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Leviton today unveiled new HomeKit-enabled light switches and dimmers at CES 2017, including a 1000W Universal Dimmer, 600W Universal Dimmer, and 15A Universal Rocker Switch.
Like other smart light switches and dimmers, the trio of new Decora products can be used in tandem with the free Decora Smart Home app for iPhone and iPad to control lights and loads.
The app has customizable settings for bulb type, adjustable fade rate, minimum and maximum brightness levels, and more.
With HomeKit, the products can also be controlled with Siri voice commands and Home app on iOS 10 to easily turn on, off, dim, or brighten an individual light or an entire room, zone, or home.
The dimmers and switch can leverage HomeKit scenes including "Good Morning" and "Good Night." Other custom HomeKit scenes can be configured in the Home app to automatically turn off lights, lock doors, close the garage door, and set the thermostat to the desired temperature in just one step.
The dimmers feature rocker paddles and embedded LEDs to display the illumination level, but the LEDs vanish when not being used to ensure a clean design. The in-wall dimmers and switch are also designed to function with low-wattage light sources, such as a single LED bulb or a strand of holiday lights.
Light switches comprise one of the most crowded HomeKit accessory categories, with several competing options available from Elgato, iDevices, Incipio, and more.
Leviton said the new Decora lighting control accessories will be available in April. Pricing was not disclosed.
Top Rated Comments
Work with Hue bulbs and cause them to flicker?
Why would you want a dimmer switch for a Hue bulb?I have to plead ignorance here. I have a house full of hue bulbs but one of my lights is a flourescent tube light in my kitchen. Could I take this switch and install it to control this "dumb" light? Or is this the same as say the Hue Dimmer switch?
Very good question. I find the best combination of bulb vs switch is;dumb bulb + smart switch = smart solution that works.
smart bulb + dumb switch = dumb solution, unless you don't mind putting duck tape or a tape blocker on your switch. Most smart bulbs turn dumb or act erratic after cutting the power to them.
Smart bulb + smart switch = crap shoot. If it's the same manufacturer and they were designed to work... they have a higher probability of working. If they weren't designed and tested to work together.. don't bother.
As for the flourescent, not sure it'll dim, unless it was designed to be dimmable, but the smart rocker will work
If using these with a fan or higher wattage/usage lighting, they will likely work fine. The non-dimmable 15A will also likely work fine.
Why would you want a dimmer switch for a Hue bulb?
A) So that you don't need to take your phone out to turn a light on or off, or dim itB) So other people who live there or visit can use the lights
There's absolutely no mention of how it will integrate with HomeKit without a Hub. Will it be like the Eve switch which uses Bluetooth (crappy) and is known to be unreliable or will it have an integrated Wifi chip in the switch which you'll have to connect to your Wifi network?
If it's bluetooth, this thing is going to be horrible. I have high hopes since Leviton has been in the business for decades and they won't release something subpar.
I put in a few Lutron Caseta Dimmers and while I'm not a big fan of the dimmer itself, it's rock solid to the point where the on/off functions just like a dumb switch, so if your Wifi goes wonky or the Hub isn't reachable, it will still turn the damn lights on/off.
I can't say the same about the Hue Dimmer. Because it isn't directly wired, I often have to hit the button a few times before the lights turn on and it drives me nuts. I'm now only going to stick to HomeKit compatible directly-wired switches, hopefully with a mechanical (Decora-style) feel (Lutrons are push buttons which are sometimes hard to find in the dark).