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Mood lighting etc


bassanclan

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I have an open plan kitchen/sitting/dining area.

 

There are seven lighting circuits proposed:

 

1. Light over dining table area

2. Light over sitting area

3. Downlights in cooking area of kitchen

4. Under cabinet lights

5. Over cabinet led strip light

6. Over 'false celing' strip light

7. Plinth led strip light

 

It has been first fixed, with the wires for switches coming to the usual place for a lightswitches, just as you go in through the door.

 

I want to have switches to put different moods etc

A: ON/OFF all lights

B: Mood One: Cooking E.g. Downlights in cooking area 100%

C: Mood Two: Eating, e.gLight over dining area 100%, lights in the kitchen area dimmed by 75% etc

D: Mood Three: Sitting,  lights in the dining area dimmed 50% lights in the kitchen area dimmed 50%

 

I looked at the lightwave RF products which seem reasonably priced, but they seem to only have a max of 4 circuits.

 

I have no prior knowlege of these sort of controls.

Any pointers?

 

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Guest Alphonsox

We have  a few Philips Hue devices which are expensive but work well. There is an equivalent system from IKEA called TRÅDFRI  which I haven't tried but may tick the box.

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17 minutes ago, Lesgrandepotato said:

I’ve a similar problem, I’m solving it with a Fibaro home centre 2 setup. More on this on the next few weeks as I start getting it set up. 

Looks a nice bit of kit. 

Which module connects the lighting, and how? 

10 hours ago, bassanclan said:

It has been first fixed, with the wires for switches coming to the usual place for a lightswitches, just as you go in through the door.

Have you run parallel cable runs to a remote location i.e. where the switching / dimming unit would go ? I'd assumed the control panel would reside there, not the actual switches. In fairness the last scene setting lighting arrangements I fitted was years ago, in retail outlets on board cruise liners. Things have got a lot smaller and a lot cleverer since so I'll watch this with interest. 

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11 hours ago, bassanclan said:

I looked at the lightwave RF products which seem reasonably priced, but they seem to only have a max of 4 circuits.

Why do you think it's a max of 4 circuits? I've got this all over my house, way more than 4 circuits.

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That Fibaro hub looks a bit complex for just a lighting solution.

The Ikea system seems to restrict you to using their light bulbs.

 

I thought about wiring where the control over unit would go, but I don't know exactly what I need etc and assumed that a solution would work in a similar way to the lightwave system, with wireless switches etc.

 

By 4 circuits I meant the lightwave do a maximum 4gang switch and I want to be able to operate 7 lights in one room with one controller

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The design approach we’ve taken is to wire the house as normal ( excepting making sure we have neutrals available everywhere) we then have mk logic mini grid switches. At each key location there is an extra switch to be added on the faceplate as a retractive 1/2/3 click or hold switch. This will give the scenes applicable to the area. We also have door sensors, some coloured Phillips hue and and 8 way heating system to control. Plus the control for the thermal store and eventual hydro plant. 

 

I figured a hub was warranted... we have 17 lighting circuits in the open plan space and they need to operate in gourds to make it make sense and set the room to its best. 

 

In terms of wiring in, it’s just a tiny extra module in a 47mm back box. 

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16 hours ago, pudding said:

Ah I see. You want a controller on the wall that can control all 7 circuits? Or you can use a mood controller to control more than 1 circuit for each button and set the dim/groups via that?

 

Yes I think that is what I am looking for.

I spoke to someone at Lightwave and one mood controller can speak to different light switches, so the mood controller (now called scene selector) could operate all seven sets of lights.

 

The costs seem reasonable, around £130 for a 4 gang dimmer switch, £35 for a scene selector so for me it would be £295. With the option to add the link for £100 to add phone control and automation if required.

 

I have contacted Casambi too to find out more information and get prices, but on the face of it the Lightwave looks very simple

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So I had a call from a lady at Casambi and she has said a rough price will be £40 per luminaire, so for 20 odd lights it would be £800. Compared to a similar solution at around £400 from lightwaveRF. Casambi use bluetooth rather than radio communications, but I think for that saving I can live with it!

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4 hours ago, bassanclan said:

I spoke to someone at Lightwave and one mood controller can speak to different light switches, so the mood controller (now called scene selector) could operate all seven sets of lights.

Yes that's right. I've currently got in an open plan area:- 2 circuits in kitchen (1 pendant over island and 1 for ceiling spots), 2 circuits in dining area (wall light and ceiling spots) and 2 circuits in lounge area (2 wall lights and ceiling spots), then also 2 separate plug in sockets for 2 lamps, then a plug in socket for a led strip, so overall 9 controllable elements. I've got 1 mood controller on the wall, and i've got one screwed onto a piece of oak, each set up so each button on the controller does the same thing to avoid confusion. There are 6 buttons on the mood controllers so plenty of scope for different settings. Looks like this on the wood and wall mounted:

 

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