ESPHome slider to control brightness of a single normal LED

ESPHome
,
1

I want to control the brightness of a single LED that is connected with a resistor to a pin on a a ESP32-S3 with esphome. I want to use a slider as seen here in the docs
https://esphome.io/components/light/monochromatic

I’ve added the following parts but only a binary switch is created and not a slider

light:
   - platform: monochromatic
     output: zmc_led1
     name: led_control

output:
   - platform: ledc
     id: zmc_led1
     pin: 14

I’ve digged a few hours through the docs and google but no succes.
Any suggestion how to solve this

2

Hello

Here is another place to ask if you don’t get it here:

3

How do you know only a switch is created? Where do you see that switch?

4

If I open de esphome integration and look up the esphome device then I can see there all the created entities that are marked visible (internal: not set to true)
There is only a switch is available.

I solved it in this manner

light:
  - platform: monochromatic # KEUKEN
    output: zmc_volume1
    name: ${zmc_volume1}
    internal: True

output:
  - platform: ledc
    id: zmc_volume1 # KEUKEN
    pin: 14

number:
  - platform: template # KEUKEN
    name: ${zmc_volume1}
    id: volume1_slider
    max_value: 15.0
    min_value: 0.0
    step: 0.1
    mode: slider
    initial_value: ${preset_woonkamer_volume}
    optimistic: true
    on_value:
      then:
      # Must be turned on before setting frequency & level
      - output.turn_on: zmc_volume1
      - output.ledc.set_frequency:
          id: zmc_volume1
          frequency: "19531Hz"      
      # level sets the %age time the PWM is on
      - output.set_level:
         id: zmc_volume1 
         level: !lambda |-
             // output value must be in range 0 - 1.0
             return id(volume1_slider).state / 100.0;
5

And what’s the purpose of the unused light component on your yaml now?
Also, your LED brightness is limited to max 15% with that code.

6

Oww, I just followed the example. I will try to remove the light component.

To explain the 15% brightness in the code
I made a multi channel audio mixer from scratch (will post more on that later) and I want to control the volume of a few output channels with just 1 pin per channel on the controller. I made a LED/LDR combo where the LDR is the volume control and the brightness of the LED the controlling bit. I’ve added some extra code to the lambda to make the brightness from 0% to max more linear. At 15% the LED is already bright enough to max out the LDR so no use to waste extra energy here. Also a scale of 0.0 - 15.0 with 0.1 step width gave me a good enough slider effect.

Update
I removed the light components and it still worked. Thx for mention this.
I was in the impression that I needed it because of the LED.

7

So, it’s an HA question, not an ESPHome issue. If you click on the light name in the device page in HA you will get a dialog box with a brightness slider (and color if available.) You can also add it to a suitable card in a dashboard to have the brightness visible.

light
light400×400 25.6 KB

8

I am sorry but it was not.
If I did what you advised a switch was shown, not a slider.
However, I have solved it already as mentioned above. Thank you for your attention and your time to help. :+1:

9

You needed that to have a “slider”. :grinning:
But you made it with number component, so doesn’t serve anything.
Mystery remains, why light component didn’t give you UI like it should…

10

Then you must have been looking in the wrong place - here is the result of your exact yaml showing in HA:

Screenshot 2025-03-04 at 3.06.49 PM
Screenshot 2025-03-04 at 3.06.49 PM1106×1188 21.1 KB