I'm just getting started with home automation. Naturally, I chose the most difficult lamp in my home to begin. It uses a candelabra shape bulb with a standard E26 base. I think it is known as a B10, B11, or B12 bulb. I would like to replace this traditional incandescent bulb with a smart bulb if at all possible.
I've searched Philips, Sylvania, Cree, Yeelighting, GE, and a few other manufacturers, but I have yet to find one that makes smart bulbs in this somewhat obscure size. Do you know of a company that could help me? Thanks in advance!
Hi. Yes, the bulb diameter is either B10, B11, or B12 and the base is E26. The E26 base is the standard base in the US, whereas the E12 is a "skinny" base. I need the E26.
With that combination, your best off either using a smart dimmer or a E12 base smart bulb with a E12 to E26 base adapter. They’re sometimes called a reducer socket.
Thank you! Those are great ideas. I wondered if there was an adapter for this kind of thing. If I can find an E12 base smart bulb that is short enough for this lamp, I can use a reducer socket to plug it in. Otherwise, perhaps I can order a regular (non smart) LED bulb with the appropriate base and use a smart dimmer to control it.
Generally Smart Bulbs are a choice that is easy to regret later. The reason is... they need power 100% of the time to be smart. No electricity, you can't do anything with them that would be "smart". Therefore, we, those of us (me) that regret later, suggest using regular bulbs and replace the switch with a smart device. That way the smart part never loses power.
That said, if you want a Smart Bulb, @aaiyar has given you some ideas.
To go along with @csteele’s experience, i had smart bulbs everywhere. I now have smart bulbs only where i want color, and have Caseta dimmers “everywhere”
That's an excellent point. When you say "replace the switch", do you mean plug the lamp into a smart outlet or some kind of smart switch with dimmer functionality?
If it would be more desirable you could make a "smart" fixture by adding a Aeotec Nano or similar to the base (somehow I got the impression you were working on a chandelier).
Actually, this isn't a chandelier. It's a table / bedside lamp with a max 60 watt incandescent bulb. Finding a replacement bulb for it is a challenge because the harp that holds the lampshade in place is fairly short which really limits my options.
OK, Table Lamp.. that's one place I am able to devise a power solution... usually there's a little switch up under the shade...
I have a Smart Bulb in a lamp with one of those. I unscrewed the little switch knob, now no one can turn off the power. If it's not that kind, it's harder to 'hack' to prevent the loss of power. If the base has room to hide a module:
Then your next set of choices are, a wall wart type of plug in outlet OR, replace the in-wall socket or wall switch. All of these come in switch or dimmer so you can maybe add some extra pizzaz.
Unfortunately, there's nowhere to hide anything in the base of this lamp as it's basically a solid, flat metal base. Given what this lamp originally cost, I'd rather not disassemble or rewire it. That way, if I decide to replace the lamp entirely (because it's given me too much grief already!), I can still sell it .
If you don't have any smart dimmers yet, can I recommend the Lutron Caseta line of products? They have dimmers, switches, lamp dimmers, and fan controllers. They integrate very well with Hubitat.
Lutron is very well known for lighting automation and their products are very good.
@aaiyar Thank you for the Lutron Caseta recommendation. I've seen their products mentioned a few times and will definitely do some further research now that I have your endorsement!
Lutron is frequently recommended by many Hubitat users for a lighting solution. I wish their motion sensors were also usable within Hubitat, but sadly, they aren't.
Also, as indicated by @neonturbo, their Pico remotes are useful for all sorts of things. I use Picos to control the volume on my speakers .....
@aaiyar Do you know why the Lutron motion sensors cannot be used within Hubitat? Is there a plan for them to be added later? I'm a big fan of ecosystems that support entire product ranges rather than a few things here and there.
Lutron's motion sensors pair directly to their switches/dimmers. While motion active/inactive may be transmitted to the Caseta pro bridge, this information isn't made available to integration partners that use the telnet interface on the Caseta pro bridge (like Hubitat).
There are others here who could answer this better (tagging @bertabcd1234 and @ogiewon)
@aaiyar is right: it is indeed a Lutron limitation, nothing Hubitat can do. Lutron chose not to send the active/inactive events for their motion sensors over the telnet interface, which is what third-party integrations (like Hubitat) use, as mentioned.
The RA2 system (e.g., with an RA2 Main Repeater) has sensors that do send this information over telnet. Mysteriously, the RA2 Select system uses the exact same sensors as RA2 and doesn't. Caséta (technically different sensors, I guess, but nearly identical in appearance...) also chose this path. My suspicion is that Lutron made this choice to differentiate product "features" based on price, but it could also be an oversight. You can find many people in Lutron's forums asking for this, but I'm not sure they've ever officially commented.
In either case, there's nothing Hubitat can add since Lutron limited the output of the telnet interface on some of their product line because...Lutron.
