Smart Bulb Mode Optimization Thread

Can you help me understand this better? Taking a z-wave device offline (out of the mesh) is never recommended and is 99% of the reason this entire debacle started. There is no reason ever that any communicating device (z-wave/zigbee/wifi, etc.) should EVER be taken offline, it should instead be commanded off (level 0). From my perspective.

Almost, right now if you set the dimmer level to 0, the switch turns off and kills the power to the bulb, taking it offline.

This update should allow toggle down or setting dimmer level to 0 to turn off the LED bar (or to full bar at whatever brightness is in said parameter) and the smart bulb (level 0), while keeping both online and the mesh intact.

We are adding this in the next firmware release (basicSet & SwitchMultilevel will not turn off the load).

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Yes yes yes yes yes!!!

I’m using Home Assistant with the new zwavejs2mqtt - I have the dimmers controlling stepped loops using Node Red. For example if I double tap the switch up, it designates the dimmer to work with specific set of smart bulbs (most of my bulbs are running Tasmota, but I have a few zigbee bulbs), I then use the dimmer up/down to increase/decrease brightness in 10% increments that change every 400ms. I would like the ability to send the current “percent” to an Inovelli switch parameter via MQTT so it’s reflected on the LED. I hope that makes sense! Hopefully that can be done via a firmware upgrade.

Side note - in the same setup, I use the config button to switch the dimmer between color temperature and brightness control. Works like a charm!

My $0.02:

If you’re going to change LZW31-SN Smart Bulb in 1.52+, I’d like to see an option that would give the functionality that “Disable Local Control” combined with “Smart Bulb Mode Enabled” and “Power on level 99” gives in 1.48. In short, I am just looking for scene controllers that always provide power to the smart bulbs (unless I pull the tab or set switch “off” from Hubitat).

Thanks.

I would love love love to be able to use my aux switch to trigger scenes on the connected Inovelli switch (mine is LZW30-SN). However, I would settle for just being able to turn on/off the smart bulbs using the aux switch. My aux switch currently does nothing, and the spouse is not happy about it.

hi @EricM_Inovelli, Has the firmware with this functionality been made available yet?

Thanks!

+1

Will all the good stuff being discussed through this post regarding SMB be also applied to LZW36?

I have noticed that the SetLevel() command updates the LED strip, but not a connected bulb. Is this a limitation or something that was just not yet setup? StartLevelChange() and pressing the paddles does work as intended.

Some details:
I have joined an Inovelli bulb with a Red series dimmer, with SBM turned on and though it took a bit of time to setup, it now works great! I moved to firmware version 1.52 in order to ensure that my bulb stayed constantly on (It is connected to the load). I am using the following drivers:

Inovelli Dimmer Red Series LZW31-SN v21.3.10
Inovelli Bulb Multi-Color LZW42 v20.4.16

This is with association from the dimmer to the bulb right?

Are you using Group 3 association (Multilevel Set)? Group 2 (Basic Set) is not forwarded

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Yes. I setup a Group 2 and a group 4 association.

Ah! I didn’t realize that! Thanks!

I will add a Group 3 association. Should I remove the Group 2 association?

General consensus is just ground 3 and 4 so I would remove grp2.

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Group 2 is used by On/Off switches (non-dimmers). If you have a mix of switches and dimmers you’ll need associations for both Group 2 and Group 3.

Also, if you have rules in the hub that send BasicSet(on/off) commands then you may need Group 2 for that also.

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I can confirm that adding association group 3 resolves the issue. I ended-up keeping groups 2 and 4 and this doesn’t seem to cause any issues.

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Checking in, closing in on 3 months since last updated, wondering if we can expect this sometime in the coming days? I know 1.53 was an attempt at it but parameters were a mess.

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I’m dove-tailing off a discussion I started in the v1.54 beta firmware thread. Firmware v1.54 (Beta) | LZW31-SN | Dimmer - Red Series (Gen 2) - #16 by mamber
Since the topic is specific to SBM optimization its probably better to move the deeper discussion here and not clog up the firmware announcement thread.

What is the expectation for SBM operation in a 3-way arrangement? My thinking is that SBM should still keep the load on 100% regardless of the operation of any of the switch paddles (smart or dumb). This also implies that the Traveler terminal in SBM needs to function the same as the Load terminal in SBM

Since a normal 3-way circuit involves switching the live output between the Load and Traveler terminals, SBM should still work fine as long as the Load or Traveler terminal output 100% whenever they are the ‘active’ circuit in the 3-way. Since there is an internal relay that toggles the output between the two terminals, it should be possible for SBM to work with a dumb 3-way (SPDT) switch. This applies equally to either of the SBM modes (‘always on’ mode as well as ‘100% on/off’ mode)

This is assuming the internal logic that controls SBM comes before the output relay. This way, only one terminal is ‘live’ at a time, but with SBM enabled, that terminal will be 100% on when that is the active path in the 3-way circuit. This could be problematic with some smart bulbs. The relay switch is quick, but not instant. And the internal logic that detects when the dumb switch is flipped takes a fraction of a second. This will likely result in a brief bounce in the power to the smart bulb. Different brands and models of smart bulb will probably vary on whether or not they can handle the brief power bounce.

Thoughts?

Just throwing another challenge in the mix. Apologies if this has been mentioned and I mistakenly skipped over it.

After trying the SBM on the new firmware it works exactly how I’ve always wished it would, allowing me to set the dimmer brightness or on/off while the dimmer keeps the output at 100%. This allows me to use home assistant to sync up the LED bar with the lights in the room.

I have one area in the house where there is a single unused bulb which is controlled by a single switch where as the other 6 lights in that room are controlled by another switch. I would like to be able to use SBM on the dimmer controlling the unused bulb but without the dimmer supplying any power to the bulb. This would effectively turn the dimmer into a powered in-wall remote as it wouldn’t be supplying or switching any power to the load.

In addition to save some firmware space I’m not sure parameter 51 (Button Delay and Scene Control) is needed anymore as in my experience when the new parameter 50 (Physical Button Delay Period) is set to 0 it acts the same as setting parameter 51 (Button Delay and Scene Control) to false.

Massively appreciate all the team at inovelli really trying their best to listen to the community. You don’t see that a lot from companies these days and is something that really set’s inovelli apart.

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don’t connect anything to the load terminal and you will effectively have a powered in-wall remote

The same argument could be made with SBM to begin with, why not just tie the live and load together.

By doing this at a firmware level it means the device on the load side can be used if desired and avoids any complications with building codes.