Need Guidance, Help, Thoughts. dimmable LED? Smart home? DIY?

Mozilla IoT
#1

Hi everyone :slight_smile:

First off all, Sorry for my bad English, second sorry if i’m not in the right place to ask my question :confused: but I’m surfing on the web looking for answers like crazy but I can’t find any right and clear way how to make my project go the right way !

I’m a bit familiar with raspberry pie, actually i have only read a few articles and a lot of youtube video :slight_smile: i have also seen how IoT works ! I’m not a programmer or electrician but ready to learn !

So let’s go to my questions.

I bought some led Christmas lights, i think they are dimmable, because I can change the mode from fade out/fade in, tickling, slogo, steady on… I use them as “normal” lights to illuminate my home.

If it’s possible i want to control my lights, changing intensity over time, make them less bright or perhaps (maybe a bit to complicated this one? ) control every led light individually?

I was thinking using a smart plug over wifi, and use a raspberry pie with IoT to control my lights. But i don’t know if it’s possible? So i can change intensity over time, or make them fade out/in over time but in slow mode?

Do you have any insights? Idea? Any informations that can guide me in my project? :slight_smile:

I thank you in advance :slight_smile:

Dany.

#2

Hi @Dany, welcome!

You could definitely use a smart plug to turn your Christmas lights on and off by controlling it via a Raspberry Pi running our WebThings Gateway software.

I’d say its unlikely that dimming them with the smart plug will work. Some smart plugs do provide a dimming feature and without seeing your lights it’s difficult to tell, but I’d say it’s likely the modes you describe are controlled by a small DC control unit on the other side of an AC/DC transformer. Dimming the AC power supply is unlikely to have the desired effect and may even damage the lights. It’s also very unlikely you can control the LEDs individually.

You might be interested to read this article on the Stacey on IoT website which provides some alternatives for smart Christmas lights!

Hope this helps

Ben

#3

It’s possible with some hacks. You must disconnect lights from ac/dc source and insert between an MOSFET PWM driver that will be controlled by an Arduino or esp8266. You can google by “MOSFET pwm esp8266” for wiring. Than, after all parts are connected you can continue with this example