You guys are right that you need neutral to get power, but it’s not because there is power on it. As @Mike_Maxwell said, it’s the return path. If there is anything other than zero volts on neutral, you have a problem. Neutral should be isolated all the way back to the panel, where it is coupled to ground. To get power, you need hot and neutral. The reason you need the neutral at the radio and can’t rely on power flowing through the load is that electronic loads, like LEDs, don’t conduct when not on. When lights were incandescent, you could get away with sinking some current through them and power a small circuit, like a dimmer, without a direct neutral to return the power. That doesn’t work anymore.
That’s what has me confused , the neutral is the return and I assumed the reason smart or programmable switches needed the neutral connected is because they use some power even when the switch is off .
Are you saying why would anyone want to be able to dim the lights via a slider on a switch? If so I’m one. If I hit a switch and want to dim the lights being able to do it right then and there is more convenient imo. I think I get it now to an extent , the low voltage leads to the switch would be able to tell the relay you want the lights on and then the relay would complete the task but all dimming would go thru the relay?
That setup could work for me. I could keep all my adorne dimmers but be able to turn the lights on remotely if I felt the need. Like if youre on vacation .
No i’m, saying why would anyone want to retain an existing dimmer when replacing that function with an in wall micro dimmer.
In the end if you want local and ha dimming, the existing dimmer goes by by, no one’s going to market an in wall micro dimmer that’s controlled by an existing dimmer.
Unlike a simple dumb switch that can be used to control an in wall product, an existing dimmer is expecting a 120volt bulb to be on the output side, not an in wall micro.
Ok I hear what you’re saying but I still prefer to dim my lights locally at the switch but occasionally would like ha abilities. I like the style of my switches and as I’m moving about the house turning lights on and off how would I dim the lights- using the remote or the ST app? I find that less convenient than just using the switch.
I manage all my lighting with motion detectors, and use external Lux readings to set the dimmer levels. Any overrides are done via echo. While all my dimmers and switches are local capable, we just don’t use local control much any more.
I’ve used echo to override and set dimming levels for my outside lights but as for using motion sensors to run lights inside my house there are plenty of times I’m in rooms ,like my living room , and I don’t want the lights on . I’d find it more of a hassle to tell alexa to turn off the lights that automatically came on rather than turn them on when I want them but that’s why they make chocolate and vanilla…
Not to hijack this thread, but looking for some help. I installed this device as it is the only thing that would fit in my current wall box. I used the standard on/off switch that I had previously. From the smartthings app, the dimmer works fine. From the physical wall switch it seems to turn on and then in the opposite position it dims to 20 percent, but not off. I like physical switches sometimes and want this to work.
Anyone experience this and know how to fix it? I tried several device types but can’t seem to find a way to fix this. Didn’t see much in their documentation. TIA