LED stripes

Hi all,

I am thinking to start with lighting "automation" in my flat, at the moment I have sunshades controls, different scenarios (night/day, home/away and so on).

Let's say that to get automatic lights I need for example a Fibaro/Qubino switch, as it makes no sense to replace all the lamps I have buying LED lamps like Hue or Aeon bulbs.
I am a little bit confused how what to buy, specially regarding LED and LED stripes.
Options are Fibaro RGBW Controller + LED Stripes or Philips Hue

Philips Hue:
+ buy one controller, then I can buy as much as I want (up to 50, ok) stripes/bulbs
+ In the future, if I have a lamp with a single bulb, I can replace them directly with a Hue bulb and immediately control it with Indigo via Hue plugin
- perhaps, it costs more (Hue LED stripe is more expensive than "standard LED stripe, but I have to buy Fibaro RGBW to control it)
- no real white on stripe, only RGB

Fibaro RGBW
+ costs less
- can control only stripes
- need to buy one controller for every stripe

Am I wrong?
Do I miss something?

Thanks
Marco

I ask a stupid question:

in my living room I have floor lamp which I can switch on/off using a switch installed directly on the lamp itself.
If I replace the bulb with a Hue bulb, will I be able to control it with that switch?

The same question is valid also for bulbs which are installed on the ceiling and controlled with a wall switch; could I still control it from there?

Thanks

[jay (support)]

in my living room I have floor lamp which I can switch on/off using a switch installed directly on the lamp itself.
If I replace the bulb with a Hue bulb, will I be able to control it with that switch?

The same question is valid also for bulbs which are installed on the ceiling and controlled with a wall switch; could I still control it from there?

I'll let someone with experience with LED strips answer your first post since I've never used any.

Here's the deal with using directly controllable bulbs of any type: if they are plugged into any kind of switching mechanism (a lamp with a local switch or plugged into a switched outlet, or if it's on a switched circuit like in a can in the ceiling) then when you operate the switching mechanism to turn the bulb off then the power is removed from the bulb and you no longer have any ability to control the bulb from Indigo. In order to control these bulbs, they must always have power.

If you want to use bulbs that are directly controllable, you might want to consider wiring the loads that lead to those locations (switched outlet or in-ceiling cans) so that they always have power. Then, you can add a Z-Wave micro module behind the existing switch such that when Indigo sees the switch go on, it turns on the bulb, and vice versa. You can also replace the complete switch with a Z-Wave switch as well.

I don't have any direct experience with those micro modules (modules that connect to existing manual switches) so I'm not positive I have that part right - again, maybe someone more familiar with how those work can chime in. They aren't nearly as popular here in North America as they are in Europe I think.

I was going to reply this morning, but I don't know much about the LED side.

Now that Jay has answered that, I'll fill in the other bit.

There's two options on the wired approach - either just use your existing bulbs but make the power to them go on/off with HA, or use HA bulbs on a permanent power source then have a remote switch that talks to Indigo, then Indigo talks to the bulb.

Europe doesn't have many 'nice' HA remote switches available, so we tend to use more of the micro modules with our existing switches.

I use the Fibaro's, but Qubino's are very similar. You disconnect the incoming live (phase) and switched live (load) from the switch and connect it instead to the Fibaro. Then connect the phase and load to the Fibaro.

Then, you also connect the switch (momentary or toggle) to the Fibaro.

The original switch always switches the output state (ie the lamp/bulb) locally, and Indigo is informed of the change of state for monitoring or triggering purposes. Additionally though, which is the bit we want, you can send commands to the Fibaro from Indigo to achieve the same thing.

One thing to note - you often need a neutral wire at the switch, which typical British houses don't have; I don't know about US or rest of Europe.

I think I rambled a bit there, so if you need any clarification please do ask.

Hello,

thanks for the answers
Maybe I explained my doubts in a wrong way, but, I know which are the possibilities to control lights with HA, with Fibaro/Qubino switches to install between wall switch and load.
The question was which LED stripe setup is better, Philips Hue or standard LED stripe + Fibaro RGWB Controller?

Thanks
Marco

Sorry Marco - I think myself and Jay both answered your second post, which gave no indication of having understanding about this topic at all, particularly with your 'stupid question'. I certainly forgot to re-read the first post when I got home and read Jay's response.

If I ever do get LEDs, I'll be looking more towards the Hue solution with one hub, rather than several RGWB controllers - the ease of installation and maintenance far outweighs the lack of white for my situations.

[jay (support)]

As I indicated in my post, I don't have any experience with strips so hopefully someone else can jump in.

I answered your second post which, apparently, wasn't necessary if you already knew the answers...

RE:LED Strips...

One Fibaro controller does 4 channels of color (RGBW). You can see a good pic in this thread viewtopic.php?f=58&t=13884.

You will need a Fibaro controller, a 12 VDC power supply and (depending on length of installation) repeaters.

Most SMD LED strips come in 5 Meter lengths which have a power draw of around 1.2 Amps (for 5050 SMD Type). You'll want to figure out your total length to determine how big your 12VDC power supply will need to be. For big installations on one controller you will install a repeater (with its own power supply connection) every so many light strips to prevent degradation of the voltage in series. The repeaters distribute the voltage evenly so all the LED's have the same brightness. You can go as large as you want provided you have enough power supply and repeaters.

My older strips did not have a white channel so I had to run a separate warm white strip in parallel to the RGB one. You can now find strips with all four colors built into one strip.

If you are looking for multiple strips to be controlled separately (different colors) in one room each will need it's own Fibaro controller.

Here's a cheeesy diagram. They call the repeater an "amplifier"

LED Strips.jpg (32.27 KiB) Viewed 3178 times

If you are looking to control individual lamps or light fixtures the bulbs are the way to go. If you are looking to decorate your house or put in under cabinet lighting or soffit lighting the strips are the way to go.

I am looking for LED strip tu install in the kitchen under furniture and so on
The question is: shall I go for Fibaro RGBW+RGB strip (or RGBW) or shall I go for Philips Hue LED strip?

I'm not sure about the Hue, but most other RGBW strips can be cut to length -- which makes under cabinet installation much easier in my opinion.

Yes
I bought 5m strip (RGB, no white) +Fibaro RGBW controller from Amazon
This strip was cheaper than RGBW so I can also destroy it for tests