Adsibob

This is a very clever, though now I think about it, very obvious advantage of luminaires. I got pissed off with the last luminaire because it was bloody expensive and when a part inside it failed, even though it was a Siteco branded part with a clear part number, Siteco wouldn't sell me one individually. So thought lightbulbs were better. But now I'm regretting the lightbulbs.

Good point. How do I work that out? I guess if it’s running in series, unscrewing one will cause the other to switch off. Have I remembered my GCSE physics correctly?

Got rid of a somewhat sophisticated LED luminaire and replaced it with a light fitting that takes two E27 bulbs. The light is rated for a maximum wattage of 2 x 40W, which with modern LED tech should be plenty to replicate the 3000 lumens we had from the old LED luminaire. So I bought two of these bulbs: https://www.screwfix.com/p/sylvania-toledo-platinum-e27-gls-led-light-bulb-1535lm-7-3w/959vn which at 1535 lumens each, should give us plenty of light. Wired in the new ceiling lamp screwed the two E27 lights in, switch it on and it is a very dim yellow light indeed. This is 3m above a utility room and it the light is just not very utilitarian. I originally thought the reason the light was so pants was that the diffuser that comes with the light fitting is far too thick, it's slightly frosted and has a cheap and slightly aquamarine blue tinge to it. The light bulbs are 2700K, the same (I believe, as the luminaire we had before - though maybe it was 3000K). But when I removed the diffuser and ran the light without it, it really wasn't that much better, just a little brighter, but really not much. Are the Sylvania lightbulbs I've purchased from Screwfix really that crap? Looking for brighter lightbulbs that does not exceed the 40W rating per bulb, the only thing reasonably priced I've found is this: https://www.bltdirect.com/high-quality-gls-e27-bulb-2000lm-brightness-14-5w-power-4000k-cool-white-non-dimmable-200-degree-beam-angle-frosted-finish I wouldn't normally never buy a 4000K coloured lightbulb for the home, but this is in a utility room and maybe a bluer light is not a bad thing. Not sure. Any suggestions for which lightbulbs to get to significantly boost the light in this utility room? Don't understand why 3070 lumens from two LED light bulbs is not producing anywhere near as much light as the 3000 lumen LED luminaire we had before???

Please don’t do this. As much as I hate conveyancers, a good one is with their fee several times over. You don’t want to make DIY mistakes on what’s likely to be one of the highest value transactions you havre ever entered into.

It is the WiFi Interface (accessed via a web browser rather than an app), but I don’t think it’s lost connection as otherwise I would get a connection error, whereas the interface seems happy in twitch if all other data points.

Yes, it’sa presence sensor. That appears to be working just fine, in that the light still comes on when it’s meant to and stays on for the amount of time it’s meant to.

The fresh air temperature reading on my Brink Flair 400 appears to be Stuck at constant: anyone had this (presumed) sensor fault before?

Thanks. The external diameter of the LED ring is about 20cm and the internal diameter is about 10cm. But how would I work out which capacitor. If any welding is required, that rules me out. Interesting… even for Siteco modules? I thought they were a reputable company. Other option I have is to buy a driver and LED chip pair, that way I know they are compatible with eachother. Though shame to waste money on replacing the led chip given that it’s still working.

Why do you say that @Temp? Because of the flickering symptom?

We have a flush mounted ceiling light that produces 1480 lumens at 3000K. It has a module inside it which acts as a presence sensor so it comes on when people walk into the room, and switches off a certain number of minutes afterwards. There is also another module inside, branded Siteco, which is the LED driver. After almost 4 years of regular use (at least a few on/off cycles a day) it has started to flicker. The flickering is worst when first coming on in a day; after that it’s sometimes a bit better, depending how long between activations. I attach some photos. I searched for replacement circular LED chips using the model codes on the circular chip itself, but had no luck. Can’t believe I need to replace the whole unit when it’s just the LED chip which is dying. any ideas?

We ended up replacing the microwave as it was about the same money as paying for a repair out of warranty and SWMBO didn’t like the microwave in any case.

I’ve had a setup where I run internet from a Ubiquiti Dream router to a PoE Switch via a pair of TP-Link powerline adaptors. The PoE switch then provides data and power to two Ring PoE security cameras. It’s worked really well for the best part of a year. I have Ubiquiti surge protectors interrupting each PoE connection (ie between the PoE camera and the Switch) just for belt and braces protection. A couple days ago both of these Ring cameras went offline. My other PoE cameras were fine although they are plugged into the Ubiquiti Dream Router directly. Initially I thought the issue was the cameras themselves, as the TP-Link powerline adaptor had normal indicator lights and I just suspected Ring over a reliable brand like TP-Link. Tried resetting and reinstalling them, but that failed. It soon became clear there is a fault with the TP-Link as leaving it on causes the consumer unit to trip the only other appliance plugged in on that socket pair (a tumble drier). So this means the TP-Link has died after 10-11 months of continuous use. Annoyingly I think it’s out of warranty, as I bought it a while back. Just wondering whether to replace with another Tp-Link adaptor, or go for a more reliable brand.

Actually, ignore me. I’ve just checked approved doc F off the Regs, and that only requires 0.3ACH so 0.45 is fine. Have you had works done recently (eg poured slab or screed or plasterwork which could still be wet, that would explain the excess humidity?

This sounds very low to me, but I may well be wrong. If you increase the ventilation to at least 1 ach you will drop the humidity. You might also improve the smell issue.

Thanks @Temp, as the last comment on the thread you found says, I’m in the same boat: I have three Shelly motions and yet only one has this problem. I will try rebooting it, as I’m not sure how to communicate with it via the browser. Do they mean just a web browser?

We have some Shelly Motion sensors rigged up (wirelessly) to a Shelly Plus 1PM that’s connected to a pump. Although it was a pain to set up and configure, once I got it working it has worked flawlessly for the past 3.5 years… except for one thing: in the last 18 months I’ve noticed that the battery life has gotten worse. They used to last a year before needing to be recharged. But over the last 18 months the life post charge has got shorter and shorter. Looking at my logs I see that it reported low battery three times in the last 9 months, so I’m getting an average of 3 months per charge. Wondering if anyone else has experienced this. Looking at the webstore it appears they’ve discontinued the particular product I’ve got, which was simply called “Shelly Motion”. Maybe this is why.

Yes, that’s the theory. In practice, the videos I’ve seen suggest plugging into the power supply is quite fiddly.

That's reassuring. Might just be easier to get the solar powered one then. It's about £10 more, but less fiddly to install I believe.

I have a Velux Integra GGL window which is wired in and runs off our main electricity. I need to purchase and install a blackout blind for it. Options are solar or an electric one. The solar one is easier to install but the battery will eventually need replacing in 7 to 10 years time. The roof light is east facing so should get plenty of sun, though not sure if that's enough in the darkest depths of winter. I'm considering the electric option, but concerned it may be tricky to install the electric connection, though apparently it is relatively plug and play friendly... Anyone have experience of installing these? The other complexity is the skylight in question is fairly high up (the bottom of it is about 2.3m above floor height) so I'm not sure I'll be able to do it with just my ladder. Might need to get two ladders and build a platform.

No.

@TonyT do you own a Netatmo doorbell? If so, are you happy with it?

I think both with the Netatmo automation you can control both opening and closing of the roller shutter and of the window. So if I've understood it correctly (and that's a big IF right now): at night we could go to bed with the roller shutter open (as there is no solar gain after 1pm on that side of the house) and the window open as it would be desirable to have ventilation over night we could set it to close the roller shutter and close the window at sunrise. What would be particularly good if there is sufficiently detailed control to allow the roller shutter to close at sunrise, but the window to remain slightly open, so ventilation continues until the outside temperature reaches a certain level. For that, I need someone who owns this setup to volunteer their experience.

@JohnMo you make me laugh. That's not automation. That's do it yourself. We like to have the ventilation from the velux at night and I'm not getting up at the crack of dawn to close the roller shutters and close the window. Will research how reliable Netatmo for Velux is. We have good wifi so I'd be surprised if there was an issue, but you never know.

Thanks @Russdl. Yes, I currently try and do this and have external temperature data from our Brink Flair 400 MVHR machine which I use for deciding when to do that. The issue I will have is how to integrate that temperature data for automating this. Velux smart kit Netatmo can apparently speak to Apple Homekit so that may be one option (although I don't currently use Apple Homekit, I could given I'm an iphone user and have other mac devices as well). Another possibility is to rely on the Netatmo's ability to consult local weather forecasts, though I do wonder whether those are accurate enough. Anyone have any experience with automation of these windows/blinds through Velux Netatmo?