So the HS220 (Light Switch, Dimmer) can't function with groups of smart lights?

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So the HS220 (Light Switch, Dimmer) can't function with groups of smart lights?

This thread has been locked for further replies. You can start a new thread to share your ideas or ask questions.
So the HS220 (Light Switch, Dimmer) can't function with groups of smart lights?
So the HS220 (Light Switch, Dimmer) can't function with groups of smart lights?
2018-07-03 07:43:55
Model : HS220

Hardware Version : 1.0

Firmware Version : 1.4.8


Hello,

I recently moved house and as someone who was pleased with my previous Kasa Smart Home setup, I decided to go all out on TP-Link Kasa products.
What I purchased was two HS220 Light Switch Dimmers, three LB130 Smart Bulbs, and three LB230 Smart Bulbs.

The setup which I was anticipating was pairing an HS220 to function with three LB130s,
and pairing an HS220 to three LB230s.


What I imagined that the Kasa would do is if you hit the "dim up" button, the paired smart bulbs would go up about 17% brightness (1/6), and hitting the "dim down" button would make the smart bulbs go down 17% brightness. Hitting the main switch would turn the smart bulbs off / on in the app. Basically I thought the switch could function as quick functions for paired "Kasa" devices, if desired. An example of what I had in mind was hitting the switch to turn off the associated lights, but then asking Alexa to turn on "Corner Light 2", and that particular bulb would still turn on, because the switch doesn't actually remove power. It just does quick functions for paired devices.

I sincerely assumed that these devices would already do this, because I saw that LED Bulbs were supported, and I just assumed that TP-Link would make their devices work together, especially things branded with Kasa.

However, it seems that TP-Link does not support their own products to work with each other. The HS220 switch is treated as a seperate device on Kasa, and attempting any dimming functions only makes the smart bulbs flicker. This is because it is not programmed to dim with the Kasa functions, but rather the traditional method of reducing power. Which makes sense, because this switch supports incandescent bulbs. But when I saw LED Bulbs were supported, I blindly assumed that there was also an alternative Kasa functionality with the dimming. I even accidentally reset some of the bulbs because they would flicker on and off repeatedly.



Dear TP-Link Kasa team.. are you going to support something similar to what I thought the HS220 would do?

I just spent $690 dollars on this current setup, and none of these products are flexible to work well with eachother. Should I try to get a refund?

Maybe I presumed too much what TP-Link Kasa could do, but honestly I find it disappointing that Kasa can't do this.
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#1
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8 Reply
Re:So the HS220 (Light Switch, Dimmer) can't function with groups of smart lights?
2018-07-03 07:51:38
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#2
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Re:So the HS220 (Light Switch, Dimmer) can't function with groups of smart lights?
2018-07-03 09:45:12
Hey, Burrito, HS220 can only control the dimmerable LED bulbs or incandescent bulbs (300W Incandescent & 150W LED).

TP-Link smart bulbs are not dimmerable LED, it can't work with dimmer switch, HS220. (What I said here about dimmerable LED is based on hardware description)

No matter smart bulbs or dimmer switch, they are good product and you may choose to keep bulbs or switch.

Certainly, you can also keep all of them since they can be controlled by Kasa APP which is very convenient.

You may just need to make dimmer switch to work with dimmerable LED bulbs or incandescent bulbs.
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#3
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Re:So the HS220 (Light Switch, Dimmer) can't function with groups of smart lights?
2018-07-06 05:46:49
No matter smart bulbs or dimmer switch, they are good product and you may choose to keep bulbs or switch.


Maybe they are good products, but they are not good products for me if they cannot interact with eachother. I purchased two different TP-Link products, and based on the information you are providing me, one of your products must be removed from my smart home ecosystem. I must either remove the three bulbs in order to put in bulbs which are compatible, or I must remove the wall switch for one that doesn't have any smart home capabilities. Even if I don't return them, I cannot use both of your products at the same time. That is what you're telling me.




Certainly, you can also keep all of them since they can be controlled by Kasa APP which is very convenient.


No. No it isn't a convenient app. Granted, I don't believe that any application will ever be as easy as using a wall switch. I absolutely hope that the Kasa team doesn't actually think that the easiest way to manipulate lights would be to open the application on a phone every time. I'll tell you right now that my spouse doesn't give a s*** about the app, and she will only use products if they are in a physical manner and if they're screwed into the wall. It can take literally seconds to open that application. And then you have to click on the product in the list of hardware associated with that Kasa account. That is absolutely slower than hitting a wall switch.

I work in automation industry myself in San Jose. I'm 100% on board with automation, and I don't judge the Kasa team for their product. But don't believe for a minute that normies give a f*** about the app. Normies need automation to work around them, otherwise I guarantee the complete failure of your product. If my spouse will ever use your product, she needs to already know how to use it.

This is why I'm pushing for the wall switches to also manipulate the lights to dim and turn off pairs of lights in "smart home" ways. If I ask Alexa to dim my lights, my spouse wouldn't ever figure out how to un dim them if there wasn't a wall switch on the wall that can do that also. And if you're not wiling to offer this functionality, then Kasa is completely f***ed.

If Kasa isn't developing hardware which can work together, then Kasa is not planning for the distant future. No one at the Kasa team thought about what if someone replaced all their products with Kasa products? No one there thought it would be a good idea to allow people to go all in on Kasa products?
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#4
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Re:So the HS220 (Light Switch, Dimmer) can't function with groups of smart lights?
2018-07-06 17:18:20
Perhaps tp-link Kasa team should consider releasing dimmerable smart bulb in future.

Did you unpack all these devices? try to adjust smart bulb to 100% lightness with app to see whether you can dim them with the switch manually. Good luck..
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#5
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Re:So the HS220 (Light Switch, Dimmer) can't function with groups of smart lights?
2018-07-06 21:05:41
I really second your thoughts about SO's not wanting to use a phone to change a bulb - my SO won't use my app and I wrote the darn thing. So I've had to put *a lot* of focus on automating everything and being very tolerant of bulbs being switched off and on manually (by power) - esp when my automation wasn't exactly what she wanted...

You might be conflating "pairing" like in a zigbee system with wifi control. TP Link devices are wifi and they don't pair with each other or a zigbee controller (like say hue or lightify). They are stand alone devices controlled by the Kasa app using their local API or the TP Link cloud. I'm not aware of *any* smart bulb that would be happy in a circuit that's physically dimmed.

If you want to give manual control for the SO you might use "dumb" dimmable LED bulbs in the sockets controlled by the dimmer switch - they're significantly (like 10x) less expensive.

At first I thought you wanted to dim dumb bulbs in the dimmer circuit while at the same time *synchronize* the dimming settings with smart bulbs in another fixtures - this is certainly possible and my app has synchronization actions to just that. But unfortunately I don't have access to the TP220 dimmer yet so it's not supported (if there is someone using my app that would like to enable TP220 support please contact me and we can try to get it sorted).
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Re:So the HS220 (Light Switch, Dimmer) can't function with groups of smart lights?
2020-02-11 04:13:07

@BurritoBoi So I just joined this community, even though I don't own any TP-Link wares, just to respond to this post.  I'm looking for exactly the same thing, and I too have a wife who, understandably, is averse to using apps to deal with lighting, and we're both averse to the whole voice control thing.  I need to be able to adjust lighting temperature for my business that I run out of my home.  I need "daylight".....but others that use the office space here think it's too harsh.  So I need to be able to switch back and forth between warm white (+/-3000K) and daylight (+/-5000K).  I'm happy to do that part with an app.  My wish though is to be able to turn off/on and dim/brighten the lights from EITHER the app or a wall switch.  I'd hoped I would be able to do that with the KL120 (Tunable white smart light bulb) and the HS220 dimmer.  Apparently no such luck.

 

I get that you cannot use a dimmer that monkeys with the power going to the smart bulb, and that's apparently what the HS220 dimmer does.  But it seems like it should be EASY to develop/provide a dimmer that communicates with the bulb through the wireless network to do the same thing.  In other words, remove the "analog" switch/dimmer that's in the wall now...direct connect the wires so there is constant power to the smart bulbs, and place in that spot a new and fancy dimmer that would simply communicate with the bulb in much the same way that Alexa, Siri, and other "digital women" do. 

 

The best of both worlds.....An old fashioned style wall dimmer, and a fancy app.  I'm amazed that, if it exists, I'm unable to find it.  Until I do, I guess I'm stuck with color changeable lights that are controlled with remotes....available on Amazon, but apparently pretty unreliable.

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Re:So the HS220 (Light Switch, Dimmer) can't function with groups of smart lights?
2021-10-11 23:09:22

@BeegJawn @BurritoBoi 

 

I recently purchased the HS220 for my bedroom that has four over head lights in each corner of the room.

 

I love the dimmer capabilities, voice commands, and the current UI of the app.

 

I was thinking about getting four color changing compatible lights, so I could command the switch to say do things like "Change the bedroom lights to the color blue..." etc.

 

I was curious if anyone on the forum had found a way to do this, and which products would be best to purchase to fulfill this intention.

 

If HS220 is not capable of doing this, that is okay, I would just like to know what the best set up may be.

 

Thank you.

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#8
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Re:So the HS220 (Light Switch, Dimmer) can't function with groups of smart lights?
2021-10-12 18:17:57

@piconico It may depend on exactly what colors you want.  I was able to satisfy my needs with Feit Electric Color Choice bulbs (Mfr #A800/CCT/LEDI).  The bulbs switch between 2700K, 4000K, and 5000K (warm white, cool white, and daylight) with a switch on the bulb, or with an off/on flick of the light switch.  Works great, and dimmable via a standard dimmer switch too.  If you want a greater selection of colors though, this bulb wont do it for you.

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