Lighting Setup

Lochlannach

We moved house last year and now looking to sort out a few bits with lighting. I need to change some fixtures/bulbs etc. so looking to take the opportunity of adding smarts to it now too.

In the previous place I had a few wifi switches with google which allowed manual & voice control over some key lights but for the new place I want to see what solutions might be out there and what approach/ecosystem might be the best bet as right now I have no kit outside of a few google home/nest mini devices scattered around for music/info. 

I plan, at some point, hooking up a home automation server to move to fully local and add more automation across lighting/heating/etc. but that may not be immediate. For now I need to be able to switch & dim where mentioned. Ideally if possible, google voice control & people detection for some would be good too.

I'm open to all ideas/technologies albeit at the end I need something that's functional with no HA running (for guests/system down/etc.) but will be possible to link to and enhance via same. 

I'm guessing smart switches/modules are the way to go rather than smart bulbs? What are the best motion/lux & door switches for detecting when people are moving in/out/around an area - thinking motion & door sensors as motion may not be quick enough when people open doors & walk into room? I'd consider devices with zigbee/zwave over wifi too.

Current wiring configuration has no neutral at switches but investigation suggests this should be possible if needed/better (bungalow so access from above to light circuits).

So...to what I'm thinking...

Hall

T shaped hall with 5 downlights (dimmable). This currently has 4 switches though one may be removed as it makes no real sense where it's located. 

Ideally I want this to be motion/presence controlled as well as switchable. Because it's a bungalow it can need lights on more often than other rooms and it would be easier if the lights were on/off automatically. Also, later, I'd look to add automations like on at night with lower light levels when someone detected for toilet visits/come on when doorbell rings/etc.

Kitchen 

About to put in a new kitchen and there will be new wiring required - looking at splitting out the lighting into 4 separate 'zones':

Whole room downlights (dimmable)

Over island

Over counter

Dining table (dimmable)

I'd like to be able to turn on/off by voice. Also, later, I'd look to add automations like on at night with lower light levels when someone detected for water etc.

Sitting room

Main light fitting (dimmable)

Cabinet strips (changing to dimmable & maybe colour)

I'd like to be able to turn on/off by voice. Also, later, set levels for different watching scenarios etc.

Others (bedrooms/bathroom/etc.)

The aim would be to build on the above to extend some additional control to these rooms also. Thinking of stuff like turning on lights when someone enters room/turning off lights when no one in room/no heating in room if door open/etc. 

Lochlannach

Hmmm... It might be that getting some hardware and setting up a HA server now might be a better investment than any of the hubs that would otherwise be needed...

emaherx

If you plan on using HA then consider that with all purchases, it's worth investigating how others get on with individual devices.

Your house is a bungalow so you don't need to worry about having no neutral at the switch, neutral and switch wires are available to you at any ceiling rose, so go with the neutral versions of the switch modules as they are more reliable.

I'd go with motion presence detection over door sensors, if it's anything like my house doors are often left open or ajar, so you'd need to close/open the door to activate the lights or find the switch anyway.

I've a lot of wifi devices from Shelly, Tuya and Sonoff. Shelly are the best for getting local control and Tuya the hardest. I'd recommend Shelly as they are open source, have their own cloud service but also work well locally and with any automation server that supports MQTT and a few other protocols including simple HTTP requests. Z-wave may be a better option if you plan for a very large no of devices and I see new Shelly Z-Wave devices are available now with more planned.

With Ha it is fine to mix technologies so if you can't find what you want for a particular device in z-Wave it's fine to mix in a few WiFi or other technologies.

Tree

Plus one to Shelly, they're just really lovely devices. Customer support are not as fast as they used to be but they will see you right. Putting them in the ceiling rose is great. I have some of the non bluetooth door window sensors which are great (I have them on windows exclusively to trigger reminders or turn off the heat to a given room)