Originally posted on reddit
This is a method to unlock the full smart-home potential of your Hue Dimmer switch. Use it to control Smartthings… things, or turn on /off Hue bulbs across multiple bridges. All without limiting/changing it’s current functioning.
Why?
The Hue Dimmer switch, compared to the Smartthings button, has many more buttons to play around with (but you’ll lose the temperature sensor… if you care). The Hue dimmer, with a third party app, allows for full customization of: Press, Hold, Short Press, Long Press for each of the 4 buttons. That’s 16 triggers, compared to the Smartthings button’s 3. Not to mention; the Hue Dimmer can be set to “First press, second press, third press; etc…”.
The Hue Dimmer is overall much more capable as a switch: and it looks nicer on a wall 
Plus they’re around the same price; so, why not?
What you’ll need to unchain your Hue Dimmer:
-
A Hue bulb borrowed from a friend; or
-
A bulb that’s linked from one of your other Hue Bridges (you’re an addict, get help)
-
A third party app that allows adjusting brightness to a specific # value to the dimmer switch (HueDynamic, All4Hue, Hue Essentials; just about any app)
-
Smartthings hub; linked to your Hue bridge
-
WebCoRE
Side Note: You could just use a currently used bulb; but that would be annoying, and a waste. A phantom bulb would make everything much more practical without hindering any current configurations.
This is a method to unlock the full smart-home potential of your Hue Dimmer switch. Use it to control Smartthings… things, or turn on /off Hue bulbs across multiple bridges. All without limiting/changing it’s current functioning.
Why?
The Hue Dimmer switch, compared to the Smartthings button, has many more buttons to play around with (but you’ll lose the temperature sensor… if you care). The Hue dimmer, with a third party app, allows for full customization of: Press, Hold, Short Press, Long Press for each of the 4 buttons. That’s 16 triggers, compared to the Smartthings button’s 3. Not to mention; the Hue Dimmer can be set to “First press, second press, third press; etc…”.
The Hue Dimmer is overall much more capable as a switch: and it looks nicer on a wall Plus they’re around the same price; so, why not?
What you’ll need to unchain your Hue Dimmer:
-
A Hue bulb borrowed from a friend; or
-
A bulb that’s linked from one of your other Hue Bridges (you’re an addict, get help)
-
A third party app that allows adjusting brightness to a specific # value to the dimmer switch (HueDynamic, All4Hue, Hue Essentials; just about any app)
-
Smartthings hub; linked to your Hue bridge
-
WebCoRE
Side Note: You could just use a currently used bulb; but that would be annoying, and a waste. A phantom bulb would make everything much more practical without hindering any current configurations.
Stage 1: Creating a Phantom Bulb
Step 1: Pair your borrowed bulb to your main hue bridge; or, in my case: I swapped two bulbs from two separate Bridges (I’m an addict), then paired the bulbs with the opposite Bridges.
Step 2: Rename the bulb to “Phantom bulb” (It doesn’t have to be called this; but yes, it does).
Step 3: Now pair the bulb(s) back to the original bridge(s) again. All the settings; the bulb’s original name, assigned room, and dimmer buttons, will be restored to normal.
Stage 2: Program your Phantom Bulb into a Hue Third-Party App
Step 1: Open your app and find where you’re able to program your devices (I’ve been saying Hue Dimmer this whole time; but it just dawned on me that you can do this with any device)
Step 2: Program your Dimmer switch (or whatever) to any set # brightness value for any button in whatever variation you choose. Keep these #'s in mind for later when you’re using webCoRE.
Example:
-
Press ON = 100% brightness
-
Press DIM UP = 75% brightness
-
Press DIM DOWN = 74% brightness
-
Press OFF = 1% brightness
I only used 4 settings in this example for simplicity’s sake, but as mentioned earlier; you could set up literally any of the app’s dimmer customization potential (short press, hold, long press, first press, sixteenth press; whatever). And it doesn’t matter if the brightness settings are close together (ie. 74%, 75%) . Any number value from 1 to 100 will do.
Stage 3: Set up webCoRE
Step 1: Okay; you’re already ahead of me and know exactly how to use webCoRE. Cool. Good.
Step 0: Oh? You have no idea how to use webCoRE??
What the hell is webCoRE anyway??
Honestly, I’m not entirely sure. I found out about it yesterday. As of writing this tutorial, I’m totally new to webCoRE. I’m not even the type of guy to write tutorials (how am I doing??).
To get your hands into webCoRE, Just follow these steps. It’s time consuming; but, really easy to follow. And once you’re in, you’re in. It’s easy to use from there Trust me, it’s well worth the effort and time! These guys wrote an amazingprogram for Smartthings.
Stage 4: Use webCoRE to map the Phantom Bulb to whatever smart stuff you want
No steps here. This is your playground now! But as an example, Here’s my webCoRE script for my current Hue Dimmer’s ON button function.
My bathroom came with the lights and fan plugged into the same circuit. So I fixed that:
-
Bathroom fan is plugged into Smartthings smart plug
-
Hue Dimmer’s ON (hold) button is set to change the Phantom Bulb to 100%. This means that pressing just ON leaves the fan alone; only lights will turn on.
-
webCoRE is then mapped to turn on the Bathroom fan’s Smart plug when the Phantom bulb is “equal to” 99% brightness.
It’s an amazing feeling when you can see your home automation working!
Step 1: Pair your borrowed bulb to your main hue bridge; or, in my case: I swapped two bulbs from two separate Bridges (I’m an addict), then paired the bulbs with the opposite Bridges.
Step 2: Rename the bulb to “Phantom bulb” (It doesn’t have to be called this; but yes, it does).
Step 3: Now pair the bulb(s) back to the original bridge(s) again. All the settings; the bulb’s original name, assigned room, and dimmer buttons, will be restored to normal.
Stage 2: Program your Phantom Bulb into a Hue Third-Party App
Step 1: Open your app and find where you’re able to program your devices (I’ve been saying Hue Dimmer this whole time; but it just dawned on me that you can do this with any device)
Step 2: Program your Dimmer switch (or whatever) to any set # brightness value for any button in whatever variation you choose. Keep these #'s in mind for later when you’re using webCoRE.
Example:
-
Press ON = 100% brightness
-
Press DIM UP = 75% brightness
-
Press DIM DOWN = 74% brightness
-
Press OFF = 1% brightness
I only used 4 settings in this example for simplicity’s sake, but as mentioned earlier; you could set up literally any of the app’s dimmer customization potential (short press, hold, long press, first press, sixteenth press; whatever). And it doesn’t matter if the brightness settings are close together (ie. 74%, 75%) . Any number value from 1 to 100 will do.
Stage 3: Set up webCoRE
Step 1: Okay; you’re already ahead of me and know exactly how to use webCoRE. Cool. Good.
Step 0: Oh? You have no idea how to use webCoRE??
What the hell is webCoRE anyway??
Honestly, I’m not entirely sure. I found out about it yesterday. As of writing this tutorial, I’m totally new to webCoRE. I’m not even the type of guy to write tutorials (how am I doing??).
To get your hands into webCoRE, Just follow these steps. It’s time consuming; but, really easy to follow. And once you’re in, you’re in. It’s easy to use from there Trust me, it’s well worth the effort and time! These guys wrote an amazingprogram for Smartthings.
Stage 4: Use webCoRE to map the Phantom Bulb to whatever smart stuff you want
No steps here. This is your playground now! But as an example, Here’s my webCoRE script for my current Hue Dimmer’s ON button function.
My bathroom came with the lights and fan plugged into the same circuit. So I fixed that:
-
Bathroom fan is plugged into Smartthings smart plug
-
Hue Dimmer’s ON (hold) button is set to change the Phantom Bulb to 100%. This means that pressing just ON leaves the fan alone; only lights will turn on.
-
webCoRE is then mapped to turn on the Bathroom fan’s Smart plug when the Phantom bulb is “equal to” 100% brightness.
It’s an amazing feeling when you can see your home automation working!
