Conbee/DeConz/Jowihue/Z-Net/Scene Controller setup

[pc__hs]

I am setting up the conbee, jowihue, lightify hub, light bulbs.... gang and have several questions:

I run HS3 on a Hometroller SEL. (linux 18.04 64bit).

Proximity
Does the Conbee stick have to be in close proximity to light bulbs to be able to see them?

Lightify Hub
Is the lightify hub required when using the conbee/deconz/jowihue combo?

Z-Net
In my house, I have a separate garage with a home office on the second floor. For this, I've installed a Z-Net. Can DeConz see bulbs here if the stick is in the main house (on the SEL)?

Scene Controller
I plan to run bulbs with a scene controller. Can this be used through HS3 with bulbs added to DeConz?


Any help most appreciated.

Pete.

[w.vuyk]

Pete,

Some answers:

Proximity
Does the Conbee stick have to be in close proximity to light bulbs to be able to see them?

Depends. Zigbee creates a mash network with bulbs and plugs. So the first one should be more or less max 7 meters away from the conbee. The next could be 7 meters away from this first bulb or plug. Etc. etc. The distance also depends on walls, interference etc. I know users who have a larger distance. Each bulb or plug communicates with others in the neighbourhood. So you can cover a large area as long you keep an eye on the distances.

Proximity
Lightify Hub
Is the lightify hub required when using the conbee/deconz/jowihue combo?

No, the plugin does not do anything with the Lightify hub. It uses either the conbee with deCONZ or the Philips Hue bridge. And you can combine these in any number and any combination.

Z-Net
In my house, I have a separate garage with a home office on the second floor. For this, I've installed a Z-Net. Can DeConz see bulbs here if the stick is in the main house (on the SEL)?

Check my first answer, If you have coverage with bulbs and plugs from the conbee stick to the second floor, the zigbee network can extend to your garage and/or home office. So if your home office is 12 meters away from the conbee you need at least 2 (more is always better) bulbs in a straight line to the office.

Scene Controller
I plan to run bulbs with a scene controller. Can this be used through HS3 with bulbs added to DeConz?

Not sure what the scene controller does, you do not need to power off (taking the load) the lights. You can control lights on and off from the plugin without taking the load of the lights. Taking down the load of the lights is even a bad idea as it will also break the mesh network, which might lead other lights to be out of reach.

Hope these answers help a bit for your thoughts?

Wim

[pc__hs]

Thanks a lot Wim.

The scene controller works as a light switch with multiple buttons for different light configurations. Power (load) always on.

This is it: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Remotec-sce...6-106f96eb3ab2

So the goal is to add the bulbs through deconz/jowihue to HS3 and switch on/off through the scene controller.

Pete

[w.vuyk]

Then this controller will work fine, combined with the events in Homeseer... You will fins similare switches also for zigbee, no problem to combine them all

[pc__hs]

Then this controller will work fine, combined with the events in Homeseer... You will fins similare switches also for zigbee, no problem to combine them all

Great, thanks!!


Also,

Haven't installed jowihue yet, but I'm testing bulb behavior with the Phoscon web app. Mainly changing colors, testing reaction times, and so on.

Turns out I have two different models of apparently the same light bulb.

The two models I have are Ledvance PAR16 RGBW z3 (5 bulbs) and Osram PAR16 50 RGBW Lightify (2 bulbs). All these are lightify/smart+ bulbs.

When changing colors in the phoscon app to all of them, as a group, of course they throw different interpretations of the same color.

Is this expected? And can it be fixed?

[w.vuyk]

Lightify is known to bring off colors. The color bulbs of ledvance (the company that now owns lightify) will probably behave better, although I cannot confirm that from here. If you want good control of colors, Philips Hue (now Signify) is the quality bulb to be honest. These bulb will totally sync color in a group.

[pc__hs]

Basically I have two bulbs that are misbehaving.

Option 1 is to get two of the ledvance bulbs and they should all behave the same.

Option 2 is to purchase a Philips Hue hub/controller, then 7 hue bulbs?

Is there no option 3 where the two bulbs can be tweaked to match the others?

Thanks Wim.

[w.vuyk]

option three: What are the brands of the two 'misbehaving' bulbs? Main questions are if they have been used before and did you try resetting them?

In option 2 you do not need to by a Philips hue bridge, the Conbee can handle the Philips Hue bulbs fine

Wim

[pc__hs]

option three: What are the brands of the two 'misbehaving' bulbs? Main questions are if they have been used before and did you try resetting them?

The two models I have are
1) Ledvance PAR16 RGBW z3 (5 bulbs)
2) Osram PAR16 50 RGBW Lightify (2 bulbs)

In Deconz, I have the 7 of them in a group - when I pick a color for the group, the two Osram show a different shade of that color. Why? And can it be solved?

[w.vuyk]

Like I answered in the PM you send earlier, the lightify bulbs are very much off color. They are really a differnt kind of bulbs. If trustworthy colors are an issue, Philips is the winner, but I do think, based on comments I see, ledvance are better also (but less then Philips)