Hi all, now I’ve been posting and thumbing this forum for some time and its fab so thanks for the great advise but i always seem to run into problems i.e compatibility issues along the way.
So id like to ask you all which direction i should go as i really need to build then best smart home solution for me without buying products then testing then realising its not what i thought it was.
So forget what gear i already have and i would like to tell you what i would like and whether its possible.
Just to let you all know that I'm in the uk
At present i run a smartthings hub but am thinking of running the hubitat and smartthings side by side
First thing is lighting… i would like to keep the flexibility of smart bulbs so i would like wireless switches that are dimmable and able to set scenes but would like these to work locally just incase the internet goes down or i have problems with the hub.
I also like to idea of a dashboard on a tablet as a main controller so ideas on different solutions would be great.
Think thats enough to be going on with.
Thanks again in advance for your thoughts. Kev
OK, that makes sense. Most of us use some number of Zigbee bulbs, either directly paired to the Hubitat Hub, or via a Philips Hue bridge.
This is a little more challenging... For most, 'switches' and 'dimmers' are devices that are installed within your walls to replace your existing lighting controls. I am interpreting your question to to be more of a request for recommended 'button controller' devices available in the UK. Button Controllers are typically wireless devices that only send a signal back to the home automation hub indicating that a particular button was either pressed or held. Then the hub decides what action to take. With Hubitat, this will still work great if your internet is down...however the Hubitat Hub needs to still be up and running. Philips Hue offers some button controllers (they might call them switches) that can be paired directly with their Hue bridge to control their lights. That might be an option if you don't want to rely on the Hubitat hub. Of course, you're then relying on the Philips Hue bridge.
Many of us also replace the in-wall switches with Smart Switches and Dimmers. These always work, whether the hub/internet is up or not.
Hopefully that helps a little... Good luck!
P.S. If you were in the US, I'd recommend Lutron Pico Remotes as they work great with the Hubitat hub via the Lutron SmartBridge Pro. Inexpensive, 10 year battery, and very fast integration with Hubitat.
1 Like
Ogiewon thanks for the prompt reply, am I asking too much for full smart bulb control as I understand your way only gives on/off and dimming options in a certain Kelvin.
If you can get the Lutron bridge in UK voltage would the remotes work over here in the uk.
Would then also be able to control the lighting locally if I used hubitat hub.
Cheers kev
Not exactly sure what you're asking... Please restate the question.
The Lutron SmartBridge Pro is probably only sold in the USA. The power supply for it is 120/240VAC, 50/60Hz (I checked for another overseas user not too long ago.) The Pico Remotes use Lutron's Clear Connect RF protocol. You'd need to make certain that it is allowed in the UK.
Using the Picos would require both the Hubitat Elevation hub and the Lutron SmartBridge Pro to be up and working, as well as your LAN. Not sure whether or not that meets your requirements.
Actually I think you may have misunderstood what @ogiewon was saying (unless I have misunderstood your reply 
).
If you want to use smart bulbs, you don’t want a “switch” because that’s a device that switches electrical current on and off. As he said, you want a “button controller”, which is usually battery powered and on its own can’t do anything when one of its buttons is pushed. But when both a smart bulb and a button controller are paired to a hub like hubitat, you program the hub to take some action on the smart bulb when the button controller is pushed. It could be anything the bulb is capable of doing.
As a practical matter, you are somewhat limited by the number of buttons on a particular device, and whether it sends a different event to the hub when it is pushed vs. held.
1 Like
Sorry what I ment by a wireless switch was that it doesn't have wires to connect the switch. Sorry for the confusion
I've just picked up a Niko friends of hue dimmer switch. Does anyone else have this dimmer?
Now my first thoughts are cheap,the switch doesn't feel premium for the price and the plastic feels cheap.
Now I bought this along with the Phillips hue hub so that I could run smart bulbs with this switch locally.
Now I'm having second thoughts as the switch is a let down over what I was expecting,does anybody know a better made light switch that can do what the Niko can do.
I don't have to use hue products but I need the switch to work with smart lights.
Many thanks kev
I don’t think you ever specified which bulbs you use, or if you have them paired to a hue bridge or directly to your HE hub. But judging by the above statements the bulbs must be paired to the hue bridge.
If you really want to maintain local control including when the hubitat hub is not working, that does limit your options. The bulbs would have to be paired to a hue bridge, and the dimmer device you use would have to work directly with the hue bridge too.
Using a button controller that’s paired to hubitat, regardless of whether the bulbs are paired to a hue bridge or directly to hubitat, gives you more options in terms of devices and the automations you can program to have the lights do specific things when individual buttons are pushed or held.
1 Like
Hi mark thanks for your reply,
Currently I have lifx & tradfri bulbs but with me buying the hue bridge if all this works locally with the Niko dimmer then I'll be swopping them all for the hue bulbs Inc there light strips.
I currently have 3 smarthings buttons which I really like but I need 4 zones in the kitchen so 1 button wouldn't be able to control them all that's why I first bought the aeotec wallmote but I couldn't get that working the way I wanted it too so I bought the Niko dimmer but so far I'm not impressed with the quality.
Cheers kev
