On, Off, On, Off - Rako & Lighting/Electrics

[atlasfever]

Hi All,

Is anyone here familiar with Rako electric dimmers/electric automation?
For example; http://www.smarthousestore.co.uk/lighting-control/rako.html

Since I have to rewire my whole flat, I was looking into this -- I'm on a budget, so might not be appropriate, but I would like to know if anyone has any experience with it, etc. My contractor is not that familiar with it, but i came across this via my own searches. I would be able to control lighting, etc and even wifi enabled for iphone.

Thanks for any feedback.

 

[middi]

If it was a 17th C. switch everybody on the forum would respond to you question :wink:

Middi

 

[JoceAndChris]

Sounds completely over the top to me! I like my manual dimmers though.

 

[Zebra]

Not a clue, sorry. Far too complicated for me.

 

[Flyfisher]

There's more information here: http://www.lightwaverf.com/

It's the same sort of thing, though I don't know if it's exactly the same thing - if you see what I mean. Home automation products have been around for many years now but the disappointing thing, for me at least, is the lack of a single standard that all manufacturers could use. Thiis would help drive down costs and allow diferent products to interwork with others. Maybe it will happen in time - as it has with 'powerline' network connections over mains wiring.

But these RF systems don't actually rely on re-wiring, so that's not a prerequisite as it's mainly a case of just replacing the existing switches etc.

For an even simpler way to upgrade to such things, Philips recently launched a range of 'wifi lightbulbs'. These are LED 'bulbs' with a built-in wifi receiver, so there is no need to even change lightswitches. The advent of very long-life LEDs makes the additional cost of wifi functionality in each bulb a bit more palatable, but of course it does increase the cost. However, it's a quick and reasonably cheap way of experimenting with such automation on a small scale - which is what I'm planning to do, but haven't got around to it quite yet. So much to do, so little time!

More info here: http://www.meethue.com/en-US