Network dimming and controlling of led strip lights

[Mike9090]

Hi all.
 
I have a small house that i'm in the process of installing a new kitchen. I am using led light strips for under/in/over cabinet lighting, I am also planning on installing them into the bottom of the new front porch stair treads. The back deck will be next. Does anybody know of an off the shelf networkable controller that I can use to control the dimming of the lights? The switching on/off, I think I will put on switches. Before I go crazy install a lot of cabling and remote dimmers, I figure it would be nice to just use an iphone to control the dimming and on/off if needed.
 
Any advice pointing in the right direction would be great.
 
Thanks,
 
Mike
 

 

[LarrylLix]

MiLight strips work well via it's hub/bridge from WiFi. The price is cheap at less than $20 for 5m (16.7'?) . Hub and RBBW(W) controls are required for operation also. Their 2.4GHz handheld des not need the hub/bridge as it is not WiFi despite advertising implying it is. A 12v 3-5A power supply is also needed for each 5m strip. With a connector on each end I cut my 5m strips into two pieces for use in two different locations from each piece I bought without needing any soldering. Watch the connectors 4 or 5 conductors for RGB or RGBW when purchasing. Wires are colour coded so easy to hook-up.
 
If you want this for working lights a separate white strip and/or controller may be needed as none of their controllers can mix RGB and the white It's one or the other so you cannot do pastels and you cannot do different white temperatures.
 
MiLight strips RGBW is much too purple/blue to use for a good white and as above, so far, you cannot correct the white by mixing. I have not experienced the RGBWW strips. They may be an answer for working light although I suspect not enough warm white brilliance for a good work surface.
 
The RGB mode and colours are deep and rich and excellent decorator lights with good brightness. Like all RGB lights they need to shine on something to be noticed. I have Hue floods and without a wall to shine on you are wasting your money for colours that are hardly noticed. If you have a coloured backsplash wall your colours will be tainted also. Some colours may not even be producible.
 
I hear the Philips LED strips may be better but pricey. Their bulbs suck and cannot produce green or a real blue so not sure about the strips. Reds, purples, indigo and  oranges are fabulous.

 

[fcwilt]

I tried a different brand. I bought the WiFi "adapter" just for grins to see how it worked.
 
It did work but it functioned as an wireless access point rather then a wireless client - meaning it could not become part of my home network.
 
You had to change the wireless connection of, say, your tablet to the wireless network created by the device to control the lights. Then, of course, you would have to re-connect to your home network for your normal usage.
 
This approach was not satisfactory for me.
 
I cannot speak to the operation of the Mi Light device.

 

[LarrylLix]

It did work but it functioned as an wireless access point rather then a wireless client - meaning it could not become part of my home network.

IIRC the MiLight operated just like that with more to it that you may have possibly missed.
 
The Milight Hub/Bridge came without knowing what the SSID of your LAN is since that isn't possible.
 
You run a  MiLight app on your Android/iGuess phone and connect to the MiLight network SSID.
Now you can access the Hub to do setup inside via WiFi.
 
Once you select your home LAN network SSID and hit save the MiLight hub SSID disappears as it shuts off it's server.
 
Now your mobile phone searches and automatically connects back to your home LAN SSID or whatever is best for it to connect to and now the MiLight/LimitlessLED/???? Hub/bridge is part of your home network LAN
 
This never has to be done again unless you totally screw it up and have to factory reset the hub.
 
I don't see any other way that is so convenient for a wireless network device. It's a lot easier than changing your whole LAN over to 192.168.1.xx to set up the new device and then back again. Much smoother. Biggest problem with most of this stuff is the bad Chinlish.

 

[Mike9090]

I'm thinking of a networked based dimmer? Basically a simple dimmer that can be remoted into, with some kind of gui the can be used once logged in from an iPhone. Any suggestions? I can't seem to find anything.
 
Thanks,
Mike

 

[LarrylLix]

Basically all of these bulbs and strip LED can be controlled by Wi-Fi via their bridges/hubs and they all basically require a bridge/hub to convert WiFi to their protocol/ format.
 
Just look in your app store for this stuff and you'll find apps for every brand.
    Well you would for Android anyway but then it is a whole OS and doesn't have a bite out of it.

 

[zenix]

I'm thinking of a networked based dimmer? Basically a simple dimmer that can be remoted into, with some kind of gui the can be used once logged in from an iPhone. Any suggestions? I can't seem to find anything.

 
There are tons of those. Lutron Caseta, Insteon, Lutron RadioRA 2, and many many more.

 

[Mike9090]

I'm sorry I was not clear on what I am trying to do. I am looking for a way to dim led strip lights via network. I don't want to dim the AC circuit, I am trying to dim the 12VDC side. I'm using Altronix AL600ULX power supplies to power the strips(I have a bunch left over from large installs). So i'm looking for a device that can dim the 12V on the output side of the PS. I can't dim the 110vac side as the power supply will cut out if the voltage drops to low. Any pointers on what to try?
 
Thanks,
 
Mike

 

[LarrylLix]

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/WiFi-Wireless-IOS-Android-Phone-MiLight-Controller-for-5050-RGBW-led-strip-light-/351384115618?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item51d02019a2

Those four boxes in the photo take a 12v PS on a standard 2.1mm x 5.?mm power plug. The other side of them is five terminals to wire Common and RGBW wires.
 
They take the RF remote for direct control or the WiFi to MiLight bridge shown in photo for control from multiple apps available.
 
I control mine from my ISY994i HA  box. Nobody has figured out how to get pastel colours (mix W and RGB) yet without bouncing through a RPi or other CPU but most just set the colours wanted and turn them on and off via wall switches etc. They remember the colour set without power. The RGB colours are rich and beautiful. The White is very daylight white but Warm white is available.
 
All colours and mixes dim right down to nothing without flicker.
 
Look around for the best price and shipping. This was picked in a hurry.

 

[zenix]

I don't want to dim the AC circuit, I am trying to dim the 12VDC side. I'm using Altronix AL600ULX power supplies to power the strips (I have a bunch left over from large installs). So i'm looking for a device that can dim the 12V on the output side of the PS.

 
There aren't many of those. It is easier to swap out your power supplies with dimmable power supplies (either magnetic kind, or electronic kind) - dimmable power supply can be connected on 110V side to any network controlled dimmer. This way you are not tied to anything, you can use absolutely any home automation system.