I’ve tried searching here and with the UTFG method, but there’s an overwhelming amount of info out there. I’m in the process of a kitchen remodel that will incorporate LED lighting for under cabinet task lighting (CCT) as well as over cabinet and toe kick ambient lighting (RGB+CCT), in either 2 or 3 zones. I’d like the ability to control those both with HA and a physical remote.
What should I be looking for as far as controllers are concerned? I.E. what protocol/technology should I prefer? What general pitfalls should I look out for? If you’ve done something similar, what did you use and what problems did you have?
I am technically and mechanically inclined; I write PHP and some Android/Java code, so I’m not afraid of that aspect if needed.
My personal choice would be using an esp8266 with wled and an adressable strip with rgb and white pixels like SK6812. Uses wifi, is easy to setup, has many efects, HA integration and can be modified by yourself. You basically need to solder a few wires and provide a power supply with 5v, if your using not many leds, an old smartphone charger should be enough. And with an extra button you can switch the leds directly off. With an IR receiver, you can use an unused button on your tv´s remote for example. And if you have other external sensors or switches, you can use HA to turn the leds to specific colors using them.
I have looked at Zigbee devices, and am currently leaning toward them for the strip light controllers and a couple other things. The Phillips Hue devices are nice and probably the easiest way to go, but they also seem to be the most costly. Cost isn’t the prevailing factor, though. I like to do things “the hard way” because I enjoy learning, and I tend learn best by doing.
The ESP8266 and individually addressable LED strips are cool as hell, but probably overkill for the kitchen. They are something I’ll be looking into for other parts of the house, however.
I think to start with, I’ll order a few Zigbee strip controllers and a hub and work on setting those up. I’m sure I’ll have questions along the way, lol.
I dont know a model number, but there are also strips with color temperature. What is also possible, building a simple LED dimmer circuit by yourself with transistors, resistors, a few chips and en esp. Basically, you turn the leds on and off really fast. That way, our eyes think the light is dimmer.
The chips are so called MOSFET-Drivers TC442D and those are required to switch the semiconductor switches (or transisors) from the type MOSFET IRLZ40 the right way, the resistors are needed to ensure the transistors turn fully off. Each pair of mosfet, mosfet driver and resistor goes to one esp pin and controls one led in a string. Non-adressable rgb strips use one pair for every sub-color red green and blue. In fact, im using this setup with esphome to control the rgb fans inside my pc.
And rgb in the kitchen cant be overkill for a gamer (like me lol), everything has to be rgb to be good