Testing and installing a Hue compatible Zigbee dimmer

I recently got a Namron Zigbee dimmer for our kitchen counter LED strip. It claimed to be compatible with the Philips Hue bridge, and it was 😃

I first wired it temporarily to the LED strip, to see how it worked — both the actual dimming and the integration with the Philips Hue bridge.

Pairing the device in the Philips Hue app was easy. It started in “pairing-mode” when first powered up, and was found and added in the app without any issues.

The dimmer has a function to set the minimum light level. I found that the LED strip started to flicker if I went below 45-50%, so I set the minimum light level at 50%. This is done by clicking and holding a small button on the device.

After a few days of testing I got an electrician to install it permanently.

The dimmer has a height of 20.3 mm, and fits behind a standard Elko switch.

It’s possible to connect an impulse switch to the dimmer. We used a standard Elko switch, with a spring. This allows us to control the lights locally.

Or from the Hue app of course 😄

It works great, and the usage of both the Hue app and a regular switch is nice.

When turning on, the previous light level is restored — also when using the switch.

In the app it says that the device is not updatable, but in the user manual it states:

The device supports firmware updating through OTA, and will acquire new firmware from Zigbee controller or hub every 10 minutes automatically.

I’m not entirely sure that this means, I just hope it doesn’t stop working in the Hue app at some point.