Sunday 25 January 2009

Varilight dimmer remote control

Got one of these things a while back - they're neat dimmer switches with a touch control - no moving parts - get 'em from Homebase etc. They're remotely controllable (over IR-InfraRed) - and you can buy a specific remote for from about £5 upwards.

However these Varilight dimmers are smart - you can program them to do a bunch of things - depending on which model you have. It's not clear how to work that out (apart from testing it using its programming mode - see below), but all of them can be programmed to work with any remote control you have - e.g your TV remote. Just choose a spare button that you don't use and you can get the varilight to use it to turn the thing on and off! As mentioned here:

1. Tap switch 6 times - takes it in to 'learning mode' (After the 6 taps the light will go and off once more to indicate it's in learning mode).
2. Point your choose remote at it whilst pressing (for 2 secs or more) that your chosen button at it - the lights will go on and off.
3. Point the remote at the it again whist pressing the button and the lights should go on and off
4. You're done - it should work as your new remote control!

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