Rotary dimmer module as a controller (not inline)

Long time reader, first time poster.

I love rotary dimmers. No messing with pannels, just twist and you’re in control. There are a few zigbee rotary dimmers that go in line with the light now and they work just fine. But I’d love to have dimmer controls that aren’t physically wired to lights, but can be used to control a light group. It seems simple enough but I can’t find a rotary dimmer module that takes a neutral wire.

Out of desperation, I did try wiring one of these little modules with no light at all. It gave a little puff of smoke and worked no more.

Does anyone have any ideas? Perhaps you’ve seen something that will work? Or perhaps you have a workaround for this with current hardware?

SYMFONISK white, Sound remote - IKEA

or

Flic Twist: The Wireless Dial for your Smart Home by Shortcut Labs — Kickstarter

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+1 for the IKEA remote.
I use it as a volume controller but can be used for lights as well.

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Wow perfect! I’ve ordered myself one of the ikea remotes. But that Kickstarter! :drooling_face: I pledged to that first!!

The IKEA remotes work great.
I have two of them and they respond naturally to single click, double click, triple click and twist.
You could probably code your way to four click.

Some say they have problems with battery, but we have used our for months now every day and no issues yet with battery.

One of them broke a few weeks ago though. Make sure to keep the receipt, with it it was no issues to get a new. Some one else here did not have his receipt and got denied.

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There’s a 3rd option: This thing from Lutron controlling Hue bulbs via Zigbee.
Aurora Smart Bulb Dimmer Switch | Lutron

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That’s very interesting as that really looks like a nice product. It only talks about Philips Hue and I don’t know what the “Friends of Hue” option in the Hue bridge configuration is all about, but it does seem like this may not work with the regular ZigBee standard :roll_eyes: In the UK this is 39 quid, so I may try the other options before I through money at this, but that is a shame as it does look slick and unassuming.

It is zigbee, you don’t need Hue at all.

With a zigbee dongle, you would be able to tie that to HA just fine, controlling whatever wifi/zigbee/bluetooth bulbs you have in the same HA.
Lutron Aurora Smart Bulb Dimmer (Z3-1BRL) Zigbee compatibility check (blakadder.com)

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