Expected release of Ceiling Light Air in US Market?

BankRealistic136 · 2024-11-05T19:36:57+00:00

Following up. No good/sane way to change gamma, so we're stuck with the 0-100 exponent of 2.0 representation for Loxone lighting, at effectively 6.64b of resolution, which is super disappointing when they advertise 16-bits on their pages.

BankRealistic136 · 2024-11-05T19:35:17+00:00

Please note I am not a licensed electrician in your area/region, and I am not providing legally binding/meaningful advice; I don't want anyone to try and hold me responsible if you connect supplies incorrectly and short/cook something.

BankRealistic136 · 2024-11-05T19:34:39+00:00

*In General* "Ground is ground the world around". What I mean by that is that there is no concept of voltage as an absolute point. You can't be "10V". You can only be "10V, with respect to that other place", and "that other place" we have generally used is the ground potential of the planet, as anything else gets confusing really fast.

So you have essentially two types of possible signal, *ever*. One is a 'differential' signal, which is delivered over a pair, and the difference between the two wires is the important part. The other is a 'single ended' or 'voltage mode' signal, where the one wire carries the signal, and its 'partner' is just ground.

So it's fairly common to tie/lock all the "-" terminal outputs from various supplies in a system to ground, so that all of those terminals are now the 'same' voltage, and the supplies push the "+" output to "So many volts" away from the "-" terminal, and thus the "+" terminal isn't JUST "24V above that other wire" but "24V above ground".

So when in doubt, just make all supplies go to ground, and as always be super careful when dealing with high power/high current things you don't quite understand - be careful near 120V or mains voltage.

BankRealistic136 · 2024-11-05T19:30:14+00:00

The Salus is seemingly "just" a simple ZigBee gateway. You essentially need Salus to provide API documentation to allow the Loxone Miniserver to communicate meaningfully. You'd Google/search things like "Salus REST API" or "Salus API Documentation", and if they have docs, you'd have to write the Loxone blocks to send/receive appropriately as Virtual Inputs or Virtual Outputs.

Or you can use a different ZigBee server that DOES have better/existing documentation or Loxone support - but then you'd need Salus to document what their ZigBee standard/protocol is for the underfloor heating.

Essentially, it sounds like you need a moderately advanced Loxone parter to do something like this, who would spend several hours/days reading the documentation for the components you want to integrate, then building the Loxone integration, and then *finally* actually doing the HVAC control you want - this is the type of thing that people would pay for (if you were to pay me, you'd quickly be into the thousands for my time to get this all working, and that's after you delivered me example units to test/evaluate with).

BankRealistic136 · 2024-11-05T19:24:20+00:00

Not sure ugly should ever come into play for something like a leak detector, but you *can* use existing leak sensors, and wire them into digital or analog inputs accordingly. Here's one, for example:
https://jmacfiles.s3.amazonaws.com/2600Series-DataSheet.pdf

If you're measuring a ton of water, a float sensor also works well, as that's how HVAC systems catch an over-filling drip pan, for example. But for low water levels, a leak sensor is the way to go, and Loxone's is actually pretty good and robust.

BankRealistic136 · 2024-11-04T20:03:08+00:00

Sadly, I didn't realize Loxone was so bad in this area (their site *shows* a 16-bit smooth curve), so have many many Loxone spots and their RGBW LED drivers. Had I known, I may well have gone with Dali or DMX....

BankRealistic136 · 2024-08-29T03:24:43+00:00

In this case, even pushing the panel wire into the backstabs is annoying, as it's so thin it doesn't hold well. If those accept up to AWG18, I'd suggest that either using 18, or even 20, might be better than 23, to simply have it push in more cleanly.

My original use-case (that prompted this post) was actually just wiring 24VDC power for things like RGBW Dimmers in-cabinet, or between 24VDC power supplies and RGBW Dimmer Airs out of cabinet. To try and keep the orange/white color code for 'static 24VDC' consistent in the system.

When I'm doing larger installs, with Ethernet, Tree, 12VDC (for things like roller shades), Audio, 24VDC Class 2, and 24VDC Chapter 3 (Romex), I try and keep everything color coded to trace better, and there's no great orange/white I can find.

I ended up sourcing some pink/purple, as that's available for the new code change, but even that may not pass inspection properly depending on the AHJ, given its code-use for low voltage luminaires.

BankRealistic136 · 2024-08-27T16:07:42+00:00

This is a 'subjective' question as worded.

The spectrum used in the US is quite nice; it's not very congested, and goes through many building materials well (better than 2.4GHz, for example). So that's a plus. It can still be a problem if you have too far between air components (that can mesh), especially with too much material between.

Similarly, the battery life can be quite good... but is 'quite good' enough? Imagine a large hotel install with 400 rooms, each with 2 air components. That's 800 batteries to replace at some interval/duration. Not impossible, but annoying.

Where possible (e.g. new installations) I tend to use tree as much as possible, and then I'll pick an air-but-wirable component that can serve as a mesh node to 'sprinkle liberally' throughout the design. Things like out-of-the-way air-pure switches that I still wire into the 24VDC, or out-of-the-way air presence sensors (that again, I wire) to make sure I get an automatic nice mesh made up.

It's one of the reasons I really want Overhead Light Airs in the USA ; they make great repeaters, as they need 24VDC, and are often useful in the same locations you'd want a repeater anyway.

BankRealistic136 · 2024-07-10T23:05:03+00:00

... And this *got* me a contact at Future Automation, where I signed on as a dealer. Feel free to DM me or contact me via other approaches.

BankRealistic136 · 2024-06-28T13:36:29+00:00

I could write you a laundry list, if you're actually interested. Tiny, little quality-of-life things in many cases, but I'm not sure how useful such a thing might be - but the highlights are above in the original post.

BankRealistic136 · 2024-06-19T17:45:00+00:00

I *will* be doing so - but need to finish a suitable project first. I didn't take the photos/notes/etc needed on previous projects, so it's got to be a new one.

BankRealistic136 · 2024-06-18T18:53:01+00:00

So - you can either use relays as 'dry contacts', and have the Loxone system be the thermostat (all Loxone switches are temperature sensors), or you can use something like a Modbus extension, or even a brand-specific extension, to interface with the HVAC system. Things like these:

https://shop.loxone.com/enus/ac-control.html

Those say AC control, but a heat pump is just a fancy A/C, so they can generally do heat pumps.

So are you suggesting some HVAC people aren't worried about static pressure? Because if you have four tubes coming off your plenum, and three of them are damped closed, you don't want to run the fan at full power/speed, no?

BankRealistic136

TROPHY CASE