Smart Light Switches

a1ex2001

a1ex2001

a1ex2001

Soldato
Joined
14 Mar 2005
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Here and There...
We have reversed our dining room door, which makes for a much more sensible arrangement when entering the room but has the negative of meaning the light switch is behind the door when it's open which is a pain in the bum. The room will be getting a rewire at some point in the next couple of years so I have no desire to make the mess involved in moving it right now which has got me looking at a smart alternative! My initial research has led me to the TP Link Tapo as not only do they do a voice assistant compatible switch (The doesn't need a neutral) but they also offer a remote switch that we could stick on the wall the other side of the door the downside being I would need a tapo hub which wouldn't be a bad think as long as it is good as I can see us getting more smart switches over time.

Has anyone got any feedback on the Tapo stuff or any recommendations of other smart switches that could be used in this situation? I can't use smart bulbs easily in this room as the fitting is a five light chandelier with exposed bulbs.
 
It's not Tapo, but I've been using a Hue light with remote switch (includes a dimmer) happily for a few years, no complaints at all.
 
I've got a load of light switches that are all Wifi connected / Smart Life. I much prefer switches with a physical button to press rather than the touch buttons.

They can be a bit deeper than a standard light switch, so check there's enough space in the pattress to fit one.
 
Bug One said:
I've got a load of light switches that are all Wifi connected / Smart Life. I much prefer switches with a physical button to press rather than the touch buttons.

They can be a bit deeper than a standard light switch, so check there's enough space in the pattress to fit one.
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Any brand you would recommend or just randoms from Amazon?
 
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I've got one of the tapo light swtiches as we don't have a neutral going to it and it's in an awkward place so it made sense.

It works really well, but remember you'll need to swap the batteries out every now and then, and it needs a fairly deep backbox, I ended up putting a spacer in which isn't ideal, but the switch is out of sight so it's not seen.
 
K.C. Leblanc said:
If there's no neutral at the switch you could possibly put the module in the ceiling above the light fitting instead.
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Carpets are down upstairs so not really an option, the lack of neutral is a pain but seems pretty common on even pretty recent rewires as smart switches are only just becoming a thing. Will definitely be something I rectify when I rewire bits of the house over the next few years.
 
K.C. Leblanc said:
If there's no neutral at the switch you could possibly put the module in the ceiling above the light fitting instead.
Click to expand...
You could do this but you'd need to identify the live and switched live that go to the switch and they'll be loads of other wires.

The alternative is to remove the switch back box, wire up the module, hide it in the void and then run new wires to the switch.

(Shelley 1L have been discontinued, but you could it would be the same process for the Sonoff module)
 
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nst68 said:
You could do this but you'd need to identify the live and switched live that go to the switch and they'll be loads of other wires.

The alternative is to remove the switch back box, wire up the module, hide it in the void and then run new wires to the switch.

(Shelley 1L have been discontinued, but you could it would be the same process for the Sonoff module)
Click to expand...
Interesting, I guess a work around to the lack of neutral in the switches is inevitable.
 
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