Lutron type light systems

[Howard-]

Harry Flashman said:

Good to know - are you using the master dimmers on low run (one or two) LED integrated fittings? I have a load left to buy (so far have only wired up large runs), so it would be good to make sure they ship me the latest stuff. Please could I have the model numbers/a link?

Nope, I was just using plain old pendant lights and bayonet bulbs. I've switched to Philips Hue now (not through any fault of LightwaveRF). It's the W400-series dimmers you want, i.e. http://www.megamanuk.com/lightwaverf/products/dimm... although they're pretty much standard now. If you're using appropriately compatible 240v LEDs (I'd always recommend Megaman - there doesn't seem to be much in the way of standardisation as to how accurate or relevant the word "dimmable" on the packaging is!) then the fitting should be irrelevant.

My point really was that the current requirements for the 'new' LWRF dimmers are pretty low, and Megaman bulbs and LWRF dimmers appear to be a match made in heaven.

[Adam B]

VEX said:

Rako, all day, everyday, you don't even need to change the wiring design from standard, circa £600 for 4 circuits and a keypad.

Less if you know who to ask!

V.

You have PM Chris

[Adam B]

Harry F

thanks for advice so far, had a chat with MiSmartHome.co.uk about Lightwave RF stuff and I like the simplicity and ability to add to it with minimum fuss

So it looks like I need:

LW440 4 gang master wired to mains, for my 4 circuits, the pendant and LED light box may not be dimmable as you state, althgouh perhaps they are more compatible now per conversation above?

4x LW221 wireless controller (annoyingly these are only 2 gang so have to join 2 together in a 4 gang wall box)

LW930 weblink so I can program and turn on/off from outside the home

already looking at LW921 thermostat and LW920 boiler switch

Edited by Adam B on Thursday 27th October 16:36

[Harry Flashman]

Good luck! Keep us all posted on this thread to let us know how you get on.

On the heating stuff - I wouldn't. I tried it and frankly it was a bit flaky. I still have the stuff in the loft - you can have it at a knock-down price if you really want it, but I would use a Nest or better still Honeywell Evohome. The LRF boiler stuff was OK but a bit crude, app-wise, and had a tendency to not work do well. That was a couple of years back - things may have changed. Evohome especially is superb, and will integrate with LRF through IFTTT I believe.

Edited by Harry Flashman on Thursday 27th October 16:47

[garreth64]

I have no personal experience, but have read a lot of less than good things about the heating as well, plus LWRF now works with NEST. http://lightwaverf.com/works-with-nest/

Also can be worth checking out the LWRF outlet store. I got some of my bits from there at a cheaper price, though they don't seem to have a lot at present. https://shop.lightwaverf.com

[Adam B]

thanks, useful warning

Evohome looks good but punchy


Part Number Description Qty Price
ATP921R3100 evohome Wi-Fi base pack 1 £249
ATF500DHW evohome Hot Water Kit 1 £85
ATF600 evohome In-Wall Power Supply 1 £39
HR92UK evohome Radiator Zone Kit 5 £295
Y87RF2024 Wireless Thermostat 1 £89
BDR91T1004 Wireless Relay Box 1 £45
Total £802.00

[Harry Flashman]

You can get Evohomefor less (I used Plembcentre), but yes, it's pricey. Well over £1k for our setup on the new house that includes hot water capability, zones through radiator valves, underfloor heating controller etc. But it is the best controller of it's kind on the market.

Use Nest - I think it's good value with a superb interface (I have used it in the flat for a couple of years) and tie it to the LRF lighting.

LRF's heating stuff is a bit basic, and no cheaper than a Nest, I think.

[dmsims]

Think I'm going to start up a company the heating/lighting arena is still an utter mess

Lutron - seriously who would have that ELC looking ste in their home, USA 70's at it's worst - did i say it looks utter ste ?

Hue - only ES seriously what about SES, BC and the fact that if you use a wall switch the settings revert to default what brainbox designed that ??

Lightwave RF - I had some of this but it was just too unreliable esp. the socket adapters, it would work for weeks then just unpair itself from the remotes

Evohome is great but it's just an island

For a lot of these the price being asked are just taking the piss

[dmsims]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

EFA

[dmsims]

No, No, yes unfortunately

you can't polish a turd



I'll have mine in DCR

[Salesy]

VEX said:

Rako, all day, everyday, you don't even need to change the wiring design from standard, circa £600 for 4 circuits and a keypad.

Less if you know who to ask!

V.

Another vote for Rako, SO SO flexible and you can add at any time.

If you have low load levels you can always top it up with a Danlers Resload. Adds 10W to the system but no light.

[Salesy]

Adam B said:

thanks, useful warning

Evohome looks good but punchy


Part Number Description Qty Price
ATP921R3100 evohome Wi-Fi base pack 1 £249
ATF500DHW evohome Hot Water Kit 1 £85
ATF600 evohome In-Wall Power Supply 1 £39
HR92UK evohome Radiator Zone Kit 5 £295
Y87RF2024 Wireless Thermostat 1 £89
BDR91T1004 Wireless Relay Box 1 £45
Total £802.00

Evohome is by far the better system out there. I specced a job to use Drayton controls, Migenie with 4 zones and wifi control.
The system had bugs and was supposed to update over the air but never did. 4 replacement units from drayton over 12 months and i eventually ripped it out. Put the evohome in and 4 separate stats never had a call back.

[Oakey]

dmsims said:

Think I'm going to start up a company the heating/lighting arena is still an utter mess

Lutron - seriously who would have that ELC looking ste in their home, USA 70's at it's worst - did i say it looks utter ste ?

Hue - only ES seriously what about SES, BC and the fact that if you use a wall switch the settings revert to default what brainbox designed that ??

Lightwave RF - I had some of this but it was just too unreliable esp. the socket adapters, it would work for weeks then just unpair itself from the remotes

Evohome is great but it's just an island

For a lot of these the price being asked are just taking the piss

Hue does GU10 and B22, I think there is some SES stuff on the way, although may only be white to start with.

[cerbfan]

I know I've mentioned it on a few threads now but its only because I've installed it myself and think its an excellent system but you should consider MODE as well. There equivalent to what you're looking for would be Scenestyle which would dim and control 4 channels of lighting including LED with trailing edge dimming. I've got a large EDIN setup and its been flawless for the year that it has been and that's with me fitting and programming it myself.

Will soon be expanding it to cover the original part of the house as well and looking forward to getting that up and running. Around half the price of Lutron and you can program everything yourself and don't need to get an installer back.

I did actually toy with the idea of starting a lighting company earlier this year and actually got the go ahead to start selling MODE systems but then I managed to get work again (oil industry, not good times!) so never went ahead.

[elster]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Do they still offer no protection on their circuits still?

Had to swap a few when people used to short a cable.

[HotJambalaya]

I actually just started a thread over on the gadgets side about something similar.

Do any of the other systems mentioned here also have curtain controls? I want to be able to control them remotely and/or with a wall controller

[NorthDave]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I'm 100% with you Toxic. I did write a response but it wasn't as well worded as yours so I deleted it for fear of causing offence!

[elster]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Replaced 2 Graphic eye's due to shorts. There was zero protection from outputs, seemed a dumb idea. Even if it was a simple onboard fuse would have sufficed. Both of the units had to be sent back to Lutron to be repaired and were just swapped.

This was on one building I was working on, separate apartments over a year apart.

[dxg]

I've been enjoying myself lately with an echo and some hue bulbs. Consumer grade, I know, but cheap(ish) and hackable... Plus it's fun to show off to friends by speaking your commands. And it's actually useful to walk into a room in the dark, with hands full, etc. and instruct the lights to come on.

But there's no easy was to do scenes. I'll have to sort that out over the Christmas break...

[dxg]

You can do scenes in a variety of ways, using Philips own app, its physical (but US-sized) switches, and a bunch of third party gubbins.

But there's no simple way for the Echo (specifically) to do scenes with Hue. The connection between Hue and the Alexa app can't differentiate between individual bulbs and the groups to which they belong. It does on, off and dimining (either by instructing "up" / "down" or a specific % illumination), just fine. You can't however, for example, tell it to "set lights for movies".