Leviton is doing what all other Manufacturers do selling at MSRP on their own site but they are somewhat sneaky. They are offering a 10% discount as others said but you can use that discount on the multipacks they are selling as well. If you buy a 3/5/10 pack the per unit can go down as low as $43.19 for the 600W dimmer (10 pack and 10% off code)....
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Leviton's New HomeKit-Enabled Light Switch and Dimmers Now Available
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Please try to remember to report your findings after you get them installed. I'm curious to see how easy the install is and how well they work. I have 5 Lutron switches at the moment. I only added where I wanted automation now like outside lights so I could wait to see how these work. If they are good, I will do more switches around the house.
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The only place I would use a plug in module at the moment would be lamps but for those I already have Hue. The Hue bulbs work better for me in a lamp because the lamp continues to work like normal for everyone that is not using an app. The modules appear to stop power to the lamp unless you hit the power button on the module which for me would be behind furniture in all but one case. I do appreciate the suggestion though.
I can't find any technical info on these dimmers. Is it wi-fi or bluetooth connected? Does no-hub imply you need apple TV 4th generation to gain remote access? Sunset/sunrise timer options? If anyone can point me to some documentation I would greatly appreciate it.
They now posted install docs. "Leviton HomeKit-enabled accessories rely on Wi-Fi® communication"
This is going to be a dumb question, but I have Philips Hue bulbs, so what wattage dimmer switch would I buy for them?
For instance, if a dimmer is going to work on three Philips Hue BR30 color bulbs in my ceiling, would I just multiply the Hue bulb by three?
Thanks!
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That's more reliable that Bluetooth, right?
Wonder why the iDevice non-dimmer inwall switch is so expensive compared to this one?
For instance, if a dimmer is going to work on three Philips Hue BR30 color bulbs in my ceiling, would I just multiply the Hue bulb by three?
Thanks!
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That's more reliable that Bluetooth, right?
Wonder why the iDevice non-dimmer inwall switch is so expensive compared to this one?
You don't need a dimmer for Hue bulbs, they have the dimmer built in. What you need is a wall controller that can talk to the dimmers in the hue bulbs so it appears to give the 'experience' of a traditional dimmer switch.
I'd like a definitive answer answer to this question. The ancient X-10 modules in my house (cutting edge home automation in 1985!) can be turned on with the lamp switch, though sometimes it takes an extra turn or two. Hard to imagine that brand new tech is less capable than what we could buy 30+ years ago.
What do you mean? I'm thinking if a person comes to my home, or my wife who isn't the most technologically savvy person, wants to dim our bulbs, it would be easier to have the switch on the wall. It wouldn't require her to talk to Siri or get on her phone or anything. She would just go to the switch and dim them.
You don't want to dim a smart bulb. The smarts need full power to run.
A better bet is to get a smart remote that looks like a switch. Program the buttons on the remote to work the way you want. I'm using Lutron remotes connected to a Wink hub. I can then program the remotes to control any light, shortcut (group of lights), or robot (macro). The remotes are installed behind standard two and three gang face plates instead of the traditional switches.
You can't use a dimmer switch to dim a smart bulb, they need a continuous power supply and the dimming is handled within the bulb. You need a 'remote control' that can talk to the bulb, something like this from Philips: http://www2.meethue.com/en-us/productdetail/philips-hue-dimmer-switch
This is one of the 'challenges' with smart lights etc... and quickly drives up the price if you need to enable 'traditional' wall controls for people who aren't tech savvy or don't have a phone/smart watch to control them, e.g. guests, small children etc...
I'm glad I asked before I bought the Levitron dimmer switches. So, I already own a Hue dimmer for my bedroom lamps. I essentially want to replace my wired switches throughout my house (not all at once due to price). Would it be better to replace them with a Levitron non-dimmable in-wall switch? I assume I can't replace them with the Hue dimmer remote since they aren't wired. Is that correct?
Thank you for your help!
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What do you mean installed "behind" the face plates? I essentially want to replace all my non-smart switches with smart switches for my Philips Hue bulbs. So when people are over and they turn the lights off, it will stop killing my Hue bulbs.
I'm assuming the Hue dimmer switch/remote wouldn't work because it can't be wired to any of my switches. I don't want them placed beside my actual switches due to aesthetics. Is the Levitron non-dimmable in-wall switch my best bet? I have several 3-way switches.
This might be the shortcoming of smart bulbs vs smart switches. You can't control a smart bulb via the wire other than turning it on and off, with 'off' being completely dead until you flick the switch back to on whether it's a smart switch or a good old fashioned light switch. You pay for smart bulbs so that you don't need to pay for smart switches/dimmers.
In theory you could remove the traditional switches, and connect the wires together with wire nuts/connectors, tuck them back into the wall box and put Hue remotes on the wall. This would mean the Hue bulbs could never be physically turned off and would give you 'traditional' controls on the wall where people expect switches to be.
This is why I went with Hue in lamp and Lutron on the wall. I also control my fans with Lutron, turning them on or off and adding them to automation. The fans are only good if you're in the room so they are setup to stop running at bedtime if I left them on. As for the lights, it was my preference to use standard LED bulbs in my fixtures with smart switches. Most of the time the switch is automated around sunset.
My next move is switches around the house that don't need automation but would be nice to turn off with an app if left on. This is why I have been waiting for these, they look like my existing switches so as I transition a little at a time everything looks "normal".
My next move is switches around the house that don't need automation but would be nice to turn off with an app if left on. This is why I have been waiting for these, they look like my existing switches so as I transition a little at a time everything looks "normal".
That's exactly what I was thinking about doing. Would that work? Also, what about three-way switches? My thought was to just program the remotes to work just like the switches do now. I assume people with Hue bulbs keep them physically "on" at all times, right? That still burns some power, how much are we talking on an electric bill?
Well, the guarantee from the company is something to do with zero power output when off which means really off unlike other brands.
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Basically nothing on the bill. Fully on an LED barely uses any power, that is the appeal.
On the other question I don't see why you could not use a smart switch with the Hue bulbs. Maybe not the dimmer but the switch should be fine. If someone hits the switch off you lose contact with the Hue bulb. You could activate the switch and regain access to the bulb via your phone. I don't see the point though unless your Hue is a colored bulb. If you're using the standard bulbs for this it would be an unnecessary expense. A standard LED bulb with a smart switch would be a better buy.
If you have to go and physically turn it on before you can use it it's not very smart!
Taking out the switches and making all your light fittings 'hot' (always power at the fitting with no way to turn off other than the breaker) would definitely work, although you might have to put all the switches back when it comes time to sell. I don't have any Hue bulbs but do you even need to power-cycle them if they drop off the network or start to act strangely? If you don't have a physical switch you're going to have to get a step ladder or go to the breaker.
It does make you think about how you might wire a new construction in the age of smart devices. Do the current crop of smart devices meet code/building regs? Is it acceptable for the 2nd switch in a 3-way circuit to be a wireless remote? Will we see low voltage wiring run to ensure that remote controls always have power?
I have had to reset one bulb only once and it was outside on the front of the house on the other side of two stone walls. Under normal use I have not seen any issues from any of my bulbs. My failures if I have any have all been related to automation which was not due to the bulbs.
What type of switches do you use? I'm trying to eliminate the physical off function. The majority of people are used to just flipping up and down for On and off, but once it is off that defeats the purpose of the Hue bulbs. I'm thinking my best bet is to have them powered on 24/7, and get the faceplates and attach the Hue switch to them. I just hate the idea of having them physically powered on 24/7 with eating away at my electric bill.
Hmm. Zero power output is not the same thing as zero power input. It must use some power in its idle state, if only a tiny amount, in order to be responsive to control inputs.
Like I said earlier, I only use Hue in lamps. That way they can be automated for different times throughout the day. Lamps are also the main lighting in my house outside of task lighting. For my ceiling fixtures I use regular Decora switches at the moment. In places like my outdoor lights and my indoor ceiling fans I use Lutron. The Lutron hardware has been fantastic. The only reason I am thinking about Leviton is because they look like my regular Decora switches. I have no desire to use Hue bulbs in regular fixtures. My master bath for example has 12 bulbs just above the long mirror. Regular LED's with a smart switch dimmer is way more cost efficient and if someone turns the switch off its perfectly fine, that would be a normal function. It is always "on" and available to the app on my phone. That is the benefit of a smart switch over a smart bulb. The bulbs have been great but for $15 each on the basic white they are too costly when I have many in a room. The other issue with going bulbs only is when you have bulbs or fixtures that don't use a standard bulb. Like can lights. I could have swapped in Hue 65w equivalents but the issue can lights have remains, the air loss to the attic. The better option for me was LED retrofit kits which seal against the ceiling offering better (not perfect) air sealing.
Bottom line is you don't want any actual switch wired to the Hue bulb. If you cut power to the Hue you won't be able to control it. A dimmer won't work for an additional reason. The Hue is rated for 100-240 volts. When you turn down the dimmer you will quickly drop below that 100 volts and end up with the same situation as turning off the power.
The simplest solution would be to add a Hue remote but they won't work with existing switch plates.
The solution I went with is using the Lutron Caseta dimmers and switches along with a Wink hub and Amazon Echo. (Yes, I have a bunch of systems hobbled together.)
My kitchen is a good example. It had two switches controlling the ceiling lights (task lights and center light). I replaced the task light switch with a Lutron dimmer so now it had a wall switch and smarts in one package. Next I hard wired the center light and removed the original switch. In its place on the wall I added a Lutron remote control.
In the light fixtures I put a Hue lamp in the center and regular LED (not smart) bulbs in the task lights. The Hue is always on and controlled as a normal smart light. The task lights are dumb bulbs that can be controlled at the wall switch or through your smart app. The buttons on the Lutron remote can be programmed (via Wink in my case) to do whatever I want - including turning the Hue on and off.
So one option is to hard wire the light with the Hue bulb and replace the switch with a Lutron remote. In that case the Hue will always have power and the remote will let your guests "manually" turn it on and off.
For reference the dimmer switch looks like this:
The remote looks like this:
I have both of those plus another dumb timer switch (exhaust fan) mounted in the three gang box that originally held the three toggle switches. So one toggle was replaced with a smart dimmer, one with a dumb timer, and one was wire nutted together (hard wired) and replaced with the remote.
I hope that makes some sort of sense.
How hard is it to explain to your wife to just tell the bulb to dim, and it does? Do so many of you still not have a few Echos scattered about? Once Echo is around, every other solution seems superfluous, not to mention a waste of money.
I'd have thought that a smart switch uses just about the same amount of power as a hue bulb does when it's not illuminated and is waiting to respond to a command, so you wouldn't actually be saving any electricity by switching the hue bulb off with a smart switch...
I greay appreciate that information! That sounds about what I'll do. Right now, I'm almost finished converting my can lights in my downstairs area with Hue BR30 bulbs. I like the looks of the Lutron remote, similar to the Hue dimmer switch.Bottom line is you don't want any actual switch wired to the Hue bulb. If you cut power to the Hue you won't be able to control it. A dimmer won't work for an additional reason. The Hue is rated for 100-240 volts. When you turn down the dimmer you will quickly drop below that 100 volts and end up with the same situation as turning off the power.
The simplest solution would be to add a Hue remote but they won't work with existing switch plates.
The solution I went with is using the Lutron Caseta dimmers and switches along with a Wink hub and Amazon Echo. (Yes, I have a bunch of systems hobbled together.)
My kitchen is a good example. It had two switches controlling the ceiling lights (task lights and center light). I replaced the task light switch with a Lutron dimmer so now it had a wall switch and smarts in one package. Next I hard wired the center light and removed the original switch. In its place on the wall I added a Lutron remote control.
In the light fixtures I put a Hue lamp in the center and regular LED (not smart) bulbs in the task lights. The Hue is always on and controlled as a normal smart light. The task lights are dumb bulbs that can be controlled at the wall switch or through your smart app. The buttons on the Lutron remote can be programmed (via Wink in my case) to do whatever I want - including turning the Hue on and off.
So one option is to hard wire the light with the Hue bulb and replace the switch with a Lutron remote. In that case the Hue will always have power and the remote will let your guests "manually" turn it on and off.
For reference the dimmer switch looks like this:
The remote looks like this:
I have both of those plus another dumb timer switch (exhaust fan) mounted in the three gang box that originally held the three toggle switches. So one toggle was replaced with a smart dimmer, one with a dumb timer, and one was wire nutted together (hard wired) and replaced with the remote.
I hope that makes some sort of sense.
So basically I need to hard wire the switches that will control my Hue bulbs and something like my living room fan, I can wire with a smart switch.
By hardwiring the Hue bulbs, how safe is that? Does it cause a risk of starting a fire? One negative thing I can think of is if I ever need to replace the bulbs I have to know the lights are technically "on". I'm just thinking of the chance of the wires starting a fire since they will always be "on". Then of course I'm thinking of my electric bill going up.
Thanks again for your information and advice!
[doublepost=1491479372][/doublepost]Last question. So I'm debating between the Lutron Pico and the Lutron LZL-4B-WH-L01 (the one pictured above). I like the idea of the Pico having a favorite setting so I can quickly set my Hue lights back to the default, normal bulb setting. My question is, with the Pico, do I have to purchase the in-wall Lutron switch for it to work or will it work like the one pictured above without a switch?
For starters, on the three switch faceplate I'm going to replace, one switch is to my overhead fan, one switch is to the lights in the fan (non-Hue), and the other controls the can lights (HUE BULBS) in my living room ceiling. So my plan is to replace the fan with a smart in-wall switch, the fan light switch with a smart in-wall switch, and the can Hue Bulbs (BR30) with the Lutron remote. I'm going to hard wire the Hue Bulbs so they are always on. So in the end, on a three-piece faceplate, I'll have two in-wall switches and one remote. Is that the way it should work?
Thanks!
Until it's brought crashing to the ground by hackers because of virtually nonexistent IoT security. Sorry - the Russians know enough about me already. They don't need to know if I'm running low on milk too.