Advanced smart lighting control..

[Robbo]

This is for boaters who have been looking at lighting control but want something smart like the Wifi bulbs.

On my boat I've been looking for ages a good way to control the lights, with something a bit more than a light switch.
I did look at distributed power systems like Empirbus, but although nice it's costly and over what I really need and probably won't keep up with connecting to Internet based systems.

This isn't for the boaters that want a KISS principal of a on/off switch!

Goals..

Able to dim lights and set scenes with multiple lights.
12volt.
Reliable in operation.
Still has the KISS on/off switches!
Low power usage.
Not reliant a central controller.
Not reliant on the Internet.
Future proof.
Affordable.
Controllable via SmartPhone.
Controllable via Google Home / Alexa.

Whilst there is a few systems to control lights such as Standard 12v dimmers, DMX, DALI, RF.  Zigbee seems to be very much a compatible system with both KISS as well as advanced features and support.

Zigbee is used on the Philips hue range, Smartthings and Amazon's Echo Plus so not going anywhere soon.   It's a wireless mesh type network, range is about 30m LoS but the mesh part can extend that if required.

Heres what I've decided on that looks workable...

LED Ballast; Dresden Elektronik FLS-PP lp - these are 12-24v input and connect to the LED lights.  Although this is a RGBW controller it shows up as 2 lights on the Philips Hue Bridge so can control two sets of lights.  I use the RGB to control the standard white LED's.  Cost is around £50 each.

Switches; Dresden Elektronik Scene Switch - these can directly talk to the Ballasts and other Zigbee lights (like hue bulbs) so don't require the Hue Bridge.  Can handle 20 lights and 4 scenes and are battery powered so don't require wiring up. Cost is £85 each!!

Bridge; Philips Hue Bridge - this can do the advanced fancy stuff like turn the lights on slowly in the morning, etc.   Also connects to on-line services such as Alexa and Google Home to do the voice control stuff. It's 5v input, I've used a USB to Power DC lead to power it.  Unfortunately to connect to the network it requires a physical network connection.  Cost is £50.

Other stuff looked at.

Motion detector; Philips - Can detect motion and turn on the lights or scene based on time of day and light level.  Requires the bridge to work.

Switches; Not tried other switches like from Philips so not sure if will talk directly with the ballasts or needs the bridge.

Controller; Samsung Smartthings - More advanced, but only sees the Ballast as one light.  Can still be added to the system and work with the Philips Bridge if required.

Voice control; Google Home mini - recommended, will only improve with what it can do.

Smoke/CO alarm; Nest Protect - connects to the bridge and flashes the lights when detects smoke, etc.

Fans;  You can connect 12v fans to the Ballasts and control the speed if you wished.

 

Anyone else looked into all this stuff and looked at other equipment to do the stuff?

 

Edit to add, the ballasts are not compatible with HomeKit even thought the Philips Hue is. 

Edited January 13, 2018 by Robbo

[Rob-M]

Not done any of this myself but taking to a colleague at work last week and he had issues mixing different products when he had to upgrade the firmware on his lightbulbs as the bulbs needed the same brand bridge for firmware updating even though the bulbs could be controlled from other manufacturers bridge so he ended up having to buy another bridge to update the bulbs to resolve a control issue.

[Robbo]

12 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

Not done any of this myself but taking to a colleague at work last week and he had issues mixing different products when he had to upgrade the firmware on his lightbulbs as the bulbs needed the same brand bridge for firmware updating even though the bulbs could be controlled from other manufacturers bridge so he ended up having to buy another bridge to update the bulbs to resolve a control issue.

The ballasts can be updated via a ConBee USB device or Raspberry Pi shield to do a firmware update.   The USB/shield can also be used for more advanced Home control software that runs on a Pi/Linux/Windows, etc. but I've not looked into that seriously.  The software can also be used to Reset a Zigbee device which can be handy your messing about with it like me.

Edited January 13, 2018 by Robbo

[nicknorman]

Really glad we went for Empirbus on the boat. I’ve tried X10 and LightwaveRF at home, they are both pretty flaky.

[system 4-50]

I considered this remote control stuff briefly but decided the risk of the Russians turning off my lights while I'm in the shower was just too great.

[Dr Bob]

36 minutes ago, system 4-50 said:

I considered this remote control stuff briefly but decided the risk of the Russians turning off my lights while I'm in the shower was just too great.

Yes, they are getting into everything these days.

[WotEver]

7 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

Yes, they are getting into everything these days.

Speaking of Russians...

Today I was at the bookstore; as I was wandering around, the assistant stopped me and offered to help me.

I imagine I didn't look like his normal clientele, so I asked, "Do you have a copy of Donald Trump's book on his U.S. Immigration Policy regarding Muslims and illegal Mexicans?"

The assistant angrily said, "!@#% off, get out and stay out!"

I said, "Yes! That's the one. Do you have it in paperback?"

Edited January 13, 2018 by WotEver