Starting with Homey - smart bulbs (Philips HUE)+light switch+fibaro dimmer?

Questions & Help
1

Hey there,
I’m doing some research on implementing a smart (domotica) system for my new house, and homey seems to be the holy grail for me. But i do not really seem to get a grip on how to get a good basic lighting system. So i want to get clear if what i designed will work.

Who will use it?
My girlfriend is willing to implement some domotica, especially light bundling seems to be something she is looking forward to. But we want to be able to use our wall switches just like we do now. This is foremost for the guests, like sleepovers/parents/family that just come around often.

What do i want to automate?
I am looking at smart systems for some while now, and i would like to experiment a bit more getting the domotica integrated all over the place in the coming years (i bet i’m not the only one on this forum)

For now i got some points i want to embed in the system myself:

  • Switch my lights on/off with the corresponding (original) physical switch.

  • Dim my lights with a separate remote or phone, but forcing the physical switches at a set brightness level
    (so you dont have to turn up the brightness in the morning).

  • OPTIONAL replacement momentary switch (lets call this separate one the ALL-ON SWITCH) on the wall.

  • Connect my sonos system with the living room switch (all-on switch), so that if the lights in the living room come on at initial entrance, my sonos starts playing.

  • Getting RGBW bulbs integrated would be a bonus (setting color scenes via voice/app would be fine, no physical switch needed)

So basically, i want to do a philips hue/ innr smart led system integrated with physical wall switches.

The benefits of Homey’s flows, as far as i understand from all the apps and devices that i found already, are nice to experiment with, but this will be my basic setup. In the end i guess if i get working around the flows with presence/logic flows i can automate most of the physical switch needs.

For instance, i guess i can get my sonos beam to notice it is streaming directly from television, thus making it dim the lights to a nice background lighting etc. not to mention presence and stuff.

What is the situation:
image
So here we got a quick drawing of the living room, bit out of proportions, but it does the trick.

L1 has 2 single switches, S1 and S1*
L2-3 have a double switch in S2-3
The kitchen spots don’t have a physical wall switch, they will be plugged in a wall box in series.

So whats the plan?
Well, finally my problem. I have seen multiple setups the past weeks on youtube, forums, webshops and overall googling, regarding Philips HUE / INNR / IKEA bulbs, smart plugs and fibaro dimmers/switches.

If i’m correct all these smart bulbs have one problem. they dont work with my system. They cant be switched on/off with the light switch, because that would exclude any kind of automation until the power is back on there, and they would return to 100% white if the power has been disconnected (not at the certain brightness i want to set myself)

And besides the problem with the continuous power, i would never be able to trigger other commands with my light switches, like the sonos connection i sketched before.

So i came across a couple of bits of a conversation, of people using fibaro dimmers in combination with philips hue lights. But it just does not make sense to me. Why use a smart bulb, if you have a smart switch? The HUE color bulbs i would understand, just for the sake of the RGB functionality, but if it is just for dimming, why would i use the HUE white lamps instead of a dumb dimmable philips led.

But in the end, for the sake of options, i want to do it good the first time, so i started my shopping list with full PHILIPS HUE lights.

My shopping list (so far):
L1: HUE Color and white
S1: Fibaro dimmer 2 (i would like to make this the ALL-ON switch, so with a double tap=all lights on function maybe)
S1*: this one would be connected with the (ALL-ON SWITCH as input 2 if i’m correct.)

L2: Philips Hue Color and white
L3: Philips Hue Color and white
S2-3: Fibaro double switch 2 (this wont use the dimming part, because that would be in the lamp itself, and i cant fit 2 dimmers in the box i guess.)

the Kitchen lights would be connected with a Fibaro double switch, or a Fibaro wall plug if i’m correct.

Does this do the trick?
Well, sorry for the long post. If you made it this far, thanks in advance. I hope someone can help me with the question if this will do for my basic setup. I think that with this physical connection, i will be able to toggle the lights even when homey is offline somehow. But i wonder if all functions (RGB/SONOS/ALL-ON switch would work if set up like this.

HELP?

3

My girlfriend asked me the same. When we got our new kitchen she asked me if there where any bulbs that can dim and change colour with smartphone and with a wall switch.

This is what I have done (and she loves is :smile:) :

  • I replaced all my spot lights (normal GU10 sockets) with the Milight Dual White bulbs, they exist in RGB also but my girlfriend didn’t want the colours but just white light for cleaning or warm light for dinner
  • I’ve removed the original wall switch and replaced it with the Milight Dual White RF Touch Dimmer (230V), it also exists with batteries but because i had power from my wall switch i took it from there. It has 4 zones so I’ve installed my spot lights in that way that she can choose to light them all up or just a few spots.
  • The wires from the original wall switch i connected directly to the Dual White bulbs so they always have power and also connected them to the new wall switch from Milight.
  • I ordered a Milight iBox so I could use it with the app and with Homey

The sweetest thing is I can use it in combination with Homey and my girlfriend can just use everything with the wall switch like in the “old days” :slight_smile:

In Homey you can use it for example as: if that light bulb is set to on (with wall switch or remote or phone or…) than set my sonos playlist on diner and so on…

And the fact is that when Homey for some reason is not working the wall switch always works because it goes directly to the bulbs so no worries about that

PS. I don’t have any stocks or influence on the Milight company but it’s just a great product :blush:

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4

Its a long post, but the short answer to your question is ‘yes but depends’.

In regards to your original requirements.

All of this, other than the RBGW is possible using the Fibaro switch/dimmer the dimmer2 can ever carry a second scene upon it so that you. can use another button to turn on/off sonos.

The interesting part is the RGB lights, there are a couple of things to know

  1. Smart globes and power surges do not mix well. (ie turn on/off)
  2. Smart globes and dimmers do no mix. (first hand experience)
  3. While you were right about smart gloes returning to 100% when turned back on - this will be fixed in the next round of firmware by phillips. ie. In the very near future phillips hue will retain its state (color/dim) when turned on/off.

What was my solution to similar problems you faced?

Fibaro Dimmers on all wall switches, and then add some lamps for Hue/color.

Smart globes are cool, they really are, but smart switches/dimmers are by far more important- for all the reasons you have identified, but don’t under-estimate Btwvince message :

The sweetest thing is I can use it in combination with Homey and my girlfriend can just use everything with the wall switch like in the “old days” :slight_smile:

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5

So these 2 reactions made me wonder. What do i actually want rgbw lights for. Do i want that for a full disco party? I probably wont use it for that. Its just for a techy gimmick accent light. So a standing lamp in every corner would be perfect for such usage.

I think ill go fibaro all the way like Jamie, with dumb lights in the ceiling and have some hue accent lights that i toggle with a little remote or button, or app ofc.

Then i can integrate the aquarium lighting/carbonizing with fibaro switches, and all will be Z wave.

Saves some money too for more domotica :):wink:

6

Hey guys,
I am in the same situation as @Ronald_N was. And I like the solution from @Jamie but I wonder - can I use different colors of the white with Fibaro dimmer? I mean to chamge from white to warm white.

Thx.

7

No, the dimmer will not work with smart globes.

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8

But you could use Philips warm white dimmable spots, they turn warmer when dimmed.

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9

Only with the ‘switch’ @Jo_San - the smart dimmers will not work with any smart globes, it has to do with the way that smart globes require a constant voltage where has dimmers change the voltage to alter the amount of light in the (dimable) globe.

10

@Jamie, the spots I mean are no smart globes, just dumb ones that get a warmer color when dimming. I believe they are called “Warm Glow”.

11

Interesting, I hadnt heard of them for others here it is :pirate_flag:

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Not all LEDs dim the same. Look for Philips LED bulbs with a warm glow dimming effect. They dim just like traditional incandescent bulbs by getting warmer in tone as the light gets dim. Other LED bulbs simply get less bright, without the cozy glow.