Discussion
As far as smart home light switches go, why aren't rotary dials more common in North America? Obvious on/off toggle, can't get "out of sync", even easier dimming than paddles, long-press actions, etc. Is there a downside beyond convention?
(I'm aware of Lutron's janky one)
@christianselig guessing adding a moving part (encoder) makes this harder to do reliably/cheaply
@christianselig I have a half-assed theory it’s due to the previous generation of dimmers, not free rotating, that apparently had a high failure rate.
…Or so I heard growing up, which had nothing to do with the basement lights being on a dimmer knob that was fun to play with,
@christianselig is it as simple as it being a “light switch” rather than light button/toggle? I like the feeling of a switch for something like this, a button is less satisfying. The “out of sync” thing is a problem though and I will correct the other switches in order to have them accurately reflect the state of the light, but it happens rarely for me
@ericthegrim For smart homes the out of sync issue is less a rarity and more "this will happen 17 times a day if you ever use a voice command"
@christianselig I swear by the Aurora. They’re great.
@caleb I don't love that you can't just whack it blindly and only the center area is interactable, weird UX versus standard rotary dimmers
@christianselig 1. Aesthetic. Rotary dimmers have a cheap 80’s vibe most of the time. (I happen to not mind the look by itself, but they are pretty ugly next to other modern paddle switches)
2. Function. Most people set a dim level and leave it. Rotary switches are nearly impossible to tap on/off without changing the brightness a little.
@jimmylittle Excellent point on the second one
@christianselig My guess would be longevity. The ones with the tiny little sliders and the rotary ones break pretty frequently in my experience.
@gregatron5 huh we had an inexpensive one growing up that last for ages
@christianselig Rotary dimmers where popular a bit. I have had older ones meant for Incandescent lighting. Not sure why they feel out of favor here.
@christianselig Not smart home tech but my one house had one of these. https://www.ebay.com/itm/377408054496
I thought it was pretty neat tech for the time it was made.
@glennbrown those need to come back!
@christianselig Phillips Hue makes a wireless 4 button switch + dial that you can place anywhere.
@radley yeah looking for a hardwired version
@christianselig I think stylistically they got tied to the late 80s/early 90s for a while, but functionally they're exactly what a lot of people want. I'd certainly buy a modern looking one or 5
@christianselig what did you find janky about the Lutron one? They’ve been working fine for me and by covering the original switch guests don’t get confused.
@Charrondev not hardwired in, not in love that it’s weirdly marketed as Hue only even if you can around that, and don’t love that the whole thing seemingly can’t get pressed/whacked without looking (seemingly only the center)
@christianselig Price. But I spent a lot of time looking at these... https://forbesandlomax.com/usa/#collection
@christianselig People tend to set their dimmers to a specific dimmness level and never touch it after it’s set? That’s what we do with all of our dimmers in multiple rooms
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