I am not a big fan of changing light colors and the like, so was considering putting in some Leviton smart switches and just using those to dim the lights and turn them on and off. Two things:
Will the switches do this with my existing bulbs? Assume it’s acting just like what I have now, but doing it programatically from the switch. I read some things saying you need smart bulbs with it for it to work.
I read that in “some?” cases the switches, because of the extra hardware, can be to deep to fit in the wall opening. Is this frequently the case?
Since your not interested in colors and the like. Save some money, take a look at the Shelly1. Works with your existing switch and can communicate with OH several way’s.
I don’t have any Leviton smart switches. Instead, I use Insteon and Z-wave switches. That said, this has been my experience with home automation products.
Dimming – Incandescent light bulbs don’t care how you dim them. Dimmable LEDs and dimmable CFLs (the CFL/LED has to support dimming) may care. It depends on the dimming technology and and light bulb. I’d give Leviton’s support line a call. In the past, I’ve found them to be very helpful.
Size - Whether or not this will be an issue for you is dependent upon the size of your junction box and it’s wire fill. Smart switches are usually bigger than standard “dumb” switches. What I did was obtain dimensions of my smart switches (they are available online), After that I turned off the power to the target junction box, removed the existing switch, and measured the available space.
yes assuming your bulbs are dimmable. not all LEDs are dimmable from a switch like that.
2.I’ve not had this problem with the Linear Zwave switches I’ve used.
Do Shelly1s dim? I thought they were just switches.
Is there a Leviton binding? IIRC they used a proprietary protocol and last I checked it hasn’t been reversed yet. maybe I’m wrong? Maybe n thinking of Lutron?
From what I recently read, Leviton makes both smart wi-fi and z-wave switches. I wouldn’t expect the z-wave switches to be proprietary, but I don’t know about the wi-fi switches.
Note my lights are standard non led recessed can lights using Leviton on off switch with a dimmer on the one side. Reading about the Shelby 1 and besides rikoshak’s question on if you can dim with those, sounds like from a YouTube vide you have to program them as well with a programmer?
No, the native firmware can work with MQTT and without its cloud service without replacing the firmware. Several OH users run this easy and I plan on doing so as well.
You can replace the firmware with Tasmota or EspESy (I think) if desired but it is not a requirement.
Works with your existing switch and can communicate with OH several way’s.