Use case: single light switch next to the door in the lounge to be converted to be a double (if necessary) , one of which will now switch the various table lamps we have in the room. How to do this in the simplest way, please! Intrigued at Lutron lighting....is this one way to go?
adding remote control switches
- Thread starter WabbitPoo
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Are the table lights, plugged into ordinary 13amp socket?
If so, get a plug-in Smart Plug for each light, compatible with Alexa, and use Alexa to switch them.
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Years ago, we would wire in 5 amp sockets for lighting, this is a lot of work, and with the availability of wireless options, seems like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
From kinetic switches, to full smart, they all use wireless, I am avoiding calling it Wi-Fi, as it is a wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed Internet access. A common misconception is that the term Wi-Fi is short for "wireless fidelity," however Wi-Fi is a trademarked phrase that refers to IEEE 802.11x standards. And to be frank, I have no idea what those are.
The big problem to my mind is to have something which looks normal. The kinetic switches
look like normal switches, they use the energy of your finger, so do not require batteries, but you are looking at £40 for the pair, switch and relay, so at that cost may as well have internet access as well.
A smart socket
is under £10, the question is how far to go? The signal to and from the router needs a lot of power, and if one is using anything battery powered, the battery life would be rather short, so most makes also have a hub, which reduces the power required, so means the items connected can be battery powered, or gain power to work, without causing flicker, or staying on dim.
Each make seems to have their own dedicated hub, so my aim was to select one which would do all, sorry to say it did not work, to date, 3 hubs, Energenie (first one I got) and like a lot of early units, as time as gone on, better units have come on the market, then I got Zigbee, this seems to work with many makes, I started with Lidi stuff. Then I had a problem, outside lights, it has a PIR, so power through the lamp is very low, there was no neutral at the switch, so I needed a switch which was battery powered. The only one I have found is Tapo (TP-Link) that has a pair of batteries in the switch, so will work like any mechanical light switch, power cuts don't cause it to change state, and it has the special functions like dusk and dawn, and timed on or off functions, plus connects to internet, and things like Nest Mini's or Alexa. This was my third hub. Now the same hub controls my TRV head, but when I bought them, it needed separate hubs, but the hubs also double as doorbell sounders.
The problem is the look of the remote switches,
it is round, as it can be both turned and pressed, the turning can be used to dim lights, if using Tapo bulbs, I use the version without the backplate as a door push, it records when pushed, so know when some one has been, but not who.
My Energenie stuff has started to have some failures, light switches as sockets, but it is the oldest, must be around 7 years old now. All the apps are a pain, however once set up, they can all be migrated to google home app. I do not walk around with phone glued to ear, so at home the apps on the phone are not convenient, but the google Nest Mini's around the house, means I can use voice commands, so hey google turn of living room lights works well.
From kinetic switches, to full smart, they all use wireless, I am avoiding calling it Wi-Fi, as it is a wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed Internet access. A common misconception is that the term Wi-Fi is short for "wireless fidelity," however Wi-Fi is a trademarked phrase that refers to IEEE 802.11x standards. And to be frank, I have no idea what those are.
The big problem to my mind is to have something which looks normal. The kinetic switches
look like normal switches, they use the energy of your finger, so do not require batteries, but you are looking at £40 for the pair, switch and relay, so at that cost may as well have internet access as well.A smart socket
Each make seems to have their own dedicated hub, so my aim was to select one which would do all, sorry to say it did not work, to date, 3 hubs, Energenie (first one I got) and like a lot of early units, as time as gone on, better units have come on the market, then I got Zigbee, this seems to work with many makes, I started with Lidi stuff. Then I had a problem, outside lights, it has a PIR, so power through the lamp is very low, there was no neutral at the switch, so I needed a switch which was battery powered. The only one I have found is Tapo (TP-Link) that has a pair of batteries in the switch, so will work like any mechanical light switch, power cuts don't cause it to change state, and it has the special functions like dusk and dawn, and timed on or off functions, plus connects to internet, and things like Nest Mini's or Alexa. This was my third hub. Now the same hub controls my TRV head, but when I bought them, it needed separate hubs, but the hubs also double as doorbell sounders.
The problem is the look of the remote switches,
My Energenie stuff has started to have some failures, light switches as sockets, but it is the oldest, must be around 7 years old now. All the apps are a pain, however once set up, they can all be migrated to google home app. I do not walk around with phone glued to ear, so at home the apps on the phone are not convenient, but the google Nest Mini's around the house, means I can use voice commands, so hey google turn of living room lights works well.
Then your options are to add a special circuit, just for those lights, all fed from an extra switch. The sockets normally used are a 2amp 3-pin type, and adding them might prove to be both expensive and quite disruptive, versus the modern, wifi option.
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Lutron is a company that makes many products, so be more specific about which of their products interests you and why.
If you want wireless control but don't want wifi, then Quinetic make a 13A socket adaptor which can be controlled by their various non-wifi wireless switches:
Your plan has a big issue
Most work on radio frequency. This set has 5 sockets and 2 remote controls.
Suggest you Google "wireless remote control sockets"
Most work on radio frequency. This set has 5 sockets and 2 remote controls.
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These seem
My problem was how do you mount the remote control.
And this problem has been repeated many times, the wireless devices (not wifi) have rather lacking instructions, one can buy a bulb,
read all the instructions, and no where does it say this bulb does not have dusk and dawn options, or it does have the option to gradually switch on and off, I use one outside, and it is good it has some warning by dimming first that it is about to switch off. But one only finds this out, after you have bought it, and installed the app. If I had used a Tapo instead of Wiz bulb, then it would have dusk to dawn, but not the start dim then go bright, when switched on, or start bright then go dim before switching off.But I note @WabbitPoo does not seem to have returned.
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It is said that there are some people who have life outside of this forum, but I am not sure if it's true.
Indeed. Maybe the OP has the misfortune of having to indulge in that 4-letter word beginning with W.
These seema good idea. I, many years ago, got a set from Lidi, remote control with two on/off remotes, and two dimming remotes, the latter useless today, as LED's do not draw enough current.
I have a couple of sets of those, but now, due to replacement with wifi, only one single switch is still in use. That one, is the one the main router is plugged into, and as a convenient means to reboot the main router, which is at the top of the house. Obviously, I could not use the wifi to turn that on/off - once off, I would not be able to turn it back on
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Good idea, maybe I will do that. I had to turn off ring final to one side of the house, to reboot my wife's Google Nest Mini as she had piled stuff in front of it, and she could not access the socket.I have a couple of sets of those, but now, due to replacement with wifi, only one single switch is still in use. That one, is the one the main router is plugged into, and as a convenient means to reboot the main router, which is at the top of the house. Obviously, I could not use the wifi to turn that on/off - once off, I would not be able to turn it back on