So I currently have under cabinet lights, where they are each hard wired, and have switches on each one to turn them on/off. I want to replace them with leds, and figured this would be a good opportunity to add some home automation, since they are all on different “switches” so to speak.
Does anyone know of any z wave switches that will tap into a hard wire? Or any other general recommendations on how I should go about this project? Ideally I would like the switches to be dimmers as well, to add extra complexity to the situation.
I don’t want to spend a ton of money, so the more economical solution, the better.
It is compatible with SmartThings (on the officially supported list). These just go in behind your switch and turn the switch into a smart switch, rather than replacing the entire thing.
Here is the official compatibility list and you’ll see this just a few items down
Thank you for the reply! The problem is the hard wire is coming out from a small hole in the wall and into the current light, so the controller would essentially have to be mounted under the cabinet, and “exposed”. Are there any issues in doing something like this (code violations, etc) in having this outside the wall? I suppose I could make some sort of housing unit that covers this to mitigate the risk.
I had a similar situation, I enclosed one of those aeotec devices in a small junction box and screwed it on to the underside of the cabinet. Not sure if it is code compliant though!
Interesting. Does your junction box get warm? I’m also concerned if the light controller generates any heat, that keeping it an an enclosed environment would have any negative implications. From the picture it looks like there are ventilation holes in the light controller, which makes me think it generates at least a small amount of heat. Perhaps I am overthinking this.
mdawson
(Different Computers. So happy with Indigo.)
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Not exactly what you are asking about, but I thought I would chime in with my experience. Specifically, I’m very disappointed with Lowe’s house brand under cabinet LED lights. Black & red box they come in, very attractive price BUT:
Odd random flickering
<10% dimming is still VERY bright
I would replace these in a heartbeat with this, if I knew then what I know now:
Extension Set for Smart Light Control with Wireless Ballast, 3m RGB LED Stripe, Power Supply, ZigBee Certified Product
And it would have been cheaper! And it would have colors!
2 Likes
tgauchat
(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)
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I’m waiting (perhaps a few months…) for the LED strips that will come with my WigWag order.
Heck, I might as well get some value from that Kickstarter backing! In the recent “order survey”, I decided to direct most of my contribution towards the lightstrips (and some of the developer shields).
tgauchat
(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)
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