App for a dimmer to control a group of Hue bulbs

I replaced the bulbs in our master bath with Hue bulbs a long time ago. Right now, they're completely automated. Is there any way to have a z-wave dimmer (Lutron) sync with as well as control these bulbs?

Specifically:

  • If the dimmer is manually activated, the bulbs should respond.
  • If the bulbs' levels are changed or are turned on/off by another automation, the dimmer should update its state accordingly.

Is there anything out there that will take care of this, or would I be looking at rolling my own?

First, are you sure your dimmer is Z-Wave? Lutron uses a proprietary wireless protocol in (almost?) all their products (e.g., the popular Caséta products use Clear Connect, which Hubitat interfaces to over Ethernet via telnet and other third-party integrations either do something similar or use the Lutron cloud).

If your switch is Z-Wave, some have a parameter or other option to disable the actual relay that turns the connected load on/off (e.g., I know Inovelli does but Zooz and others might too), which can basically turn it into a "smart button" of sorts that you can then make Hubitat do anything with--say, dim the lights (though how this works really depends on what events the switch reports to Hubitat--press, hold, release, etc.). I'm not sure the in-wall Lutron switches can do this (I don't have any). However, if you're using a Pico remote (which I do have), you can make it do whatever you want in Hubitat, including working like a dimmer, since every button is just something you can configure however you want in Hubitat (again, I don't have any of their hardwired switches so maybe they can do the same, but I suspect they are really just hard-coded to control the connected load).

That being said, the second part of your question involves "the dimmer updating its state." I'm guessing you mean your dimmer switch has some sort of LED "level" indicator. This is a bit trickier since (and again I could be wrong) I think the Lutron wall switch can just control the load, which with a Hue bulb is something you'll want to avoid doing with a dimmer switch (or at least the dimming).

If it were me, I'd probably ditch the wired dimmer and just use Pico remotes everywhere I want a dimmer (if you have Caséta or another compatible system, since it's not clear to me what you have). They fit in a standard wall plate, though you'd have to get rid of the switch underneath (or you can mount it standalone nearby or add an extra/empty gang). If you really like the wired switch, you might be able to find one that can be wired, has indicator lights, and allows disabling the relay so it doesn't dim or switch the mains power to the bulbs, but I'm not sure of any that meet all that criteria (if it weren't a dimmer or you know it's the type of dimmer that would work with this, you might also be able to make on that doesn't have a built-in relay-disable feature effectively work that way by connecting line to load behind the switch--and the smart switch will likely at least need line connected but I'm not sure what you'd do about load--or if anyone has tried this with a smart dimmer to see if it actually works; I'd not try unless you can find someone who knows more and has tried :slight_smile: ). If you get the wired dimmer to work like this without actually directly controlling the mains power to the attached load but still able to "think" it's dimming, you could then have an automation that matches the smart bulb dim level to that of the switch in either/both directions when one changes, thus achieving your goal.

But Pico remotes everywhere and no hardwired switch (especially a dimmer) with smart bulbs would definitely be my recommendation if you have the Lutron Smart Bridge Pro. :slight_smile: (If not, Hubitat is compatible with a lot of button controller devices that you can make to do something similar--and if your bulbs are Hue and paired to the Hue bridge, consider also the wireless Hue dimmer switch paired to the Hue hub.)

Interesting question.

You could do this with Rule Machine. There is an option in the action to set a dimmer to "track event dimmer". So, for example, if you use a trigger that responds to any dimmer level >= 1, and the action is to set dimmers with that option selected, then when you dim any of the dimmers, the rest will follow. Likewise, a trigger could turn them all on when any one or a particular one is turned on.

Motion Lighting also does this. You could probably use it without a motion sensor, although I haven't tried it. It has a feature that if you manually dim one of the dimmers selected, it will then set all of the selected dimmers to that level. It also supports the notion of one of the dimmers turning on all of them (in On options).

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Question about this, as a complete newbie, but trying this as everything seems much more intuitive than Vera (which we're migrating from):
I found the "Action" in "control dimmers" but the don't see any "Triggers" there - what am I doing wrong?

Here's 3 screenshots, sort of backwards.

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Thanks! But...I'm still a bit confused. I was able to get the first two "screens" completed, but I can't find the "Select Trigger Events (ANY will trigger)" in the top screenshot under any of the rule options for dimmers.
(note, I'm not actually using this with a bulb, I'm adapting this for a 1-to-1 dimmer switch to control a light).

Never mind (I think) - it looks like you can use either the 'convert to triggered event' to get there,=...hope this works!

No. Check this: You want to Define a Trigger. Don't mess with Triggered Rule until you know what you're doing.

got it, thanks...I definitely want to take it easy til I'm more up to speed...my husband set up the Vera stuff, I want to be involved with it this time to help, don't want to bite of more than i can chew!!! :watermelon:

Triggers are a good place to start: an event causes some action. Pretty basic.

Graduate from that to rules, where events cause conditions to be tested with a logical rule, resulting in one of two sets of actions taking place. Pretty much [if x then y else z].

Good advice. I also probably should have started a bit easier, as the light can be controlled by either the app or the physical switch (on the wall) which is itself not connected to the light, only a remote switch to the light. whew!

That sounds similar to "Dim with Me"

Ya, that little trigger is basically Dim With Me. A Group would do the same thing, but not with a physical dimmer as the leader.

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Good points, I'll take a look at that, but am trying to learn by doing, and really appreciate the pointers.
I got the dimmer tracking to work with both physical switch and the app (except the on/off since only the dimmer level is a trigger in that). Very satisfying!

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Can you help me understand this? Everything works except the dimmer doesn't turn off:

What do you want to cause it to turn off?

Maybe this should be a feature request as it's not an available option, but just thinking about this common situation, it seems that if the logic that allows dimmers to 'track' the event dimmer had a second option to track event dimmer's on/off status (separately from dimming level) as well as dimmer value that'd solve a bunch of similar tasks I have...

And thinking that through to switches, it'd be great to track the event switch (which seems would work for the on/off function of dimmers too.)

Taking it one step further ... it would be a nice option for many rule types.

You can do this with a very simple rule.

It's not uncommon to use multiple rules to accomplish a more complex or involved automation.

Yes, agreed.

Tantalizingly close, very simple user friendly option already working is "right there" but restricted to dimmer value is my only reason for commenting.

Even as is, looks much easier to configure lighting groups and scenes than the competition, so maybe its fine as is....

I'm not sure what it is you are wanting to do. The dimmer track action in Rule Machine is just a single, isolated action. Rule Machine is like a box of Legos, in that you can assemble complex automations with it piece by piece. As such, it's not necessarily the best way to do lighting automations.

Could you describe the specific use case you have in mind?