Share
This is the first time I have grabbed one of these Deta Grid Connect Mechanisms Dimmer or the straight switch mainly because I have not had a need to dim from a switch as my globes have that capability but my front downlights all 7 of them are 10w dimmable Luce Bella standard downlights and I wanted to run some dimming automations on them so this was the cheaper option than replacing them all with Arlec Grid Connect downlights.
So I thought why not review it for all to benefit.
So first off the device requires a Neutral conductor to operate and although I'm not going to go into detail how to wire it up as it requires a qualified electrician to do so what I will say they must follow the instructions to the tee.
The mech looks sturdy and comes with 2 types of buttons 1 for the Deta and Clipsal style plates and 1 for HPM style plates unfortunately mine is the old style PDL and although I have a 3 gang clipsal switch somewhere I just couldn't find it so I made do with the PDL plate.
To change the button just gently get under it with a flat blade screw driver then push the new one on until it clicks in.
Now my setup is I'm running a Deta Grid Connect PIR sensor in parallel with the switch so that either the sensor turns on the lights or the switch turns on the lights this way the sensor always has power without the switch being on.
Setup is just Iike any other device tap the + button to add it, name it and give it a location.
Once it's loaded you can dim, switch on and off, setup schedules and countdowns.
Now below the dim slide is a locked slide this is where you will need to tap the padlock icon and then go to your lights and slide the Dimmer down until your LED lights or globes start to flicker or turn off this is your lowest limit and you want to set the locked limit just above that. Once set and happy press the lock again to grey out the slide and now your Dimmer will not go past that point
Now that you have your limits set up you can use the switch as a normal push button on/off and dimming through the app.
You can setup schedules when the switch turns on and with scene automations you can setup up more complex tasks.
For me I wanted the following scene.
Lights come on at 17:30 @ dimmed brightness
Turn off at 22:30
When PIR senses movement the lights go to full brightness for the set time of the PIR which is 5 min then back down to dimmed state.
24/7 the PIR sensor is override control.
It looks like this.
So as a final note where you have many lights that are not smart but are dimmable or even or want to use the switching mech it is a good alternative that replacing lights, if you don't need dimming it would worth comparing against switch gang plates as well.
Happy Automations Bunnings Peeps
Carl
