A timber deck at night with a row of recessed deck lights glowing blue and white along the boards.

Colour deck lights you run from your phone

How it works

Your deck lights stay as they are. The Shelly Plus RGBW PM sits between the 12 or 24 V power supply and the lights and joins your Wi-Fi, so there's no hub to buy. You run the lights from the free Shelly app, with colour, white, brightness and schedules that follow sunset, and it shows how much power the lights draw.

It works with RGBW deck lights: a cable with five wires, one common V+ and one each for red, green, blue and white. You cut the lead between the lights and the power supply, and the controller goes in that gap.

  1. Shelly app main controls for a device named Deck lights, with the white channel at 0% and brightness at 90%. 01

    Your phone

    Tap the deck lights in your app, or let a sunset schedule do it.

  2. Plus RGBW PM LED Strip Controller 02

    Shelly controller

    Sets the colour and brightness on the lights' channels.

  3. 03

    Your deck lights

    Run from the 12 or 24 V power supply they already have.

Check your lights first

These controllers run low voltage colour deck lights. The label on the power supply and the cable to the lights tell you which kind you have.

  • 12 V DC
  • 24 V DC
  • RGBW
  • RGBCW

In Australia

Lights that run on 240 V won't work with these controllers. If the power supply is hardwired rather than plugged in, connecting it is a job for a licensed electrician.

What it looks like on your phone

  • Main controls. Brightness and the white channel for the deck lights, with power use as it runs.

  • Any colour. Pick a colour on the wheel and the deck lights follow.

  • Sunset to 23:00. One schedule turns the lights on at sunset, another turns them off at a set time.

Step by step

  1. Cut the lead to the power supply

    Unplug the power supply. Cut the lead that runs from the deck lights to the driver, on the driver side of any plugs or joiners, so the lights keep their own connectors. Strip the ends of the wires, and use the markings on the lead or the lights' instructions to work out which is V+, R, G, B and W. Brands colour their wires differently, so treat this as a first guess: you'll check the colours once it's set up.

  2. Wire the controller

    Connect the power supply to + and ⊥. The lights' common positive joins the power supply's positive, and their red, green, blue and white wires go to R, G, B and W. On the Pro RGBWW PM, red, green and blue go to O1, O2 and O3, warm white to O4 and cool white to O5. Fit the controller in its enclosure, then plug the power supply in last.

    Wire map Plus RGBW PM
    • Power supply + +
    • Power supply 0 V ⊥
    • Lights common V+ +
    • Red R
    • Green G
    • Blue B
    • White W
    Circuit overview
    +12 or 24 V0 V12 or 24 V DC power supplyDeck lights+⊥I1I2I3I4RGBWShelly Plus RGBW PM
    +12 or 24 V0 VColour and white channels

    Everything on this controller is low voltage from a 12 or 24 V DC power supply. Unplug the supply before you move a wire.

    Showing the whole circuit

    Shelly Plus RGBW PM

    100%
    +12 or 24 V0 V12 or 24 V DC power supplyDeck lights+⊥I1I2I3I4RGBWShelly Plus RGBW PM

    Select a terminal to follow its wiring.

  3. Add it in the Shelly app

    Add the controller to the Shelly app and put it in a room for the deck.

  4. Set the profile to RGBW

    Open the controller in the app and tap the gear at the foot of the side menu for Device settings. Open Device profile, choose rgbw and tap Save. Do this before you add any schedules: changing the profile restarts the controller and clears them. On the Pro RGBWW PM, use the RGB and CCT profile, which is how it comes.

  5. Check the colours match

    Every brand of deck light colours its wires differently, so check them now. In the Shelly app, open the palette in the side menu and pick red, then green, then blue. Then go back to the main controls and turn up the white channel. If the deck lights show a different colour from the one you picked, unplug the power supply and swap those two wires on the controller, then try again. It's all low voltage after the power supply, so you can safely swap wires until every colour matches.

  6. Set it to come on at sunset

    Open the calendar in the side menu and tap Add schedule. Set it to turn the lights on at sunset, with the colour and brightness you want, on every day. Add a second schedule that turns them off at a set time, such as 23:00.

Frequently asked questions

Which should I choose: Hue, Home Assistant or Shelly?

Use the app you already have. If you have a Hue Bridge, the Hue app keeps the deck in with the rest of your lights. If you run Zigbee in Home Assistant, pair the controller there directly. If you have neither, the Shelly joins your Wi-Fi and needs no hub.

Will my deck lights work with this?

They need to run on 12 or 24 V DC from a separate power supply, with a cable that has a wire for each colour: five for RGBW, six for RGBCW. Single-colour 12 or 24 V lights work too, with brightness only. Lights that plug straight into 240 V, or run on solar, won't work.

Do I have to cut the cable?

Yes, once, between the lights and the power supply. The controller goes in that gap. Cut on the driver side of any plugs or joiners, so the lights keep their own connectors.

Can I keep the remote that came with my deck lights?

No. A kit with a colour remote has its own controller in the driver, and the smart controller replaces it. Your phone, a voice assistant or a wall button take over from the remote.

Do I need a Hue Bridge?

Yes, for the Hue app. The controller is a Zigbee device and the Bridge is how it reaches the app. If you'd rather not add a bridge, the Shelly option joins your Wi-Fi directly.

Will it work with Home Assistant too?

Yes. Home Assistant's Philips Hue integration picks up lights on the Bridge, deck lights included. To pair the controller to Home Assistant directly instead, pick Home Assistant at the top of this page.

The Hue app can't find the controller. What do I do?

Start the search in the app first, then reset the controller: hold its RESET button for 5 seconds until the lights flash 3 times. A reset puts it back to colour and white mode, so press OPT until it's yellow again before the next search.

Do I need a Zigbee adapter?

Yes. ZHA and Zigbee2MQTT both talk to Zigbee devices through a coordinator plugged into your Home Assistant machine. If you already run Zigbee in Home Assistant, the adapter you have will do.

Can I use Zigbee2MQTT instead of ZHA?

Yes. The Pro+ Mini is supported in Zigbee2MQTT. Permit joining in Zigbee2MQTT, then press OPT until it's yellow (RGBW). Changing the mode clears any old pairing, so it joins fresh in RGBW.

What if I already paired it to a Hue Bridge?

Either keep it there and pick Hue Bridge under Connect through, or reset it. A Zigbee device can only belong to one network, so it has to leave the Bridge before Home Assistant's Zigbee can add it. A reset puts it back to colour and white mode, so press OPT until it's yellow again.

Why go through the Hue Bridge?

If you already have a Hue Bridge, the deck lights sit in the Hue app with your other Hue lights and in Home Assistant as well, with no Zigbee adapter to add. Pairing straight to Home Assistant's Zigbee skips the Bridge, but the lights are then only in Home Assistant.

Will it work with Home Assistant?

Yes. Home Assistant finds Shelly devices on your network through its Shelly integration, and the deck lights show up as a colour light. No Zigbee adapter needed.

Which controller do I need?

Count the wires in your deck lights' cable. Five (V+, R, G, B, W) is RGBW, which suits the Plus RGBW PM. Six, with separate warm and cool white, is RGBCW, which needs the Pro RGBWW PM.

Does it need the internet?

The schedules are stored on the controller, so they don't rely on Shelly's cloud to run. The controller does set its clock over the internet, though, so a long outage or a reset can leave the times out until it reconnects.

Still need a hand?

We answer most messages within one business day. If your question is about an existing order, have your order number ready. It speeds things up.

Contact us