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Z-wave dimmer remote behind existing wall switch for Hue

Flight777Flight777 Member
in Devices
Hi All,

Probably some of you have tackled this issue already, but I was not able to find a conclusive answer/example yet :) :

My house is full of Hue, and we love it :) However, I would like to keep using existing wall switches as well, just for convenience purposes (and the misses Flight777), to turn lights/rooms on/off or even dim them. The problem is, Hue needs permanent power, and conventional switches and most z-wave modules manipulate and cut the power, while I just need to get a signal across to Homey so he knows what to do. A "z-wave/zigbee remote" basically, disguised as a light switch.

In one room, I solved this with a Aeotec Wallmote, however, I would like to keep our style consistent in the house and use the conventional Busch-Jaeger switches we have. For the on/off part, I recently bought some EM6514 z-wave switches, which do exactly what I need, they turn existing wall switches in a on/off z-wave remote without cutting actual power.

Nonetheless, in some rooms I want to be able to dim (or select scenes) with the wall switch as well. Recently I installed a Fibaro Dimmer 2 for a non-Hue light behind a momentary switch which does exactly what I want --> If I hold the switch it will dim the light up/down. I've been looking if I can use this module for the Hue lights as well, but if I'm not mistaking, the Fibaro module will always need a load and is not able to operate purely "signal" based, so only sending out z-wave signals for dimming without actually manipulating power. Is anybody aware of modules that are able to act as a dimming z-wave remote behind a existing switch?

Hope I explained it well, if now, let me know and I'll try and adjust!

Comments

  • EternityEternity Member
    I solved this with my standard wall switch plus a double Fibaro switchs(FGS-222). 

    Read the thread here:

    https://forum.athom.com/discussion/4140/hacking-a-fibaro-double-relay-switch-fgs-222-multiple-tapping
  • Flight777Flight777 Member
    edited February 2018
    @Eternity Thanks for the link. that indeed looks promising!! But how did you hook the double relay up without it actually turning on/off the power to the light?
  • RocodamelsheRocodamelshe Member
    Unpossible to place a dimmer before the Hue dimmable bulbs.
  • Flight777Flight777 Member
    Rocodamelshe said:
    Unpossible to place a dimmer before the Hue dimmable bulbs.
    That's not what I want ;) that's the actual problem that most z-wave modules are actually dimmers and cannot function as just a remote...
  • EternityEternity Member
    edited February 2018
    I hard connected the power behind the switch to always ON. So, pressing the switch (momentary type) is a trigger for a flow that does the Hue scene switching.
    Hue is always powered on. If Misses steps into the livingroom and pushes the switch, a Hue scene is called.

    PS
    Note that in the flows THAN section, I reset the switch to Off again. The triggers for the FGS-222 are  "On" or "Off", not "it switched state".

    Hope this is clear!


  • Flight777Flight777 Member
    Yes it is, thanks Eternity for the idea :) To makes this work, I would need a double momentary type, each with their own circuit, or on one circuit?

    Two circuits:

    https://www.elektrototaalmarkt.nl/abb-busch-jaeger/basiselement/impulsdrukker-4141697/1413-0-0509-2xmaak-serie/

    One circuit:

    https://www.elektrototaalmarkt.nl/abb-busch-jaeger/basiselement/impulsdrukker-4134707/1413-0-0491-2xmaak-serie/
  • EternityEternity Member
    Double!
    Otherwise you miss the second switch option. 

    Veel succes
     
  • Flight777Flight777 Member
    So I have been tinkering a bit and came up with this (theoretically) effective flow. However, because the light is not connected directly via Zigbee to Homey (Hue Cher not supported yet) the performance is very sporadic (might be a bug with the Hue app??). Setting higher brightness works 8/10 times as in flow below, but lowering brightness somehow only 1-2/10 times. So it might dim once and after 10 presses just goes completely off XD

    What I did, is I made a "counter" variable basically that sets the brightness of the hue light. With one press on the left button (double momentary switch) it will increase brightness with 10%, capping it at 100% of course ;)



    The right button will do the same but dim the light with 10% and ensuring it never goes into the negative values :)



    So my only problem now is the very sporadic response of the light on the decreasing brightness.... I suspect this is a problem with the actual Homey Hue app and how it talks to the bridge. The only way I'm sure is to directly connect the light via Zigbee to Homey but I need to wait until that light is supported :P


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