SonOff Low Cost Wifi Switches for Home Automation

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

mcbobbyb

From there page today...

Hello, dear user, we are very sorry that it failed to connect eWeLink's Google Home and Alexa skill this morning. We have optimized the connection and this problem is fixed. Please retry.

wexfordman2

tweek84 wrote: »

Just out of interest what surge protection are you using? I am thinking of installing some myself. I know when most think of surge protection they just focus on the mains cable not the telephone lines.

I am in a rural area, so fixed line broadband is not an option for me. I have a wireless point to point system, with a small 5.8ghz antenna on Gable end of the house. I actually got rid of my phone line a while after that, so it's less of an issue.

I'm no expert, sorry, but I had something like this


https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-BV107200-06-Protector-Telephone-Protection/dp/B003YNTFMY


My thinking as that if I have this on the incoming line, so the phone line was surge protected, and also any modem etc connected to it was surge protected in the 220v side, then I was a good way there.

I also put individual surge protectors on high value stuff like Sonos and TV's etc.

As I said, I'm no expert and that approach probably had holes in it. Stoner mentioned surge protection in the fuse board as well

Jakey Rolling

tweek84 wrote: »

Just out of interest what surge protection are you using? I am thinking of installing some myself. I know when most think of surge protection they just focus on the mains cable not the telephone lines.

Ours is a Hagen SPN215D, I think there was an extra 32A breaker wired in series as well

bk

Yes, you can get surge protectors and UPS that will also protect from spikes on incoming phone lines, ethernet cables and coax.

Don't forget about the coax, coming in from an aerial or dish on the roof.

OldMrBrennan83

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thecivvie

Patww79 wrote: »

I've the units you put in series with a mains cable. Had a device set up earlier and linked the account to turn on and off with Home no bother. Tried to add a second device but the only way I could see was to remove my eWe account from Home and re-add it, but I haven't been able to do that since because of 'network unavailable' message.

Did you try the "HG resync my devices" had no issues with adding MORE sonoff

slayerking

For brand new builds, should you expect the electrician to leave neutrals at the switches? Or is it very much up to the electrician?

GryKyo

slayerking wrote: »

For brand new builds, should you expect the electrician to leave neutrals at the switches? Or is it very much up to the electrician?

No, it is not conventional. Have a look at this video. JW is a bit slow and very thorough but this is the way standard domestic lights are wired.

https://youtu.be/dnpV781c6Sw

Essentially:
If your room has one switch, pull a neutral FROM THIS CIRCUIT on your consumer unit
If your room has 2 switches and o e light circuit - A Sonoff switch is not going to work!

kenmc

slayerking wrote: »

For brand new builds, should you expect the electrician to leave neutrals at the switches? Or is it very much up to the electrician?

Good question, I've not yet found an answer. Will be asking the electrician to do that on mine so I can use sonoff touch light switches

lochdara

kenmc wrote: »

Good question, I've not yet found an answer. Will be asking the electrician to do that on mine so I can use sonoff touch light switches

I was lucky. Mine were there but from talking to a few people its not the norm.

kenmc

GryKyo wrote: »

No, it is not conventional. Have a look at this video. JW is a bit slow and very thorough but this is the way standard domestic lights are wired.

https://youtu.be/dnpV781c6Sw

Essentially:
If your room has one switch, pull a neutral FROM THIS CIRCUIT on your consumer unit
If your room has 2 switches and o e light circuit - A Sonoff switch is not going to work!

It could, if you don't use a second sonoff to directly switch the lights but to send an mqtt message to the one that does, powering the second via the neutral and direct live at that switch

slayerking

kenmc wrote: »

Good question, I've not yet found an answer. Will be asking the electrician to do that on mine so I can use sonoff touch light switches

lochdara wrote: »

I was lucky. Mine were there but from talking to a few people its not the norm.

Yea, its a funny one that has me scratching my head. I dont understand why some electricians do it and some dont - is there an other reason other than smart switches.

Just moved into a new build 2 months ago, I only really started my smart switch research recently. I kind of assumed it would be the norm for new builds but we've only got one switch with a neutral at the switch. I believe the only reason that switch has it is because the switch controls a lamp circuit with round pin lamp sockets dotted around the room.

I've managed to install one Sonoff switch there and it works great, but I want more now!!!

The lack of neutrals is obviously a problem and chatting to the electrician who wired the place isnt much help. Seems like my only option according to him is to start making holes to get neutrals down :mad:
The other option is to repurpose wires which might be plausible as most rooms have multiple switch points but its just annoying!

lochdara

My house is 14 years old. If there is any reason why they are there is the electrican was too lazy to cut them.

slayerking

lochdara wrote: »

My house is 14 years old. If there is any reason why they are there is the electrican was too lazy to cut them.

Part of me thinks that alright... the other part of me is wondering why any electrician would put unnecessary neutral wires there dangling in terminal blocks that serve no purpose other than in the very rare case someone needs it for a smart switch . Like is there another need for them there, as some houses have them even prior to smart switches being around.

In any case, without going too much off topic... its back to the drawing board for me if I want more!

THE ALM

Reading these and various threads has me thinking as to what is physically involved in running a neutral to a switch. I am lucky in that I have easy access and wondering what is involved? Do i just get a neutral cable, run in down to the switch and pull it back to the main board for an electrician to connect, or is it run down to the switch and pulled to the corresponding light fixture?

I would imagine if this was done and the labour taken out of it for a spark then the rest would be straight forward and take a lot of the cost out, mind you I could be completely wrong in my thinking!!!

slayerking

THE ALM wrote: »

Reading these and various threads has me thinking as to what is physically involved in running a neutral to a switch. I am lucky in that I have easy access and wondering what is involved? Do i just get a neutral cable, run in down to the switch and pull it back to the main board for an electrician to connect, or is it run down to the switch and pulled to the corresponding light fixture?

I would imagine if this was done and the labour taken out of it for a spark then the rest would be straight forward and take a lot of the cost out, mind you I could be completely wrong in my thinking!!!

If you can get a neutral down to the switch easily enough, it should be fine. You just need to make sure that the neutral is one from the same breaker circuit that the lights are on otherwise you will get rcd tripping. Or if you are connecting it to the breaker, it needs to be all on the same circuit but an electrician will ensure this is the case anyway.

THE ALM

slayerking wrote: »

If you can get a neutral down to the switch easily enough, it should be fine. You just need to make sure that the neutral is one from the same breaker circuit that the lights are on otherwise you will get rcd tripping. Or if you are connecting it to the breaker, it needs to be all on the same circuit but an electrician will ensure this is the case anyway.

Thanks slayerking that was my thinking. Would open up a few more possibilities as to what can be used.

air

Why not go with the slamher and eliminate all the neutral worries?
https://www.itead.cc/slampher.html

THE ALM

air wrote: »

Why not go with the slamher and eliminate all the neutral worries?
https://www.itead.cc/slampher.html

imo that is just going to take up a lot of space and might not suit a lot of light fittings/shades.

lochdara

air wrote: »

Why not go with the slamher and eliminate all the neutral worries?
https://www.itead.cc/slampher.html

Thats for a single bulb, not for fittings with multiple lights.
That would work in bathroom or bedroom but not my sitting room or kitchen

air

That's fair enough, horses for courses.

tweek84

slayerking wrote: »

If you can get a neutral down to the switch easily enough, it should be fine. You just need to make sure that the neutral is one from the same breaker circuit that the lights are on otherwise you will get rcd tripping. Or if you are connecting it to the breaker, it needs to be all on the same circuit but an electrician will ensure this is the case anyway.

Lights are not fed off rcd's.
Try bring the neutral to the same neutral as the light or back to the board whichever is most convenient.
There is a thread discussing neutrals at switches in the electrical forum

THE ALM

tweek84 wrote: »

Lights are not fed off rcd's.
Try bring the neutral to the same neutral as the light or back to the board whichever is most convenient.
There is a thread discussing neutrals at switches in the electrical forum

thanks tweek84 will check that out, just thinking aloud here at the minute and would need to really see if it would be worthwhile.

tweek84

THE ALM wrote: »

thanks tweek84 will check that out, just thinking aloud here at the minute and would need to really see if it would be worthwhile.

Do you need the light switch? Would you not go all out leave the current light switch on the wall and put in sonoff basic and control it off your phone, alexa or a designated tablet? I have that done with my heating, kitchen lighting and hallway lighting, i have a time schedule on my hallway lighting so when i wake in the morning the light is on (very handy for when you wake in the middle of the night and have one of those oh **** moments i slept in and jump up to check the time i just look at the door instead and roll back over lol) its handy for the kids too they just leave the light on at night and it goes off around 12.

THE ALM

tweek84 wrote: »

Do you need the light switch? Would you not go all out leave the current light switch on the wall and put in sonoff basic and control it off your phone, alexa or a designated tablet? I have that done with my heating, kitchen lighting and hallway lighting, i have a time schedule on my hallway lighting so when i wake in the morning the light is on (very handy for when you wake in the middle of the night and have one of those oh **** moments i slept in and jump up to check the time i just look at the door instead and roll back over lol) its handy for the kids too they just leave the light on at night and it goes off around 12.

That is my other option and no doubt the simplest, this is more the ramblings of an idle mind :rolleyes: and wondering what was involved in running the extra cable. Have been in the attic a bit recently pulling cables for a network switch which got me to thinking about a running the neutral to the switch.

tweek84

THE ALM wrote: »

That is my other option and no doubt the simplest, this is more the ramblings of an idle mind :rolleyes: and wondering what was involved in running the extra cable. Have been in the attic a bit recently pulling cables for a network switch which got me to thinking about a running the neutral to the switch.

Oh the ramblings of an idle mind come up with some good ideas....normally more expensive ones tho:D
Do you have a bungalow? If you do it could be done easily enough depending on conduit capacity or if it is timber frame stud walls

THE ALM

tweek84 wrote: »

Oh the ramblings of an idle mind come up with some good ideas....normally more expensive ones tho:D
Do you have a bungalow? If you do it could be done easily enough depending on conduit capacity or if it is timber frame stud walls

indeed, the idle mind and this forum sure is costing a lot :eek:

In a bungalow alright hence the ease of running extra cables and should be enough room in the conduit.

slayerking

tweek84 wrote: »

slayerking wrote: »

If you can get a neutral down to the switch easily enough, it should be fine. You just need to make sure that the neutral is one from the same breaker circuit that the lights are on otherwise you will get rcd tripping. Or if you are connecting it to the breaker, it needs to be all on the same circuit but an electrician will ensure this is the case anyway.

Lights are not fed off rcd's.

Correct, which is why it would start to trip if you connected a random neutral from, say, a plug socket circuit to the light switch.

lochdara

Post from Ewelink today
We have made some changes for the app, as you can watch from the video. Also here's the IFTTT's introduction and instructions. There is an infinite possibility for the IFTTT, just create whatever applet you like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNDycoPYZ3Y&feature=share