistant on a Pi for lighting and sensors.
There seem to be two versions, original and new/2017. Does anyone know if these both work with Home Assistant? Im planning on going for the new one.

Thanks!

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ARK

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#1893518 1-Nov-2017 10:52

I've a combination of Wemo light switches and Wemo light bulbs in my house. Both do what's expected of them. The light switches in particular have worked really well.

But my problem is the light switches seem to have gone EoL (can't get them). This is a problem with stuff that you install to create a modern consistent, visual look through the house - unless you do everything all at once up-front. I've only 2 light switches and wanted more, so I'm looking to replace them...

I've trialled a z-wave Aeotec nano dimmer (from Active Automation). It wasn't without it's challenges to get working but the Aeotec support was excellent and now it's working well. So well I've just ordered 2 Aeotec nano switches. These devices are nice in that they sit behind the existing normal light switch and work regardless of the physical switch state. It also matters less when they go EoL as they aren't visible, so I can mix-and-match them with other similar devices in the house. They also support 3-way switching which the Wemo light switches do not.

The other bug-bear for me is that the Wemo light bulbs (which work well and weren't expensive as they are also EoL) are useless, when the physical switch is turned off. I imagine this is the case for all smart light bulbs.

I also use Homebridge to enable Apple Homekit as we are an "Apple house" and Homekit is quite nice and simple to use. It also means that the whole household can easily control the smart home on all devices.

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#1893747 1-Nov-2017 17:34

The WEMO situation is very frustrating. They won't even respond to emails about the state of their switches. There is a new dimmer model in the US which may come this way but the lack of information about where they are heading with all this is annoying. They even sent a NZ'er a switch to review recently but then didn't respond about availability.

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ARK

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#1893753 1-Nov-2017 17:59

hairy1:
The WEMO situation is very frustrating. They won't even respond to emails about the state of their switches. There is a new dimmer model in the US which may come this way but the lack of information about where they are heading with all this is annoying. They even sent a NZ'er a switch to review recently but then didn't respond about availability.

Agreed. I think the lesson in hindsight, is not to purchase this type of equipment from a large multinational that has their fingers in so many product lines - clearly “Wemo” is just one small factor of Belkin’s business and gets little focus or customer care.

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#1893781 1-Nov-2017 19:11

I am treating both my WeMo and Hue devices as a bit of an experiment in Home automation. Trying to sort how much things will really get used.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

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#1893858 1-Nov-2017 20:48

ARK:
Agreed. I think the lesson in hindsight, is not to purchase this type of equipment from a large multinational that has their fingers in so many product lines - clearly “Wemo” is just one small factor of Belkin’s business and gets little focus or customer care.

I would actually take the opposite view that a large multinational would care about their brand, have a cohesive strategy and be able to implement it. Larger brands should be able to stay in the market longer and bring more mature products to market. Perhaps it is a case of NZ being too far from WEMO head of operations...

Loads of startups have a great idea, great product but can't ramp up the production or see the product mature and fall off the planet... Kickstarter projects for example

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amanzi

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#1893896 1-Nov-2017 21:28

Is there a good Zigbee version of the Aeotec nano dimmer? The Z-wave products are out of budget range...

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#1894014 2-Nov-2017 07:27

amanzi:
Is there a good Zigbee version of the Aeotec nano dimmer? The Z-wave products are out of budget range...

You’re right in that the price of the z-wave products are hard to stomach. While, I struggle to justify the price, when you use and get to know the Aeotec product, its evident that a lot of R&D and design went in to developing it. It has a comprehensive engineering sheet that details a myriad of functional parameters that can be programmed in to the device. And as I stated earlier, the support tech was fantastic - responsive and in really plain English!...something that is seldom forthcoming with Chinese product.
Lastly and probably most important, it’s safe and certified with built-in surge protection etc.

Sorry, not aware of an equivalent zigbee item.

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#1894016 2-Nov-2017 07:35

Also the common standard helps. I have a mix of fibaro and aeotec, and they're working interchangeably. Yes the price is high, but I'm finding them rock solid.

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#1894327 2-Nov-2017 16:20

I have a mixture of Insteon and Hue. The Insteon were not a good purchase because the international versions don't support the Amazon Echo or Google Home. That was not clear when I bought them. I ended up having to implement a Pi running OpenHAB and HABridge to emulate a Hue bridge that could send some commands to the Insteon to operate them.

I then had other problems. The sparky who installed my microswitch (basically the 240V version of this)

http://www.insteon.com/dimmer-micro-module

had some issues in that 1. little space in the switch cavity to install the switch and 2. he screwed it up.

The switch has a sensor that detects if the wall switch is on or off and sets the state appropriately so you can turn the bulbs on or off either at the wall or via a remote. He must have wired it wrong since I always had to leave the switch in an on state else the Insteon hub would not work. And now the switch appears to be faulty since it won't respond to the Insteon hub via commands but will via the remote. Not sure what the problem is here.

http://www.insteon.com/mini-remote-4-scene

Finally with two bridges (the emulated one and the real one) Google Home can only see one but the Amazon Dot can see both. That is annoying more than anything else since the Dot does work with both.

So I have given up and gone pretty much to all Hue bulbs which are expensive but at least they work. $30 retail but the last time I bought 4 NL came down to $25 each. You would think being LED bulbs with embedded electronics, Phillips could make multi-voltage units.

For appliances I might move to something like the Dlink smart plugs

https://www.dlink.com.au/home-solutions/dsp-w215-mydlink-wi-fi-smart-plug

since I have a couple and they work without a hub (WiFi) and are supported by both GH and the Dot.

Zwave looks like a good option if I want to move back to smart wall switches since, even though the switch is nearly $100, 5 Phillips Hue bulbs (I have up to 5 in some areas) is $150. I guess it becomes a cost/benefit thing. For a few bulbs, use Hue, for many use ZWave

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#1894335 2-Nov-2017 16:41

The phillips hue lights seem pretty good and they aren't a complete dumpster fire, security wise.

ARK

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#1894553 3-Nov-2017 09:27

So I installed my 2nd Aeotec device - a nano switch last night. It all went to plan and is now enrolled and working well. It's a really nice little product with it being so small and tucking in nicely behind the light switch. When programmed with the correct parameters, the Aeotec devices also provide their state to the z-wave controller, regardless of switching within the app, or via the physical switch itself. To me, this is so much more powerful than LED bulbs, as I can preserve the total functionality of the normal light switch while also have full smart capabilities at all times, as the lights are always powered.

Aeotec are due to release a very flash looking touch panel this quarter. It is designed to plug directly in to a little socket in the nano dimmer or nano switch and replace normal light switches (or fan, blinds switches etc.) to provide new modern look. It looks like you will also be able to install the touch panel as a replacement for light switches without the Aeotec smart device in behind. This being the case, it's a very nice solution as I don't necessary want to have all the lights in my house "smart" but I do want to have a consistent modern look throughout.

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