I replaced my RM rules for lights and replaced them with the Room Lighting app as it seems like a better approach.
I am fighting one problem though that I may still have to depend on RM for.
I have LIFX bulbs and Homeseer dimmers on the wall. It all works fine except when using Alexa to adjust the level of the Room Lighting device. The dimmers understand smart bulbs and know to leave the power on to the bulb even when they are turned off (either physically or logically).
These dimmers have 7 LED's on them that reflect the dimmer level setting. I want these ON when the bulb it controls is on and off when it's off. The dimmer needs to be fully on to power the bulb. To do this, I needed to include the dimmer in the Room Lighting automation (ON/OFF to 100/0).
The problem is that when I tell Alexa to dim the Room Lighting Device to say 50...since the physical dimmer is in the automation, it lowers it to 50 as well. This cuts the proper power to the bulb.
What models and what firmware? The newer ones have smart bulb mode (they really resisted feedback to add this feature for a long time, and their older ones don't...) that might do what you want without many changes on your end.
Be cool if someone else made something with a similar set of 7 status LED's...since they can be programmed to either show dimmer levels or the status 7 different devices...say a lock. These are all on the very latest firmware and devices. They are second generation of 300 dimmers. That is already enabled. It changes nothing. On the other hand...that made me think. Maybe the power never actually changes in this mode...maybe it's just the LED's. Thanks...I will update.
In the RL table, change the dimmer to a switch. This will remove the level and just leave on/off. When Alexa adjusts the level, it shouldn’t impact the dimmer just the bulbs.
The WX-300 R2? That supports smart bulb mode for sure. The original WX-300 also does but needs a firmware update. Pretty sure they never added it to the WD-200+ and similar older models.
If it's enabled, yes, that is the intent--it's not quite the same as just disabling local control (not sure if they offer this feature at all, though some others do).
Inovelli Blue (zigbee) and Red (z-wave) series switches can do this exactly - they have a 7-LED customizable light bar.
Their White series (thread/matter) also has the LED bar, but the current state of thread/matter immaturity currently doesn't allow for much LED bar customization.
Yup, they disable local control and then any of the 10 buttons do different colors...or trigger different things when in any mode.
What's even cooler...that I didn't expect since they report the lower power level back to the HE interface...is that they are their LED's are in sink with the LIFX bulb., but NOT really varying the power to the bulb. I put a regular dimmer bulb in the lamp and even when the LED's dropped to the lowest level the standard dimmable bulb never changed brightness.
So, when the bulb is at brightness 50...the wall switch reflects that value even though the power to the bulb is still at 100... Awesome!
Thanks for getting me to think about it...seeing always isn't believing
