AfricanTech
Honorary Master
Just realised that I will probably need a Shelly Bypass as well - don't see them on the Geewiz site so checking with Nology to see where I can get one.
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Home Automation - Smartkit
- Thread starter Dolby
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Dolby
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How many globes are on there ?
A Bypass is only needed if you have a low load.
Don't forget dimmable globes ...
AfricanTech
Honorary Master
Hmm, I just checked - I thought those were LED's up there but they're actually old school fluorescent tubes (two banks of two) - re: dimmable, I'm going to be using them in on/off mode only.
Dolby
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Hmmmmm.
You can't 'fix' on/off mode - the dimming bar is always there.
But I guess you just don't touch it. I'd be curious what happens if you do dim a fluorescent
@
AfricanTech
Honorary Master
We shall seeHmmmmm.
You can't 'fix' on/off mode - the dimming bar is always there.
But I guess you just don't touch it. I'd be curious what happens if you do dim a fluorescent
@
SauRoNZA
Honorary Master
Hmm, so after a bit more research, it seems that I need to wait for the Shelly 1L to land here (Nology has it as available soon) - it looks the business and does not require a neutral line.
Shelly 1L - Shelly SA
Shelly 1L Convert your existing lights into smart lights with this intelligent device in just 10 minutes. You can convert […]shellysa.co.za
Actually, I think I'll get the dimmer in the meantime and then, when the 1L lands, I'll swap the Dimmer 2 out and install the 1L in it's place - then the Dimmer can go into my bedroom
So far in my experience the “no neutral” things still require some kind of wiring change in most cases (especially when running LED’s or Fluorescents) which means you may as well just have run the neutral anyway.
AfricanTech
Honorary Master
So, after a couple of days of playing, I got everything working.
It sounds obvious, but you really must use the correct bulbs with the Shelly Dimmer 2 switch - if the bulb isn't rated as 'dimmable' you get strange behaviour.
The Shelly Dimmer 2 works perfectly without a neutral wire (no wiring changes required - literally connect according to instructions and voila) when you use proper dimmable LED's - my bedroom light takes 3 bulbs x 5W LED's so no need for the bypass referred to in the documentation - works nicely with Alexa too (I chose to go Cloud for the time being - will eventually setup via HA using MQTT to remove internet dependency) - I did this myself - no sparky required
The light in the other room (I replaced the old flourescent tubes and fitting with 'flourescent LED' - needed replacing anyway - btw, it's just an LED strip encased in a long tube) is working perfectly with a Shelly 1 behind the panel (electrician friend pulled a neutral wire through for me).
The fact that the Dimmer 2 works as advertised (ie no neutral wire required) is great - one of my mates is transporting a bunch of Shelly 1L's (not available here yet) from the USA - means that hooking up the other lights I've targeted for automation will be a doddle.
Of course, the really nice thing is that the manual switches all work the way they always did - which drives the household acceptance factor to 100 percent
This was a nice way to start dipping my toes into the Home Automation pool.
It sounds obvious, but you really must use the correct bulbs with the Shelly Dimmer 2 switch - if the bulb isn't rated as 'dimmable' you get strange behaviour.
The Shelly Dimmer 2 works perfectly without a neutral wire (no wiring changes required - literally connect according to instructions and voila) when you use proper dimmable LED's - my bedroom light takes 3 bulbs x 5W LED's so no need for the bypass referred to in the documentation - works nicely with Alexa too (I chose to go Cloud for the time being - will eventually setup via HA using MQTT to remove internet dependency) - I did this myself - no sparky required
The light in the other room (I replaced the old flourescent tubes and fitting with 'flourescent LED' - needed replacing anyway - btw, it's just an LED strip encased in a long tube) is working perfectly with a Shelly 1 behind the panel (electrician friend pulled a neutral wire through for me).
The fact that the Dimmer 2 works as advertised (ie no neutral wire required) is great - one of my mates is transporting a bunch of Shelly 1L's (not available here yet) from the USA - means that hooking up the other lights I've targeted for automation will be a doddle.
Of course, the really nice thing is that the manual switches all work the way they always did - which drives the household acceptance factor to 100 percent
This was a nice way to start dipping my toes into the Home Automation pool.
SauRoNZA
Honorary Master
Makes perfect sense to me that you’d need dimmable lights to make it work.
How would it have worked otherwise?
That being said it’s a need and concept I’ve never understood. Short of standing lights I’ve never felt the need to turn any of my lights down from full brightness.
Not to mention it costs so much more.
How would it have worked otherwise?
That being said it’s a need and concept I’ve never understood. Short of standing lights I’ve never felt the need to turn any of my lights down from full brightness.
Not to mention it costs so much more.
AxField
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Well, in the TV Room I have dimmable lights; bright when you having supper but dimmer when watching a movie. In the bedrooms the lights are dimmable because you want it bright when looking for long forgotten trinkets in drawers or cupboards, but dimmer when reading a book while the missus is sleeping (or have them go dull red for sexy time). Many many reasons to control brightness I think…
SauRoNZA
Honorary Master
Like I said it makes sense for standing lights, just doesn’t make sense to me for static ceiling mounted lighting on wall switches.
My bedside lights are all dimmable for the reasons you listed and my TV’s both have LED strips around the back for the purpose of movies so I can turn the other lights off.
The one dimming light I have is a smart one that I got free and that even at its lowest setting is in the wrong place while watching TV to be useful. Anything overhead or worse in reflective view at a distance is bad.
AfricanTech
Honorary Master
of course - I mention it just in case someone else (like I did initially) thought they could 'macgyver' that switch to work without proper dimmable LED's....In the absence of Shelly 1L's being available, and not knowing whether I could get a sparky to help me get started with pulling neutral wires and whatnot, I purchased one Shelly Dimmer 2 to play with - I was wondering whether I could use it as an on/off without the dimmer function - evidently not but I had lots of fun trying
there was no real need for it (see above) - that said, I installed it in my bedroom and setup an Alexa skill to dim the lights to 15 percent for umm, y'know...sexy time Ag, it's only 1 - I'm not aiming to outfit the whole house with them - for just one I didn't mind paying a bit of a premium to have something to play with.
Truth be told I was on the verge of returning it for a refund but then I got it all working lekker so now it will stay installed.
The very first smartbulbs I got were to replace those dawn-dusk automatic globes -- which didn't really work (they reflected inside of the enclosure and cycled on/off, or they were mounted underneath a roof and ended up staying on for much longer than necessary). The dimmable feature of these (Yeelight non-RGB) were just an added bonus.
But at some point I realised I like to keep some lights on at night (for light around the house) but it doesn't have to be full brightness. So I dim them down to 1% on schedule, and then when my system detects a person outside, they come back to 100% brightness.
Works pretty well!
But at some point I realised I like to keep some lights on at night (for light around the house) but it doesn't have to be full brightness. So I dim them down to 1% on schedule, and then when my system detects a person outside, they come back to 100% brightness.
Works pretty well!
Tinuva
The Magician
Look you don't need dimmable lights everywhere, but there are locations where it is so worth it.
Bedroom, as mentioned above, but also I have ours turn on at about 1% when there is movement at night while we sleep, easier to get to the bathroom and back even though it is an ensuite. There is this little tornado in our house and you never know when they left a surprise toy on the floor.
Same in the little ones room, if we go in and the light auto turn on, its very dim at her sleeping hours.
In the lounge where TV is, if plex is starting a move after 8pm we usually done eating etc. so the lights dim very nicely automatically.
If we move around at night, movement sensors auto turn on lights at 1%.
Lastly, even if you want full brightness on a set of downlights, only set the dimmer to around 60%. The lights use almost half of their normal wattage but still look very bright. It is a nice power saver on even LED downlights, going from 40w combined (set of 8 lights) to 22w. It may not seem like much, but these are the lights that are turned on most of the night each night, and every watt saved means longer running batteries for the house.
That said, I understand if others like you do not see the need (or even use) for dimmers. Its most probably down to personal preference. Just like people have different tastes in music etc.
SauRoNZA
Honorary Master
It’s funny you mention the toys laying around because that’s probably exactly why I like the main lights to just be full brightness always on.
Living in my folks house (old school) dimmers were always just very finicky things and more trouble than they were worth and it always seemed impossible to get the timing right to have a light fully on.
Even 1% lights are too much for me and I’m already paying the price for having kids use nightlights and trying to learn to deal with the dark.
I do want to get a motion activated light in the bathroom though.
ld13
Honorary Master
Shelly Pro - Shelly Cloud
shelly.cloud
It lands for about R1300 a pop, ex customs... so I suspect it will retail here for R2500 in the next few years?
I still cant figure out a use case for myself. other than power monitoring, which can be done a lot cheaper. Does look cool though.View attachment 1152858So when are we getting this baby? It is capable of 16A per channel, up to 40A in total - enough for most items in the house. It does bluetooth, wifi and LAN. It does power monitoring, has local control and support homeassistant etc.Shelly Pro - Shelly Cloud
It lands for about R1300 a pop, ex customs... so I suspect it will retail here for R2500 in the next few years?
MidnightZA
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Going to try one of these as well
Geewiz WiFi Smart Plug 16A TUYA South African Power AC Plug Socket works with Alexa / Google Home *NOW with Energy Monitoring Meter*
Control home appliances from anywhere in the world remotely using the Tuya / Smart Life app Voice Assistant Support through Amazon Alexa and Google Home Set timers and schedules for automatic turn on/off of devices Input Voltage: 100V-240V AC Frequency: 50~60Hz Working Temp: 10~60°C Max. Load...www.geewiz.co.za
My father in law keeps forgetting to switch off the heater in the lounge - hopefully this will work to be able to a remote switch off or build a timed automation.
Did you get one of these yet? Does it have power monitoring?
