HomeKit Smart Light Switch + Smart LED Strip, will it work?

[TheOfficialAK]

Hey guys, wanted some help from people that may be more experienced in HomeKit.

I'm moving into my new place some time in the future and currently trying to plan out the smart home accessories.
One of the main issues is the lighting situation, I plan to run 2x lines of LED Strips across my living room ceilings along the sides as the main source of illumination (so no direct lights e.g hanging or recessed lights from the ceiling)
I've attached a couple of photos that I found to illustrate.

The setup is currently planned as: (Named A and B for easier reference)
Eve LED Strip (A) wired to the Wemo Dimmer Switch (B)

Some has shared that this setup wont make sense as when B is off, A will not be controllable to turn off/on

But since we will primarily only be using B to control the light switch off/on there should not be any issues? (and I could just group the accessories together so it toggles off/on together)
And in the event we do want to change the lights colours on A, we could have scene presets which would be able to take effect if B is on.

There'll be a couple of IFTTT's to make the above feasible.
If A = ON, and if B if OFF, turn B ON
If B = OFF, and if A is ON, change A to OFF (not likely frequently happen)
If A = OFF, and if B is ON, turn B OFF (but shouldn't need to since turning A off cuts power to B)

This way we only need to interact with A, and B is simply there for its fancy features of RGB and adaptive lighting.
I also assume the dimmer will communicate with the LED accordingly without any other further setup?

We do not want to have smart LED strips with dumb switches since the switches would then passively need to be in a "on" state.
And to have smart switches with static colour LEDs is not something we want as well since we are rather keen on the adaptive lighting feature.

What do you think guys?

 

[Itinj24]

I’ll be honest, I didn’t read through all that but I think I got the jist of it…

Generally, smart bulbs and smart switches do not work good together. This is an ongoing dilemma in the smart lighting market.

Why not just tie the wires behind the wall switch to always on and then use a HomeKit remote switch like the Hue dimmer?

 

[Puonti]

As someone with plenty of smart lights everywhere I fail to see the benefit of using a smart dimmer switch here. It could just be lack of imagination on my part, of course.

Yes, if you wire that strip to a dumb switch it needs to be "on" all the time, but presumably that switch would not serve any other purpose than being a master switch for the strip whether it's smart or dumb.

Any smart LED strip worth anything can be turned on and off through apps / bridges, just the same as controlling their color and brightness. No need for a separate switch.

The switch seems like unnecessary added complexity for this particular use case. I use Signify Hue, though - perhaps they just work differently from Eve LED strips?

 

[TheOfficialAK]

As someone with plenty of smart lights everywhere I fail to see the benefit of using a smart dimmer switch here. It could just be lack of imagination on my part, of course.

Yes, if you wire that strip to a dumb switch it needs to be "on" all the time, but presumably that switch would not serve any other purpose than being a master switch for the strip whether it's smart or dumb.

Any smart LED strip worth anything can be turned on and off through apps / bridges, just the same as controlling their color and brightness. No need for a separate switch.

The switch seems like unnecessary added complexity for this particular use case. I use Signify Hue, though - perhaps they just work differently from Eve LED strips?

We like the strips for its features but having to use a command or app to turn it off and on every time may not be ideal, the wife still wants some semblance of a "non-smart" home, hence having a physical (smart) switch to do the main off/on control.

After putting more thought into this and reading a lot of comments, I'm thinking it would save a lot of trouble to just wire both the LED strip and smart switch independently.

And have them mirror each others statuses.

Seems overly complex, but I'm trying to achieve both worlds

 

[Puonti]

We like the strips for its features but having to use a command or app to turn it off and on every time may not be ideal, the wife still wants some semblance of a "non-smart" home, hence having a physical (smart) switch to do the main off/on control.

After putting more thought into this and reading a lot of comments, I'm thinking it would save a lot of trouble to just wire both the LED strip and smart switch independently.

And have them mirror each others statuses.

Seems overly complex, but I'm trying to achieve both worlds

I totally get the point about having physical controls available, I just didn't see what benefit a smart physical control brought to the table when it sounded from your description like it was still being used simply to (physically) switch the LED strip on and off.

That said, having the smart switch might give you further home automation options in the future (depending on what the switch is capable of).

 

[TheOfficialAK]

I totally get the point about having physical controls available, I just didn't see what benefit a smart physical control brought to the table when it sounded from your description like it was still being used simply to (physically) switch the LED strip on and off.

That said, having the smart switch might give you further home automation options in the future (depending on what the switch is capable of).

It may be user specific.. but the wife needs to be able to tell if the switch is on or off by looking, a dumb one might either be just a clicking one

Or those paddles that stay in either up or down, and those are super annoying because it could mean the opposite way if the LED strip is off/on.

 

[Puonti]

It may be user specific.. but the wife needs to be able to tell if the switch is on or off by looking, a dumb one might either be just a clicking one

Or those paddles that stay in either up or down, and those are super annoying because it could mean the opposite way if the LED strip is off/on.

I can see that, yeah. In my setup I've managed to avoid that problem but it's highly situational.

Do post an update when you get everything working!

 

[TheOfficialAK]

I can see that, yeah. In my setup I've managed to avoid that problem but it's highly situational.

Do post an update when you get everything working!

Thank you for your inputs!

Hopefully my house is ready soon amidst this outbreak, a lot of delays.

Now figuring out where to buy a long ass power supply cable for the LED strips so I can hide the main power box

 

[Madmic23]

What did you end up doing for the lights? I’m in a similar situation, about to move to a new house with LED lights around the ceiling in the kids rooms.

We’re taking a different approach though. We have a regular electrical outlet close to the ceiling in both rooms. Then, we have crown moulding, but it’s a few inches down from the ceiling. The outlet is hidden behind the crown, and the LED strips will plug into that and attach to the inside of the crown. If everything goes according to plan, it should be a nice, diffused glow from the ceiling.

The issue for me is determining what to use for lights. Hue is great, but a bit too expensive for the 50+ feet I need to run. I’m debating on a cheaper Homekit option like Meross on Amazon, or just a dumb LED strip for cheap from Home Depot, and then plugging that into a smart outlet.

Still have some planning to do on this one, but I’m open to suggestions.

 

[cjbryce]

I have a very similar scenario with a total of 7 Hue bulbs in my living room, three downlighter and a central ceiling rose consisting of 5 bulbs. They are all Hue (who also make light strips). I have a similar setup in the bedroom with wall sconces and table lamps all with Hue bulbs fitted.

Power to the bulbs is permanently on and I have used a Hue Dimmer in each room to trigger programmed Home app scenes. The dimmer itself can set up to four scenes and of course the app or Siri can be used to trigger other scenes.

 

[TheOfficialAK]

What did you end up doing for the lights? I’m in a similar situation, about to move to a new house with LED lights around the ceiling in the kids rooms.

We’re taking a different approach though. We have a regular electrical outlet close to the ceiling in both rooms. Then, we have crown moulding, but it’s a few inches down from the ceiling. The outlet is hidden behind the crown, and the LED strips will plug into that and attach to the inside of the crown. If everything goes according to plan, it should be a nice, diffused glow from the ceiling.

The issue for me is determining what to use for lights. Hue is great, but a bit too expensive for the 50+ feet I need to run. I’m debating on a cheaper Homekit option like Meross on Amazon, or just a dumb LED strip for cheap from Home Depot, and then plugging that into a smart outlet.

Still have some planning to do on this one, but I’m open to suggestions.

There were some unexpected delays in the building schedule so it's still some ways off before my home is ready :/
Probably mid next year if I'm lucky.

In terms of the original plan, it has evolved somewhat to a less complex setup.

Power to the bulbs is permanently on and I have used a Hue Dimmer in each room to trigger programmed Home app scenes. The dimmer itself can set up to four scenes and of course the app or Siri can be used to trigger other scenes.

Similar to cjbryce I opted to have regular "always-on" strips, @Madmic23 you can explore COB LED strips for diffused strips, you won't need to do a cove just to avoid seeing those led glow spots, a simple diffuser over the strip is needed just for aesthetics.

For my original use case, i wanted the RGB LEDs that can alter the colour output hence that complex idea, with further research I came across this type of "dumb" LEDs: Dim to Warm LEDs or Dimmable White LEDs, essentially as the dimmer switch adjusts up or down, the colour of the "dumb" strips change from white (highest brightness) to warm (lowest brightness).

Linked with is just gonna be a Wemo Dimmer Light Switch (because it has the dimming level visible) to work with HK.