Fibaro dimmers.... what dumb switches?

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Looking for some ideas or inspiration

I kinda have decided the fibaro dimmers can do what I require. My house has a few 2 way and 3 way lighting setups.

And I think I'm right that the fibaro adds onto the conventional dumb system to give me smart control of the lighting.

But on both the 2 and 3 way dumb setup I'd still like dimming ability and I'd like the switches to look good. I've been told they would have to be retractive dimmers

So what are others using? Keen to get moving on this stage

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Yes they should be retractive switches. They can be push to make (look like normal switches) or ideally centre off retractive (better control).

Look at click scolmore mini grid range.

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I'll definitely check them out.

Was hoping to not have to use grid switches as I'm not the biggest fan, they feel kind of dated.

Was hoping to use something with a glass plate and be more a touch button. But I honestly don't even know if that's going to be possible.

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I use these:

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I use these:

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There not grid that you probably expect and they have a massive range of different ranges. Touch buttons won't be possible with the fibaro's but I believe click do buttons. Basically you chose the look of the switch then you choose the switch type and look.

There are touch switches out there that are ZigBee as I have seen a few people report them on here. They have 1, 2 or 3 switches lines from memory. It's the dimming that you loose sometimes though when you go that route.

Touch is not very user friendly with dimming. Depends on the setup though.

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I have to add that I have retractive switches on 3 of my Fibaro dimmer lights, and regular toggle switches on the remaining 5. I very very very rarely (once every ~4-6 months) use the dimmer switch on the wall for anything other than on/off. All the other times it is driven by scenes/automations, or by voice control while I'm on the sofa or carrying something...etc. As a result I wouldn't bother with retractive switches in the future.

Would be interested to hear other people's experiences of this...

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Pretty much the same as you. I do have a hue dimmer where the outer buttons are used to toggle 100/20% lighting thou.

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So if I have a 3 way setup in my hall/stairs and just fit toggle switches top middle and bottom per say, all the switches will do whats needed with on and off function but dimming would solely be done with voice or hubitat?

And it would always turn back on at whatever % it was set to the previous time? Is that right.

The way I'm seeing it is you come out your room in middle of the night, you turn the light on and it blinds you :joy: then you have to voice command the brightness down.

Edit.. but thinking a bit more on it, if a door sensor on my bedroom door had a rule that if the door is opened between midnight and 7am, the led coving lights could be set to come on at 40% as an example. Which would be kinda nice.

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Yes, the toggle switches on my stairs lights are exactly the same as when I had a regular/dumb light, the only difference is that a fibaro sits between the switches and the light (i.e. one light has three toggle switches).

I wrote (based on a Smartthings example) a device handler for Fibaro Dimmers that creates a nightmode. At a chosen time the light goes to a chosen brightness (either forced at that time or on the next toggle after that time). Any time you turn on (via switch or app) in that time period it turns on at X%, and automatically goes back to 100% outside of the chosen time period.
With this feature it doesnt return to previous level, it always goes to one of two levels (night brightness or non-night brightness). But if I want a chosen brightness I can always set it to that.

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Oh sweet, that's decent.

I'm trying to invest in the correct tech now while I have ceilings and walls opened up.

Have been looking at the scolmore switches, and I think these may be the route I take. Glass touch would have been nice, but if they won't work I can let go of that idea.

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For info I use the BG nexus screwless range for all of my switches and sockets (e.g. here) as they are great value and look smart, plus super reliable compared to touch stuff. Whilst they don't have any retractive switches, as I said above I would probably not bother with them again and just stick to toggles.

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I'm the same. But I'm a big fan of having a stack of tech, which csn also happily be used dumb and intuitively. Too dim? Pretty much anyone (mother in law included) just hits the dimmer.