I have existing dimmers like Gira touch dimmers (System 3000).
The produce dimmed lights. Now I want to make that smart, without replacing the dimmers. Do you know something like Shellys to do this? This device would need to let through the dimmed current. If set through home assistant this device would need to change the current to make light brighter / darker. If the dimmer is used it needs to switch back to let through the source current.
Would be awesome if something like this would exist
I just doubt a little that something like this exist or would be useful/successful at all. If such devices would exist they are probably more expensive then a complete smart dimmer - for that reason I guess they donât exist because a consumer would rather choose the complete package which would be cheaper than buy a expensive retro fit which might not even be compatible with the present setup
Which the marketing department of gira sells as âsmartâ?
In my definition it is not âsmartâ. Unfortunately you cannot add these dimmers to the Gira app and therefor itâs not possible to adjust the light remotely. And there is no interface to connect it to home assistant
That is not how dimmers work; they do not reduce the currentâŚ.
What they do is reduce the duty cycle:
Therefore, you cannot power a dimmer with this, as it expects a steady 220V/50hz power supply; not some chopped up sinusoid somewhere between 0 and 220Vđ¤
Same reason you cannot use a zigbee or other smart lanp behind it. Also LEDâs must be clearly marked as âdimmableâ, otherwise it is not guaranteed they will work.
Where I would need something smart so control the switch within the red line. This switch needs to select the shelly, when I use home assistant, and needs to select Gira when I use the hardware touchdimmer. I think I âjustâ need a sensor to detect when the touchdimmer is used / changed to activate a smart toggle switch (which I also didnât find yet).
Youâre going to end up spending a whole lot more and I think what you want will be extremely complex to get working in reality â if at all. Aceindy explained how dimmers work (very old ones did have a rheostat, but thatâs decades ago). You canât undim a dimmed signal when you have a modern one using a duty cycle.
Introducing a third switch-over switch just raises a lot more questions. Who will switch it over, why and when? Do you want to automate that switch in some way? If so, why have it at all? Youâll be adding two more device to end up with three instead of just replacing one.
Just replace the dimmers with a smart dimmer that allows for manual control too. There are many options these days.
But I did not find an intuitive dimmer interface out there. With nearly all solutions you have to press a button / switch for several seconds to dim or you end up with different designs. I have everywhere gira grey switches and sockets. If I want to have consistent design of switches I need to take pushbuttons with e.g. a shelly dimmer. Which works nice but does not provide the best user experience
Dimmer relay behind the Gira dimmer would not work. If you want to keep that design, the only way I can think of is to ask Gira to open up so that there is even a chance for HA to integrate.
Or maybe they do already? I see this on the website, and KNX sounds familiar:
⌠unless, the âGira KNX RFâ is a different animal altogether.
