Hi ST experts,
New to HA and looking for some advice.
I have a Fluval Edge aquarium with a simple manual 3 position light switch -
1 - White
2 - Off
3 - Blue
I would like to have ST automate when the lights come on, which lights come on and if possible mixing the lights and having different lighting levels.
For instance, at sunrise i can fade out blue moonlight and slowly fade in the white light.
Which device would be best suited for the job?
Its a 12v DC lamp unit.
thanks in advance
I’m new to HA and ST as well, but I’ve not come across a device that will manipulate your manual switch. The devices I have seen that allow you to control “dumb” lights only allow you to turn the power going to that device on or off. You then can schedule when the on and off settings occur.
Several years ago I looked heavily into setting up a large saltwater tank. The lack of automation to routine jobs on and in the tank was the big deal breaker for me. Now that I’m getting into HA, I’m starting to think of way to mix the two.
well i tried the Fibaro RGBW controller, it worked in part, I could control on a schedule and choose brightness but strangely it would always have both white and blue lights on, there was no way of just having blue or just having white, so that’s no good for what i want.
I have some RGBW LED strips that i will take a look at, maybe i can retrofit those into the lighting panel. Obviously this isn’t an exercise in saving money, i just want to add some nice control to it.
Might thoughts when you posted this thread was to use some RGBW strips that work with ST as well.
I have much the same thing. My solution was to leave the switch on the blue setting (night) all the time as during the day both the blue and white lights were on anyway. Then I wired a relay to the white posts on the switch, so when the relay is closed the white lights would come on. Finally I used an Aeotec zwave switch to control the relay, which gives me the Smartthings control. So now I can control all the lights with the 3 way switch, and Smartthings can turn on the daytime settings. I would have liked to make them fade in and out, but that’s the best I could come up with.
Hi Scot,
I tried out leaving the blue switched but still no luck, it seems the Fluval edge LED has incompatible wiring. Do you have a Fluval? What dimmer are you using, is it the fibaro? The Fibaro dimmer is the only 12v dimmer i have found but the docs say it also needs the bypass unit on low wattage systems.
Mine is not dimmable, it is only on/off. Not sure what brand it is, the
fixture was originally fluorescent and I retrofitted the LED light bar and
electronics into the existing housing. My install was pretty simple, just
find the right pins on the 3 way switch that would turn on the white lights
and wire them to the relay so when the relay is closed the white lights
receive power.