Hi Everyone,
TLDR; setting up 3 way dimmers with Hue Ambiance (color and/or white) in some areas and normal LEDs in others. Just looking for the optimal setup with Red series dimmer + dumb switch vs. AUX.
I am in the process of starting to update my mid-90s home to have smart lighting. After far too much research, I have purchased and setup a Hubitat for fast local control and I’ve installed some Philips Hue Retrofit bulbs into some cans. I also have a couple of Red series switches in the mail.
The majority of my house is on 3 way switches and is fully neutral wired up. The bulk of the house will be on LED bulbs and dimmers only. From what I am reading I can simply replace one of the switches in the 3 way configuration with an Inovelli and leave the existing dumb switch as is, correct? There is a lot of discussion regarding the benefits of pairing two Red series dimmers together vs. using an auxiliary switch from GE. I have not physically touched a GE switch, but I assume the rocker stays neutral and it deflects in whatever direction you press it and reacts accordingly, whereas if I keep the old rocker I will lose the standard up/down polarity (which is often gone in a 3 configuration anyway…). Am I correct in understanding that if I use an AUX switch it will replicate the function of the main switch (i.e. press and hold to brighten or dim) and basically act as a remote control to the main switch whereby I will replicate all of the benefits of the Red without the LED status lights?
Due to different preference on color temperature at times of day I plan to use a few Red series switches with some Philips Hue bulbs in a couple of rooms that also have 3 way wiring. Will this function just like the above scenario with an AUX switch, however in this case I will set the main switch to allow constant power and use it as a scene controller to turn the Hue lights on and off? Likewise will the AUX switch also replicate that function? I presume with local control from Hubitat this will have a negligible impact on speed? Also, I assume I just need a Red switch rather than a Red dimmer in this scenario as it will just be acting as a scene controller rather than varying power levels?
Hopefully these questions are not too basic, but I appreciate any help getting started.