Hey folks - I'm outfitting a new workshop with 8-9 100-150W high bay LED fixtures (actual 100-150W, not effective). They can be dimmed via 1-10V.
I'm mulling over my options. They are mounted high on the ceiling and will be piped with EMT conduit, so I'm considering just running them all (power and 0-10V) down to a "lighting" junction box. That way I can bank/separate them as needed, and keep 0-10V in separate conduit
Not sure what I want to do for control. I really like the idea of using the Zooz Zen54 0-10V modules, but that would almost make more sense to have the modules at each light, but I'd still need the "0-10V" line coming down to the lighting box to be used for switched input/control. So why not just use a dedicated zw/zb 0-10V dimmer...
I could forego the manual switched input (if I used the Zooz), but I'd need some type of wireless wall control (to hubitat). Not doing Casetta in the workshop so Picos are out.
With the layout I need discrete control of two individual lights, and two banks of three each. Of course control over every one could be possible but I don't want 8-9 wall switches/dimmers.
Anyone have experience deploying this many dimmable 0-10V fixtures? Any thoughts?
I did some in the past for aquarium lighting... but I was able to "cheat" in that the aquarium controller has modules designed for controlling the 0-10v and I did not want any manual switches. So I just had my Hubitat tell the aquarium controller to change the values.
But, a single Zooz ZEN54 will handle 480w of lighting. So you could just have it mounted near the switch and run the separate lines from there. Depending on the module you may be able to get by with various methods for the 0-10v line. For the ones I did, I was able to run Ethernet Cat5 (since I had plenty at the time) between the controlling module and the light, then just made a keystone jack that adapted it to the 0-10v input on the light fixture (which in my case was 2 capped wires in a panel).
Come to think of it... I still have couple of these panels in the basement waiting for a use. The aquarium is no longer active, but I still have lots of "parts" running since I still maintain drivers for it.
If you put the ZEN54 in your lighting box for the two banks of 3, looks like you could use one ZEN54 for all 3 fixtures. The other two that are single fixtures you could put it in the fixture and then only have to run the 10v line down to a switch.
Since the switch is low volt you could get creative and do a momentary push button something like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079HR5Q4R you would just need to find a panel to mount them into.
Momentary would be best if you want to be able to use it for dimming from the button, otherwise a regular toggle switch would just do on/off. The nice thing here would be it works without the hub, directly controlling the ZEN54.
Another idea I JUST had was you could use something like a ZEN32, have the large button each press it cycles between the lights changing the LED color so you know which light it is on. You could even make it do a little flash sequence or something. Then the small buttons you could use two for preset levels and have the other two buttons used for dim up/down. Or really whatever you want, that's just an idea. You could even use two ZEN32 side by side and have them control all the lights without having to cycle through.
Just depends on how much control you want. I think there are a lot of options here.
If you don’t want a gang of five switches you might use something like an Inovelli Blue switch. A single tap would turn on the most used light(s). Double tap can turn on all lights, triple tap turns on second most used combination, etc.
Or go with two switches where one controls the single lights and the other controls the banks.
It might be confusing for visitors but at least they would get something to turn on. Or set a single tap to turn on everything, then customize the multi taps. It just depends on your use cases.
You would have to verify with you lighting controller manual if it will accept PWM as well as 0 - 10V. If PWM is supported you might consider a Zooz RGBW dimmer. You could get 4 channels of control from each dimmer. I will admit controlling each dimmer individually may be a bit of a challenge.
Yeah I'm weighing my options... they make this MC cable called "Duo" that includes a 12/2 and 18/2 for the separate dimmer circuit all in one. But MC ran on the surface is hideous, and access above is severely limited (blown in insulated cathedral ceiling). So I'll likely hard pipe at least the power in EMT. On the 0-10V side it would be more feasible (still a pain) to fish some 18/2 alarm wire above the ceiling. Easier than the MC anyway, x8 lights.
Of course adding the Zen54 module to each light fixture means none of that separate control wiring is necessary. And it just occurred to me today I could even just put some smart outlets in the ceiling to do on/off control if I really wanted to dumb things down haha. It'd certainly still allow flexibility in only powering say 1/2 of the lights over the area vs all. But at 100-150W each there's a real cost saving incentive to dim them.
Anyway thanks for the thoughts as I figure this out.
The scene controller is a great idea! I haven't had a good track record with Zooz and their switch inputs. Which is kind of why I wanted to run each light's power and 0-10V down to a junction panel for complete future flexibility.
I have a two-channel in-wall Zooz switch (I forget the model) that won't work with the manual switch input because that line picks up induced voltage from other conductors in the cable. So it never detects it going to "zero". I don't have a whole lot of faith in using that functionality. Funny because I also hesitate to go "all in" on automation-controlled lighting. If zwave network has any issues (or scene controller, or hubitat), NO LIGHTS! That's kinda scary. That said the two other in-wall Zooz switches have been 100% flawless for probably two years of daily use (one a ceiling fan).
Putting the Zen54 at each light sure would save a lot of wiring hassle. Only need one power circuit up to power all junction boxes/lights. As I mentioned in another reply if push came to shove I could also just put smart outlets at each light, if the dimming didn't pan out.
Good call. I think based on your suggestion (if I do go full in on zwave module control vs wall control) I might just make one of the lights an 'emergency' light, via a dedicated zwave wall switch. That way if anything ever happens to the network / mesh there's at least one light that can be manually tuned on.
Ultimate flexibility (ultimate pain) would be to run all lights and 0-10 down to a single junction box. Ultimate laziness would be a Zen54 at each light. I just need to strike a balance in there somewhere.
There’s something about Zigbee binding that I haven’t looked into yet. You might be able to bind a light to a switch and still have Hubitat control. Im not sure about it but I’ve come across it in the Inovelli forums.
For zwave this is referred to as direct association, and is something I haven't needed to mess around with up until now, but it's a good suggestion, thanks!
Its a ZEN52, and I think it only happens with a long switch run and/or 3-way setup. If its the issue I am thinking of they released a hardware fix after they figured it out and would replace them under warranty as needed. If it says Firmware 1.30 on the back it is the updated hardware. I had this issue on a ZEN51 and a replacement device with the same exact wiring works great.
I did test the switch connection on the ZEN54 as part of making my driver. It seemed to work fine but this was with everything in open air and short wire runs on my test bench.
No you're totally right I forgot about that, to their credit. So annoyed I gave up (and mentally dismissed the fix).
Anyway in your testing of the Zen54, were high and low trim levels fully adjustable? The fixture I'm using is technically 1-10V, but I gather this may be a matter of semantics? (operational range is usually always 1-10 but this method of control typically actually ranges 0-10V)?
You mean with voltage output getting the full range? Or are you asking if you can limit the high / low thresholds? You can limit the range on the min from 1-45 and the high from 55-99.
I think it was @pomonabill220 who put a meter on it and measured the voltage at various levels and found it was acceptable. For some reason I cannot find that post though.
