Various around the house some more expensive some cheaper in multipacks. Hard to keep track I have so many, I invested in them before getting into HA. If you find some good ones I might get a few to try out.
I have some Philips Master GU10 LEDs on order which have coloured LEDs for a dimming effect. I hope they work.
Another worth a look with similar technology are the Megaman Dim To Warm range.
Well, funnily enough they just arrived. Iād heard that Fibaro Dimmer 2 + Philips Master LED range = trouble.
If thatās the case, Iām yet to see a problem.
I have the Dimmer 2 in a 2 wire setup, now powering one bank of 8 Philips Master LED GU10 spotlights, and one powering 6.
Neither need a bypass. Both sets work perfectly as far as I can see, no flicker and no issues when turned off.
They dim to a warmer colour. Theyāre not quite halogens, but I think I can live with them.
I have the 40 degree beam spread version.
Edit to add - Iāve just noticed that there are other versions of this bulb. I have the 4.3w version which is half the price of the 5.4w version. The latter appears to have a better CRI (Colour Rendering Index, 90 vs 80) which may make a better halogen equivalent.
A further edit - Looks like these donāt have the āDim to warmā feature I wanted, and neither do the 5.4w versions. I was looking for the āDimToneā range, which are around Ā£11/12 per bulb.
I have the 2700K version of the LED, and itās pretty easy on the eye. So, I think Iāll live with them for a bit and see how I get on.
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The Megaman bulbs arrived today! So quick summary of my experimentation so far:
- LAP GU10 LED (7923P/Ā£2.49 from Screwfix): 5.2W, 345LM, 2700K: This is one of the cheapest 50W equivalent dimmable LED bulbs Iāve found. Its dimming performance is reasonable, with no flickering or humming. The light cone is not particularly clean though.
- Saxby GU10 LED (67179/Ā£3.45 from NationalLighting): 5W, 345LM, 2700K: This does not work well with the Fibaro Dimmer. Dimming is poor and it hums. Avoid.
- Megaman 141322: (~Ā£2.90): 5W, 360LM, 2800K: This has Megamanās U-DIM technology and it seems to work well. Best dimming performance Iāve found so far (for an LED). Gets very low, with no flickering or humming. 40 degree beam angle gives it a cleaner light cone compared to the LAP bulb. CRI is only 82 though. Iām quite happy with this bulb and am going to use it throughout my house.
All of these bulbs are not quite as bright as the 35W Energy-Saving (50W equivalent) halogens that Iām replacing, but theyāre good enough for me. At high power levels theyāre pretty much indistinguishable from halogens, but at low levels they have a cooler colour because they donāt get redder like halogens. With 5x bulbs on a circuit I found that the Bypass module was required for dimming below 10% (even in 3-wire setup with a neutral).
One other thing Iāve noticed is that that Fibaro Dimmerās auto-configuration feature sometimes sets parameter #1 (minimum brightness) too high, which limits dimming performance. It you want to be able to dim your LEDs as low as possible then itās worth over-riding parameter #1.
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zcapr17,
Do these bulbs (megaman) go completely off without the use of a bypass when used in numbers of 5 or less?
Im finding that without a bypass, my standard non dimmable LAP 4w LEDās will not go completely off.
It appears that the dimmer modules still allow some current to flow even when configured in 3 wire setup. In 2 wire I could understand it as there needs to be some flow to keep the dimmer module itself powered, but in a 3 wire set up off should surely mean off.
Iāve tested this just now especially for you. 
In my 3-wire setupā¦
- With bypass: both a single LAP or Megaman bulb will turn off completely.
- Without bypass: the LAP bulb will not turn off completely (even with two bulbs)
, however a single Megaman bulb does turn off completely.
ā¦when I get time, maybe Iāll write up full comparative test results on my blogā¦
John, you could try the Megaman Dim-to-warm range. Iāve seen this bulb for Ā£7.99 in Google shopping (possibly cheaper in bulk). Though still a hefty premium compared to the sub-Ā£3 bulbs Iāve settled on.
Thanks for this - great information. It helps cost out whether to run with megaman dimmable, or the standard Lap and a bypass.
I went with the dimmer modules over the on/off relays, as I had read about LEDs in rush current welding the contacts on the relays. I have no dimmable lights in the house at present, other than a halogen uplighter which just stays at one brightness.
Not only did using the dimmer modules avoid any relay and LED compatibility issues, they afforded me the ability to add dimmable in the future if I required or wanted it.
At present, I am looking at a circuit with 4 bulbs. At present they are 4w Non Dimmable LAP LED from screwfix. A bypass for these is Ā£8.10 (bulk buy as I will/do need them elsewhere too).
The cost of the megaman dimmable 5w, over and above these standard 4w is about Ā£1.90 a bulb. So its Ā£7.60 to upgrade the bulbs. Near as damn it the same cost.
So, I can either stick a bypass in and keep the standard on/off functionality, or buy new bulbs and have extra functionality.
No contest really. I think Ill run with these bulbs.
As all circuits have at least two bulbs, and usually more, then I reckon Ill go with the dimmable bulbs instead of the bypass. Any particular suppliers you can recommend for these bulbs that may do bulk discount? Im totting up and Im well over 50 GU10 lights.
I got 20 of the Philips in total and have them placed in the kitchen/diner and a couple of bathrooms, which Iām quite happy with.
Iāve been looking at the Megaman ones for some time now. A long time ago I got some Megaman flourescent spots, and they werenāt great. Iām fairly sure that doesnāt apply to these as technology has moved on, but I might spend an extra couple of quid on the Philips DimTone. I only need 6 of these for a bedroom.
Do the higher powered Philips mini-spots still have small fans inside?
Iām fairly sure the newer ones are āchip on boardā and donāt need that kind of cooling.
Just a note to say I ordered 22 bulbs today from a place called energybulbs.co.uk
Not a huge order but enough to do the first few rooms.
The bulbs were (and still are) showing as in stock. Yet Iāve had an email stating they are out of stock and awaiting supplier delivery in the next few days. I also paid for next day delivery (as they were in stock apparently).
Iāve also noted that these bulbs must have become popular as they are now increased in price by about 30% compared to when I placed my order this morning.
(The cynic in me is not surprised at a 30% price hike and suddenly there isnāt stock for my orderā¦)
Bulbs still available elsewhere at the lower price I ordered at from energybulbs.co.uk
First and last order with them I think. Any wonder people are shunning companies in favour of amazon. Itās a pet peve of mine for companies to mark things as āin stockā, only to tell you thatās a complete lie when itās too late to order from somewhere else and they have already taken the money via PayPal anyway.
Hi All,
I have posted on here before about my setup but can happily report that I now have 33 Dimmer 2 modules and 5 relays working well.
I am using the dimmers in a variety of configurations both with and without a bypass, with LED and halogen lights (on separate circuits of course), with retrofit and integrated LEDs (ie that come with drivers) and with anything between 1 and 11 spots.
The dimmable retrofit GU10 LED bulbs I am using work great with the dimmer 2 and have excellent properties such as CRI > 80, high l/m, in a 35 degree beam angle and a large amount of colours (I have gone for 3000K warm white). I am using them in a three wire setup both with and without a dimmer and in both cases they work very well and dim right down to a every dim light. A link for the bulbs is provided here: http://www.allledgroup.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=74
I have some questions for the group:
- one of the 32 dimmer 2s I have is behaving erratically. It has a permanent red light LED on the dimmer itself and attempts to operate it via the switch will see then lights turn on for a second and then immediately turn off with a return of the red LED indicator. A re-calibration (pressing the b button until the blue light comes on and then pressing again) does not fix the problem. A factory reset (pressing the b button until the yellow light comes on and then pressing again) fixes the issue for a few hours only for it to return again. I initially thought it could be a faulty dimmer and have swapped it out but this has not resolved the issue. I know the bulbs or fittings are not an issue as I am using them successively in other circuits. I can only think that this could be a wiring issue but could that lead to intermittent issues?
Hi zcapr17,
I got some of the megaman GU10 dimmable bulbs. However it appears that the auto configuiration must either not be recognising these as dimmable, setting the minimum parameter too high, or the device handler simply isnt working.
What device handler do you use?
Ive got 4 on a circuit, and although they go completely off as previously adviced, when they are on, they are on full brightness. No amount of sliding the brightness bar does anything, unless I slide it to zero, and it goes off.
Any help much appreciated.
Yeah, Iāve noticed the auto-configuration function can be a bit hit and miss. With the Megaman U-dim bulbs, I recommend over-riding parameter one (minimum brightness) to 5, and parameter 2 (max brightness) to around 70.
I use @hajarās device handler, but I modified it so that it can request and receive configuration reports.
i.e. add this additional zwaveEvent handler:
def zwaveEvent(physicalgraph.zwave.commands.configurationv1.ConfigurationReport cmd) {
log.debug "${device.displayName}: Configuration Report: parameter '${cmd.parameterNumber}' with a byte size of '${cmd.size}' is set to '${cmd.configurationValue}'"
}
ā¦and add this command, which I call from an additional tile/button:
/**
* getConfigReport:
*
* @param none
*
* @return none
*/
def getConfigReport() {
log.debug "Getting Device Configuration"
def cmds = []
cmds << zwave.configurationV1.configurationGet(parameterNumber: 1)
cmds << zwave.configurationV1.configurationGet(parameterNumber: 2)
cmds << zwave.configurationV1.configurationGet(parameterNumber: 3)
cmds << zwave.configurationV1.configurationGet(parameterNumber: 4)
cmds << zwave.configurationV1.configurationGet(parameterNumber: 5)
cmds << zwave.configurationV1.configurationGet(parameterNumber: 6)
cmds << zwave.configurationV1.configurationGet(parameterNumber: 7)
cmds << zwave.configurationV1.configurationGet(parameterNumber: 8)
cmds << zwave.configurationV1.configurationGet(parameterNumber: 9)
cmds << zwave.configurationV1.configurationGet(parameterNumber: 10)
cmds << zwave.configurationV1.configurationGet(parameterNumber: 11)
cmds << zwave.configurationV1.configurationGet(parameterNumber: 13)
cmds << zwave.configurationV1.configurationGet(parameterNumber: 30)
cmds << zwave.configurationV1.configurationGet(parameterNumber: 31)
cmds << zwave.configurationV1.configurationGet(parameterNumber: 32)
cmds << zwave.configurationV1.configurationGet(parameterNumber: 34)
secureSequence(cmds, 200)
}
Then you can see what the auto-configure function is doing.
HTH
Thats a massive help - thank you!
Do you perchance know of any way we can push parameter values to these devices on a per device basis.
i.e. I have these modules in various configurations, some with dimmable LEDās, some with Non-Dimmable LEDās, and some with Halogen or incandescent. Ideally, Id prefer not to have a different device handler set up for every individual lighting circuit.
I gather the Fibaro control module allows individual setting of individual devices parameters. Though at Ā£300+ thats a lot of dimer modules I could scatter round the house if I can achieve the same thing with some custom handler or control panel through smartthings.
Many thanks again for your help however, this is really good.
When you change the parameters in the device settings, it will only change it for that instance of the deviceā¦ not all devices using the same handlerā¦
E.g. if I hit āDoneā here, it will update the parameters only for the dimmer I have called āOffice Lightsā:
So this device handler you have doesnāt just show me the current config values, but allows me to set them as well?
You have no idea how excited I am about this. Small things I guess.
Now, if only I can get alexa to interact with Garage Door switches as per my other thread, then my week is well and truly made!
Thanks again. Hopefully Once I get the hang of this, Ill be able to help others out on here too.
Yes, the main feature of @hajarās device handler is that it can be used to set all the configuration parameters of the Fibaro Dimmer 2. Thank hajar for that.
One issue though, is that if you force an auto-calibration (by setting parameter 13), the calibration process will change some parameters, and at the moment, these changes are not automatically reported back to SmartThings. This means the physical dimmerās parameters could be different to what is shown in the ST deviceās settings page.
My code additions allow you to see what changes auto-calibration has made, however (because Iām lazy) it only outputs this information to the debug log in the IDE. It wonāt cause the values in the ST device settings page to be updated with the actual parameter values received in the configuration reports.
If @hajar is truly awesome, he could make some changes to the device handler to make the settings sync with the physical device after an auto-calibrationā¦
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