Remote Control GU10s

Darando

Looking for thoughts on options. Have a garden room at end of garden, about 28m away.

Want to be able to switch on some external GU10s from the house with a remote (not phone app or wifi switch ideally as want whole family to have access)

I see IKEA have Tradfri bulbs but says their range is 10m (anybody verify?)...cheap options on Amazon/eBay only have a range of a couple of feet..what systems are out there? Seen Mi-Light as a possible option as they use 2.4GHz system..

jmBuildExt

Ikea lights use zigbee as their wireless protocol - as do alot of the others, like philips hue for example.
The range refers to the distance between each device (router/hub, light, switch, repeater) in the network. If you put intermediate lights say at 8m intervals down to your target lights the signal will be propagated by those intermediate lights (even if you are not switching those lights on - but they do have to be powered).

You can also get devices that will just propogate the signal - often called repeaters.
Ikea have them but it doesn't look like they would be much use outdoors - you'd need to fit an out door socket for each one.
Repeaters from other manufacturers may work too - but again they'd need to be powered.

If I were you I would fit 3 to 5 outdoor gu10 light fittings between the house and the shed at the bottom of your garden.


Alternatively, if you wanted a project and were that way inclined.... and provided you have a network connection to the garden room, there are ways you can send commands to the ikea router from a PC on the network - I do it for my hall and landing lights to be triggered off the sensors belonging to my burglar alarm system - using a raspberry pi. You could have raspberry pi with a switch wired to it. program the Rpi to read the switch and send command to the ikea router down in the garden room to switch it on. (if you want more details on that i can expand)

Alternatively, again provided you have network in the shed, you could use alexa/google home in the house to tell the ikea router in the garden room to switch on the lights.

Darando

Thanks, at the minute there are no other lights in the garden...that's another summer project

https://www.milight.com/milight-gu10-rgbw-spotlight-iphone-ios-android-controlled-light/

These are the bulbs I saw with a 30m range, just wondered if I had missed another supplier (or a different system)

jmBuildExt

Cant really help you there as they seem to be somewhat obscure - might be worth a punt.

But, given the advertised 30m limit being close to your 28m distance - i wouldn't be too confident. Add to that the fact that you could have interference from other 2.4Ghz devices (i.e. your wifi, your neighbours wifi - or maybe not if you have 28M of garden ) makes it a bit risky IMO


Other option I never mentioned above is to mount a small tablet on your wall at your back door, with it logged into the ikea app. (again, requires your garden room to be connected to your network)

Do you use alexa/google home?

dodzy

Darando wrote: »

Looking for thoughts on options. Have a garden room at end of garden, about 28m away.

Want to be able to switch on some external GU10s from the house with a remote (not phone app or wifi switch ideally as want whole family to have access)

I see IKEA have Tradfri bulbs but says their range is 10m (anybody verify?)...cheap options on Amazon/eBay only have a range of a couple of feet..what systems are out there? Seen Mi-Light as a possible option as they use 2.4GHz system..

That 10mtr rang is pretty much on the money. Have them here. Very handy remote with the bulb set capable of both cool/warm white as well as dimmable.

ted1

Use a smart switch instead of smart lamps.

You will be able to switch them via an app or by the switch

Like this : https://sonoff.ie/sonoff/126-173-sonoff-t1-switch.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAwMP9BRCzARIsAPWTJ_HSyCqddDbBIg1asVInZ8MzQfJanxqoICo8HFRIumPvOfFgIKJqL8caAokEEALw_wcB

That one needs a neutral. But there are some out there that don’t need one

sharkman

Here's another option : https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08DXJ5CSW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2A48WDO1TXXKG&psc=1

Stoner

Could you cable a cat5 cable to it?

The sonoff mini is an option for a low voltage wired switch

Also sonff RF have a remote . They wouldn't cover 38 M though

The sonoff mini would be a real option