So the Smarthings Hub V3 is to be released tomorrow so will be biting the bullet with a number of motion sensors.
Tado thermostat has already been purchased and plugged in.
However now more time has passed with regards light bulbs what really is on offer (colour) that can be controlled via the Smarthings Hub? This will mainly be used for a RGBW strip around TV and in the Kids rooms, at current I think LIFX is the route at the moment but how well do they work with standard UK dimmable switches?
How well does the Hub work with Tradfri bulbs also as they will be a number dimmable bulbs (non RGBW) that will be around the house also.
More and more will come on board but I’m going to start with easiest and what are more beneficial for family 1st
I bought a handful of the tradfri dimmable bulbs, the £9 ones (E27 1000 Lumen) as I wasn’t after coloured ones. They seem to work perfect with the smartthings hub, using a custom device handler for about 6 months now. I have set then to start at 20% dim upto 100% over a 2 min period first thing in the morning when some one walks into the living room and still rubbing there eyes … and they work fine.
The warm colour of these bulbs is perfect for lamps in a living room and outdoor, but I would suggest try one first, just in case you are after something different.
In the living room I use the Smartthings Motion sensor as I first set it up as part of my alarm, but then there have been a few false negatives, so I have removed it from my alarm setup, and now only use it to turn lights on first thing in the morning and it works fine for that. I also have a Fibaro Motion Sensor (FGMS-001 Gen 5), but that is a bit slow to respond when some one walks past it (even thought I have changed its settings), so I use that in the lobby for my alarm and also turn lobby lights, but to be honest its annoying, as it takes a second or two to sense motion, by which time, the person walking through the lobby has left the lobby , so I need to swap this with something quicker.
In my lobby and landing I connected two Fibaro FGS-213 (Single Switch 2) to the lights, so now I can automate them and tell my google home to turn the lights on upstairs when my little kid is scared to go up to the toilet in the dark, etc. Besides these, I have a Nest smoke alarm upstairs, google mini in the living room, Aeon Siren Gen 5, Smartthings multi Sensors on all the doors and windows, swapped my porch, patio, garage and shed bulbs with Tradfri, all which are triggered when the front or back doors open, or presence sensor arrives home, and just last night I saw IKEA have listed their new Tradfri Power Outlet’s so I need to get a couple for the Xmas Tree and Xmas lights outside…
If you haven’t had a look at Webcore yet, I would suggest you do, that is very powerful and lets you automate way more complex rules than the Smartthings App does.
you can’t and DO NOT dim a smart lamp with a standard dimmer. These are 2 completely different technologies and do not work together. If you want to dim them you will need a smart input device (I use the fibaro UBS or the 2nd input on a smart dimmer module) to then control them with WebCoRE.
Apologies, the switch that the light bulbs is attached to a dimmable switch however this would just be set to on. From that I will use motion sensor and Google home to activate and start the light.
Reading through the UBS though I totally see your point though.
Even this can cause issues due to how they work. Your best bet would be to swap it for a cheap latching switch.
Not if your using WebCoRE the only problem with the UBS is you need a constant 9-24v DC power supply for them. I have wired for this but most people won’t have. You can get battery powered switches that you can stick on the light switch plate and then use them if need but if your using motion then that will do the job too.
… and they work fine.