Hi team

So refurb'ing the house and about to take a plunge into smart lighting...

I previously had LightwaveRF which has some pluses and minuses. It's a bit old now. But it dimmed and the switches in black nickel looked good on the wall and say £50 per switch meant a whole house wasn't going eat into my next FFRR fund. Bulb compatibility is not good.

I need good looking switches with dimming. Seems elusive.

Electrician is saying Lutron RA2 but the per "switch" cost is nearing £200 by the time you get the various bits.
Electrician says bulb compatibility excellent. Switches look good.

Need good wall switches so not interested in Philips Hue.

Advice and experiences please !!

. Cheers, Greg
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2011 Vogue SE 4.4 with lots of toys in Stornaway

Why only lighting? If you're doing a refurb you can do much more than just lighting control.

We refurbed and extended 4 years ago and have a Loxone system which controls lights, heating, music, alarm and more. Automates stuff in the background, easy to configure and with an app and doesn't rely on an internet connection to work.

Rob

PS - you can also do a lot with shelly devices, which I also have a few of around the house. 2021 D350 Fifty Edition - Carpathian Grey
2017 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography (2021-2024) - Santorini Black
2012 4.4 TDV8 Westminster (2016-2021) - Santorini Black

Cheers Rob
Any others? Cheers, Greg
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2011 Vogue SE 4.4 with lots of toys in Stornaway

There's a whole range of stuff on the market at the moment and the adoption of a new standard called matter (supported by all the big names - www.csa-iot.org/all-solutions/matter/), although delayed I think now until early 2023, will mean loads more devices all able to communicate with each other.

I guess the big question to think about is - what is it you want to control and how do you want to control it. Some people prefer a fit and forget solution where things happen automatically like lights coming on when you enter a room or dimming at night etc, whereas some people are quite happy to pick up their phone and use an app. Same applies to heating and blinds etc.

The main point I would make is that it's better to stick with relatively standard wiring and use whatever system you choose as the control. That way you're not tied into any particular proprietary wiring system and have the option to change controls later on.

It's worth asking a similar question on AV Forums and Buildhub.

(Not sure if I'm allowed to link these here but if not I'm sure Stan will be happy to tell me off.. )
https://www.avforums.com/forums/smart-home...-forum.54/
https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/forum/158-ne...utomation/ 2021 D350 Fifty Edition - Carpathian Grey
2017 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography (2021-2024) - Santorini Black
2012 4.4 TDV8 Westminster (2016-2021) - Santorini Black

It depends how far you want to go and want to achieve. Alexa handles most of mine and I've got an Asus WiFi mesh system to get good coverage everywhere.

I started out with Philips hue and carried on adding to, almost every light inside and out is a hue bulb which is connected to alexa with the exception of the exterior which track sunset/sunrise all year and function automatically.

I've got one room with a fancy LED which I put a sonoff switch in but that again links back to alexa.

Driveway gates have a sonoff switch attached so I can tell alexa to open them

The nest thermostat links to alexa (scheduled every hour to return to my preset temps, to keep the bill down 😁).

Ring doorbell is connected to alexa and can be viewed with any TV in the house.

My brother went down the smart switch route and has normal bulbs but all his switches are smart touch things which required quite a bit of wiring. Current
2017 Range Rover Sport SVR
2001 Porsche 911 Turbo
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Previous
2013 Range Rover Autobiography SDV8
2007 Range Rover Vogue SE TDV8
2002 Range Rover HSE TD6
+ Many other non LR products

If you're doing a full refurb, then maybe give Hue a re-think....

My last house was full Lutron - cost me a fortune. I'm glad we moved when we did as apparently those controllers can't handle LED's

For my current house I went all in with Hue - but did away with hard wired wall switches altogether. All the lights are permanently powered and no switches on the walls.

Transient areas, like the hall, loo etc are on motion sensors, other rooms have Hue switches, but like a remote control rather than a wall switch. The Hue wall switches detach from the holder - they are held in by a magnet.

Siri (or Alexa) will also sort everything for you.

I think its a great system - once you get past the cost of the bulbs.

Lutron system seems very complex to switch lights on and off!
Not sure which ones we fitted on a project 9or10 years ago?
However they run LED lights and strips.

Just really do not get why you want such complexity?
The owner never did get to grips with it, did not like it and in the next property just went to conventional switching and dimmers!

Just a very expensive vanity project, with miles of wiring and extra controllers to find a home for!

Still working in the property for the current owner and they are not keen on it!

Hopefully you find a solution you like?