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I Ripped Out a £6k Lighting System

robdobson.com

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Re: I Ripped Out a £6k Lighting System

#131

Post by tpxl »

mikro2nd wrote: post #88
stinos wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the electrician didn't understand words like "crosstalk" Can you explain what the problem is? I also run cat5 (or maybe even cat6, don't remember) to every room, most even multiple times, just put it in walls/cailings/whatever worked and all 40 or so sockets work just fine. I turn the switch on, the lights go on, I turn it off, the lights go off. I run a star configuration for switches and light points, where all swi…

I'm curious to understand the advantages/benefits of being able to reassign switches/lights. Surely a light/group-of-lights needs a switch/set-of-switches, but once it's done, what's the imperative for change?

You get some things wrong when designing a huge project ahead of time.

Re: I Ripped Out a £6k Lighting System

#132

Post by 627467 »

Can someone list productive smart lighting features?

I mean: I get smart heating. I get smart ovens. But smart lighting? I can't think of non-gimicky functionality that can be solved by a occupancy sensors.

Re: I Ripped Out a £6k Lighting System

#133

Post by ficklepickle »

tinus_hn wrote: post #123
WalterBright wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Crosstalk is when two wires are close together, one induces a voltage in the other (it's how transformers work). The trouble with house wiring is if you run a phone line parallel and close to an A/C line, it will induce a 60 cycle hum in the phone line, which will drive you utterly mad. The electrician was installing the cat3 phone wires in the same holes as the A/C wires. It was guaranteed to induce a hum. The corre…

Although that hum is annoying on analog signals, it has no effect on digital high speed communications. Still I agree it isn’t worth the headache of issues to save $20 and it’s more futureproof to use better cables.

It has no effect unless it lowers the SNR too much and errors can't be corrected. Try wrapping RG6 a few times around a thick, active AC line. I saw that a few times back when I was a field tech.

Re: I Ripped Out a £6k Lighting System

#134

Post by adriancr »

greggman3 wrote: post #106
adriancr wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note, this is what I use things but I also have dumb switches to control if things fail. I also dont put control in hard to reach places. I just use outdoor sensors + smart bulbs. Use case 1: Open all lights in yard at night when exterior gate is open or motion detected. Shut off after set amount of time of no activity. Use case 2: light in shed/basement/garage on when door is open. Use case 3: control lights via tel…

I have been fortunate to have never been flooded but I'm curious if you got the alarm would the situation turn out much better than if you didn't?

Manual shut off water pipes and power outlets if it looks bad. (as others mentioned you can automate this)

Then check source of flooding and try and fix it, see other people's comments.

It's better then to have your home flooded for a long period of time while you're off at work or sleeping or somewhere else.

Also better then having a short / potentially getting electrocuted.

Re: I Ripped Out a £6k Lighting System

#135

Post by andrewaylett »

Since lockdown started, we've gradually converted most of our house to Hue. A key feature is that _all the light switches still work_. We just don't use them all that much, unless something's failed.

From reading Matthew Garrett's exploits, I'm pretty sure we don't want WiFi IoT devices. We have Hue switches next to the physical switches, which don't depend on WiFi being up; Smart control works with only local networking. Add more smartness for extra control (SmartThings, remote access, Google Assistant), but it's no less functional than a non-smart system when the smarts are offline.

The killer feature for me is the ability to adjust the colour temperature and brightness of lights in each room -- I've got a 50W panel above my desk which makes my work-space brighter than it is outside at the moment (Edinburgh, UK, 1pm with rain) but automatically fades down to a warm, dim light as the evening progresses.

Re: I Ripped Out a £6k Lighting System

#136

Post by eyvindn »

andrewaylett wrote: post #135

Since lockdown started, we've gradually converted most of our house to Hue. A key feature is that _all the light switches still work_. We just don't use them all that much, unless something's failed. From reading Matthew Garrett's exploits, I'm pretty sure we don't want WiFi IoT devices. We have Hue switches next to the physical switches, which don't depend on WiFi being up; Smart control works with only local networ…

Would you mind sharing what panel this is?

Re: I Ripped Out a £6k Lighting System

#137

Post by Semaphor »

segfaultbuserr wrote: post #130
Semaphor wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The question was for wireless lights. A radio-controlled dumb-switch used this way is still wireless lightning. And what privacy concerns are there with lights that have no internet connection whatsoever?

First, some context. When I was replying to this thread, there were only three comments, the first said wireless lighting was an useless solution waiting for a problem, another said it was a hobby and not too useful, and only you said it was useful. Hence, it thought it was natural to add some comment under your comment. Furthermore, the original article described how the author designed a Wi-Fi based system, and oth…

> I hope my comment makes sense to you now.

It does, thank you :)

Re: I Ripped Out a £6k Lighting System

#138

Post by rkangel »

andrewaylett wrote: post #135

Since lockdown started, we've gradually converted most of our house to Hue. A key feature is that _all the light switches still work_. We just don't use them all that much, unless something's failed. From reading Matthew Garrett's exploits, I'm pretty sure we don't want WiFi IoT devices. We have Hue switches next to the physical switches, which don't depend on WiFi being up; Smart control works with only local networ…

For those who don't have Hue, one nice feature of the design is that if the power to the bulb goes off and then back on the bulbs default to 'on'. This means that if you have a power cut, the lights come on automatically afterwards without the controllers being needed, which is useful at night so you don't have to wait for wifi. But it also means that you can turn them off and then on again at the normal light switch and they'll come on.

Re: I Ripped Out a £6k Lighting System

#139

Post by ur-whale »

stinos wrote: post #113
WalterBright wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Crosstalk is when two wires are close together, one induces a voltage in the other (it's how transformers work). The trouble with house wiring is if you run a phone line parallel and close to an A/C line, it will induce a 60 cycle hum in the phone line, which will drive you utterly mad. The electrician was installing the cat3 phone wires in the same holes as the A/C wires. It was guaranteed to induce a hum. The corre…

Sorry should have been more clear; I'm an eletronics engineer so I know what crosstalk is, it's just that I didn't understand how this would be an actual problem with CAT5. Phone line, that's something else though. If an electrician had done it, it likely would have been 10 or 20x more. Hmm, that is like twice the amount one would typcially pay here. Still, don't froget the working hours you put in there :) plus the…

They're maybe getting it for cheaper than you do, but if you think that's what they're actually charging you, you're deluded.

The typical electrician gets it indeed for cheaper than market rate, then charges it to you retail rate plus 20% to account for the "trouble" of sourcing and purchasing it.

Re: I Ripped Out a £6k Lighting System

#140

Post by rkangel »

andrewaylett wrote: post #135

Since lockdown started, we've gradually converted most of our house to Hue. A key feature is that _all the light switches still work_. We just don't use them all that much, unless something's failed. From reading Matthew Garrett's exploits, I'm pretty sure we don't want WiFi IoT devices. We have Hue switches next to the physical switches, which don't depend on WiFi being up; Smart control works with only local networ…

My issue with Hue is brightness. I have swapped all the living room bulbs (3 lamps, 2 ceiling lights) for a mix of Hue Colour ambience and White Ambience, but it's only just about bright enough for when I want the room well lit.

I'd love to put my office and some other rooms on Hue so I can tweak the colour temperature, but I've only got one ceiling pendant and it wouldn't be bright enough during the day.

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