Smart light switches

d31b0y

Sorry if this has been covered before.



So, I have to replace a broken light switch and am probably going to go down the route of smart switches...


I've had a look at a good few different ones and many of the standalone need a neutral wire. My house is only ten years old approx but I reckon I don't have a neutral so I guess they are out.


Any recommendations?
Preferably,
Alexa compatible
Won't break the bank (need to justify it over a regular switch to the non-tech wife)

Dimmer (not really necessary but good to know of options).


I've had a quick look at

Lightwave RF; Expensive outlay? £195 for a hub and 1 dimmer switch
Kleverness; Looks great but new so very little information that I can find. Are they shipping the square face plates yet? Any experience here? Seems reasonably priced at ~ 100 USD for the hub and switch. Extra switches ~ 50.



Anything else I should be looking at?

EDIT: just found a big thread from a couple of months ago about switches. Reading through it now...

bk

Just a note, those Kleverness look like they are for the US market and most likely they wouldn't fit Irish switches (different shape and size), probably work with US 110v instead of Irish 220v and likely require neutral.

d31b0y

Hmm, when they mentioned the European sizes on the indiegogo site, I assumed that meant it would be European voltages too.
I think the idea behind the Kleverness switches is that they don't need a neutral.
I'll do some more investigating into them. Maybe reach out to them.

EDIT: They are definitely targeting the EU / UK market with their plugs..

@UK Backers - The dimensions and design for the outlet is exactly the same as the UK, but the sockets will be universal. If you have already completed your survey, your choice has been changed FROM Outlet - UK - Black/White TO Outlet - Universal - UK Prongs - Black/White.

bk

Cool, I just looked at their main page, which just shows US size switches, but if you go to the Indigo page and scroll down they show European size switches.

As you say they also mention it supports all voltages and no neutral required, so sounds like will be good for here.

Great, good to see more products suitable for the UK/Irish market.

One thing to watch out for is you might need deep backboxes for it.

BTW I wouldn't go with their universal plug sockets, I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think those type of sockets are legal in UK/Ireland. They don't conform to electrical standards here and more importantly they aren't save if you have children around.

slayerking

Livolo are an option also if you get the RF enabled ones. You can control them via an RF remote and then buy an RF bridge/hub (like Broadlink RM pro) that learns the RF codes.

I've this set up at the mo on some switches and Google home.

d31b0y

I came across the Livolo but I think I'd like a two way system.
Can you set up lights to come on on a timer with Livolo?

slayerking

d31b0y wrote: »

I came across the Livolo but I think I'd like a two way system.
Can you set up lights to come on on a timer with Livolo?

What do you mean by two way? As in see in an app whether a specific light is on or off... I've not found any light switch that does this without a neutral wire being required for additional power unfortunately (the downside to not having neutrals!).
SonOff does this but thats because its basically a little web server an app can ask whether its on or off, but these require neutrals due to power requirements. I've got both SonOff and Livolo switches.

Livolo (and other RF based ones) work by staying powered by trickling a small current through them via the light bulb but not enough to turn the light on.

If by two way, you mean installing two different switches to control the same light... Livolo support this (i.e. switch a specific light on at one point and then walk over to another one to turn if off and vice versa).

With Livolo, I havent found a way to do a schedule.

wexfordman2

bk wrote: »

Just a note, those Kleverness look like they are for the US market and most likely they wouldn't fit Irish switches (different shape and size), probably work with US 110v instead of Irish 220v and likely require neutral.

And also, probably not CE marked

wexfordman2

slayerking wrote: »

What do you mean by two way? As in see in an app whether a specific light is on or off... I've not found any light switch that does this without a neutral wire being required for additional power unfortunately (the downside to not having neutrals!).
SonOff does this but thats because its basically a little web server an app can ask whether its on or off, but these require neutrals due to power requirements. I've got both SonOff and Livolo switches.

Livolo (and other RF based ones) work by staying powered by trickling a small current through them via the light bulb but not enough to turn the light on.

If by two way, you mean installing two different switches to control the same light... Livolo support this (i.e. switch a specific light on at one point and then walk over to another one to turn if off and vice versa).

With Livolo, I havent found a way to do a schedule.

Lots of ZigBee, z wave devices available that offer 2 way com's, (is status updating when the light is activated annually) so that your hub is always state aware.

I would not recommend putting anything in that is not 2 way comms at this point, that sort of stuff is just legacy nowadays.

Metric Tensor

I sometimes sound like a shill on this forum (I promise I'm not) but I highly recommend Fibaro Z Wave switches.

You need a Z Wave controller too if you go down this route.

d31b0y

Thanks Metric, have you a preferred supplier?

Metric Tensor

I like Vesternet but often use Amazon too!

Jennehy

Wire and install Qbus system. Everything else is just the lidl and Aldi trash.

wexfordman2

Jennehy wrote: »

Wire and install Qbus system. Everything else is just the lidl and Aldi trash.

Your going to have to provide a bit more info than that

beanian

I have these installed all over my house,
https://www.gearbest.com/alarm-systems/pp_610096.html?wid=1527929
I use a mixture of wired and wireless ones (when using a hue bulb) and couldn't be happier.
They can be alexa controlled and integrated into Home Assistant/NodeRed.

FYI you will need the Xiaomi hub for these to work (about €30)

paulbok

These look cool, but insane money.

bk

paulbok wrote: »

These look cool, but insane money.

Very cool, but way too expensive. I guess you could do most of that for about €100 with a FireTablet, SmartTiles and a wall mount. A project I've been thinking about for winter.

paulbok

bk wrote: »

Very cool, but way too expensive. I guess you could do most of that for about €100 with a FireTablet, SmartTiles and a wall mount. A project I've been thinking about for winter.

Amazon have a new 8" fire tablet out in October set up for that.
Has a charaging surface mount and looks a way better option than the Echo Show, except maybe for sound.

bk

paulbok wrote: »

Amazon have a new 8" fire tablet out in October set up for that.
Has a charaging surface mount and looks a way better option than the Echo Show, except maybe for sound.

Cool, I missed that.

Though I wouldn't actually want that "Show Mode", I'd want it powered on and unlocked and showing Action Tiles all the time instead.

wexfordman2

bk wrote: »

Cool, I missed that.

Though I wouldn't actually want that "Show Mode", I'd want it powered on and unlocked and showing Action Tiles all the time instead.

They do look pretty cool, but pricy and probably Ott to pit them in every switch location, and not the most energy effeceint. Dot a few around main areas would look good though.