Hiya. Wonder if I can ask for some (probably quite basic!) advice:
Context:
I have two hue bulbs and a hue dimmer (the round one with 4 buttons and circular dimmer control).
I have installed Cocohue, and the dimmer switch is currently configured within the hue app.
I am also using two "RoomLighting" apps on HE to set up buttons to toggle the two bulbs from different switches
Questions:
Should I remove the dimmer from the hue app and pair it directly with HE instead? (to minimise conflict between apps/buttons)
Is setting up two "RoomLighting" apps the best way to have different switches toggle different bulbs?
What's the best way to get the hue dimmer to dim both bulbs? Can I do this via a group/room on the "RoomLighting" app, should I do it through rule machine, or should I use another app?
By this I am thinking you are referring to the Hue Tap Dial accessory?
Technically I would say no, but personally I would suggest, if you intend to use the device in HE, moving all the automation logic to the one spot (HE or Hue) can make maintenance easier in the long run.
Another deciding factor is whether you are or intend to use the custom integrations of Coco-Hue or Advanced Hue Bridge Integration. These both support event notifications from the Hue bridge, whereas the HE built-in Hue integration only supports control of bulbs.
I would take inspiration from the name of the App in this case.... If you consider the bulbs part of a different "room" that will likely have different triggers for lighting and conditions for turning lights off, then separate RL instances make sense, potentially utilising the same hue dimmer / dial in both RL instances.
ThHe answer to this may depend on what you have tried / are seeing and what issues you may be experiencing. If you haven't tried and are just seeking advice... I might leave that for others to comment on. I personally use scenes more so that dimming, apart from some dimming options via Node RED.
Thanks for the speedy response - much appreciated!
On the last point - I'm probably being more dense than people may give me credit for... what is the bets way in HE to simply link a dimmer controller (yes - the hue tap dial) to a bulb/group so that one controls the other?
No, no (and by that I don't mean you are dense )... I was just wanting to confirm where we were starting from.
Like I said, I am not as experienced in dimming within HE. I know it's possible and that there are various options or approaches... but I am probably not the best to direct you on this.
One thing you may want to confirm, from my earlier post, is your how you plan to bring the Tap Dial in, are you using Coco-Hue or AHBI? You may want to review how the dial movements translate in these integrations. I played around with them when I first got my dials, plus I also looked at double-tap and hold's. That lead me to choosing to use Node RED with a Zigbee2MQTT instance to use my dials. Not to say all of those can't be achieved in HE, just that the complete list of features I wanted to use were best handled in NR.
It may pay to think about and, if you know, comment on any other plans you may have for using the dial devices.
In your case it may be easier to manage the dimming in the Hue App, regardless of my earlier recommendation for keeping things together. It depends on how the dial movements behaves in HE now.
@sburke781 has some good advice for you to consider. I've got a tap dial connected with Hubitat via CoCoHue, but I do not use the dimming function at all. Instead, those are just considered extra buttons (5 and 6), which I use to activate various rules or Hue scenes that change the light level rather than dim. I set everything up via Button Controller with buttons 1-4 controlling Room Lighting instances. Buttons 1-3 control the Kitchen, Dining Room, and Family Room in our open floor plan. Button 4 controls all the lights in the big zone. Buttons 5 and 6 modify whatever was set via buttons 1-4.
Since you are using CoCoHue, @bertabcd1234 might be able to give you some advice on how to use button controller or something similar to allow for them to dim
)... I was just wanting to confirm where we were starting from.
