Fibaro 2 Dimmer (212 not 211)

I’m very tempted by these:

They’re dimmable, and contain different coloured LEDs to replicate traditional halogen dimming. I’ve not taken the LED plunge yet, because to me the halogen glow is just too appealing. I think these are probably the closest out there to what I’d want.

Bulk deal on Amazon is out of stock at the moment, but 1 or 2 packs are in stock if you wanted to experiment.

Actually, having read a bit more I’m becoming less interested. Apparently you need to keep switching them on and off until you get the setting you want.

Megaman do a GU10 called ‘Dim to Warm’ which has the tech I mentioned. Worth a look, although Megaman can be a bit bulky.

Interestingly, when I asked the shop that sold me the Dimmer 2 about bulbs they said to avoid Philips Master bulbs. These ones don’t appear to be from the Master range, but I’d still be slightly concerned by the sceneswitch functionality. It could turn out to be annoying if it doesn’t work well with the dimmer or the colour cycle of different bulbs in the room get out of sync.

I think we crossed posts!

Yes, ignore my recommendation. I was also about to suggest these:

…but you say they’re no good. That’s a shame, as they look great from the reviews.

John, have you moved to LED for any bulbs? Outside decorative ones perhaps? The kind that you dont really need dimming.

I have several up/down lights around the house which are on dusk till dawn. Originally they had 35w Halogen (GU10), but I found some 4W LED’s in warm white do exactly the same job and have a very nice light to them.

We have 26 bulbs outside alone, on an average of 8 hours a day. Saves about 6.4KWh a day just in decorative lighting costs. That about 80p a day difference from the halogen just on my outside lights.

They are actually on offer at Screwfix Ive just noticed - Im off to get another 50 after work.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-gu10-led-lamp-250lm-750cd-4w-10-pack/5412d

Further to this, I’ve ordered a bunch of the Philips Master LED dimmable bulbs to play with.

I could only find one reference to any trouble with them with a quick Google search. This was on a 211, and was rectified with a parameter change. There isn’t much out there about people using them successfully or unsuccessfully, so, I’ll give them a go.

If they do work, then they’re far cheaper here than Amazon.

https://www.any-lamp.co.uk/philips-ledspot-mv-vle-d-4-3-50w-827-40d-gu10-master

If you have LED bulbs that don’t need dimming in this scenario, then a relay is your best bet. However you have the caveat of requiring a neutral.

If you don’t have a neutral it gets a bit more complicated.

I have under cabinet LED downlighters that come on with motion toward the coffee machine/toaster when the Sun isn’t around. A Fibaro relay does well here.

Sorry - think there was a misunderstanding, I have already done this and they are already automated on their own dusk/dawn sensor. I was just replying to your comment about not having found a suitable LED bulb to match the glow of a halogen.

However, coming back to the switching of the LED, I’ve read about LED’s causing an inrush of current and welding relays open. Hence why Im running with dimmers, even though the dimmer function isn’t actually used. It may get used in future, but I avoid the possibility of welding open a relay.

Didn’t realise you’d automated already. Does the sensor integrate into ST?

Not at the moment. I dont know whether I will bother with it as its working fine on its own little circuit.

I cant see it being difficult, and if I were to do it, Id probably wait for the latest revision of the relays to come out which dont have dry contacts, so no danger of welding and are apparently not seeing problems after a few thousand switches of loads that have seen relays get welded.

I have however bought some of the current version FGS-212 relays in order to switch low voltage loads. In fact I intend to use them to jerry rig a push button for each of the garage doors. If it works as I am hoping, Ill get a write up done.

Im hoping there is a device handler for the fibaro relays that allows for momentary pushes… As this is key to my plan. You’d think I would check this kind of thing before getting trigger happy on amazon and vesternet. :laughing:

You’ll be pleased to know that I have seen a DH to allow momentary pushes knocking around here somewhere.

The FGS 213 was recently released if I recall correctly, but no DH yet.

Im struggling to see the benefit of a FGS-213 over a dimmer FGD 212. If it hasnt got dry contacts and can therefor only switch the supply voltage rather than another circuit, then may as well run with the dimmer. At least then if the light source is changed in the future to a dimmable one, you have the functionality to make use of it if you wish.

Unless of course there is a significant price difference in favour of the switch.

I can see the benefit of a FGS-212, as with dry contacts you can switch an alternative supply voltage.

I’m planning to test a number of different LED bulbs with this dimmer in the next few days, will feedback results once complete. In the meantime, one unexpected issue is that I’m struggling to find a suitable cheap junction box that will house the Dimmer 2 and fit though a 90mm diameter (downlight) hole in the ceiling. Can anyone recommend one? What have other people done?

I’ve tested loads of brands of mini ceiling spots (MR16 in my case, not GU10, but the differences should be minimal).

The best I found were some bulbs by Megaman. They dimmed perfectly without flicker, the colour matched halogen light pretty well, but best of all, because of the construction (with a traditional reflector) they don’t give those horrible fringed shadows that you see with multi-LED bulbs (or even some COB light sources). That’s one of those things that really pee me off with LED lighting.

This is what they look like: http://www.conrad.com/medias/global/ce/5000_5999/5700/5780/5780/578057_BB_00_FB.EPS_1000.jpg

Not sure whether there’s a GU10 equivalent.

Thanks Paul. I’ve tried some cheap LAP bulbs from Screwfix so far. The colour is good and they don’t flicker, but I’m disappointed with their dimming range (they dim down to ~50% then off). I’ve also noticed the beam angle appears narrower compared to a traditional halogen bulb with the same specified beam angle (36 degrees in my case).

Therefore I ordered some of these Megaman bulbs on Friday. I’m hoping their U-DIM technology delivers: “This lamp features Megaman’s new U-DIM Technology, offering an enhanced dimming range from 100% down to 5%”. Will report back later in the week.

Those Megaman bulbs I used are available in two beam widths - 24 and 36 degrees.

I initially bought the former (because someone was selling a load cheap on eBay), but they were too narrow. They’d be great for high ceilings, or in a corridor, but were no use for my kitchen so I sold them on and bought some 36 degree bulbs which are perfect.

So the moral is, when buying a bulb, check whether there are versions available with different angles!

P.

Let us know how they perform. Biggest issue for me is flicker. I find that my bulbs tend to flicker noticeably when i dim below 30% under 20% it’s unbearable.

Out of interest Paul, is there any particular reason you’ve gone with MR16 LEDs? I’ve got MR16 halogens at the moment, but looking at the market it seems cost-effective to convert to GU10s as GU10 LEDs seem much cheaper then MR16 LEDs
.

What bulbs are you using?

When we moved in there were 12 x 50W halogen MR16s in the kitchen ceiling, so I just went for the simplest option.

Oh, another thing to note is that some of the cheaper bulbs obliterate DAB radio reception in the rooms below and above. The better brands seem OK.

I almost went with Philips at one point, but their higher power bulbs had (at the time - not sure whether they still do) small fans to keep them cool. You can hear a faint noise from these, but more importantly I couldn’t see the mechanical parts lasting as long as the electronics.