Smart Wi-Fi Light Switch

Nazbit · 7 Jul 2016 at 10:37

Hi,

Does anyone have smart light switches?

There are a few of these products on the market but I'm really struggling to find one to suit my needs.

I often have difficulty walking and so I want to replace a few of my existing light switches with smart switches that I can control from my phone. The switch would also need to function normally from the wall as well.

I don't mind if extra hubs and things are required and I don't need a dimmer or a physical remote. My devices are all Android. Also worth noting that not all of my lights have an earth so it needs to be double earthed if it's metal.

Most of the products seem to be for foreign sized/shaped switches or require a neutral wire.

I was leaning towards Lightwave RF but I've read that they look and feel quite cheap and reports of compatibility issues with the dimmer.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

Thanks

JayyCee · 7 Jul 2016 at 10:49

I use Lifix Wifi lightbulbs in my house. They do exactly as you need. All controlled by my phone, Just leave the lightswitches on and turn the bulb itself off.

Something like that or Philips Hue might solve your problem?

Nazbit · 7 Jul 2016 at 13:04

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. But doesn't that require the light switch to be left switched on so that I can control the bulbs from my phone?

I need other people in the house to be able to use the switch normally, my girlfriend won't want to faff with her phone.

divuk83 · 7 Jul 2016 at 22:09

As someone who used to use lightwave, I would disagree about them feeling and looking cheap. I thought they were pretty good. The reason I stopped using them was down to getting them to work with the fittings/bulbs. They have very specific compatibility with dimmable bulbs and very specific minimum and maximum loadings. I used varilight dimmable 20watt energy saving bulbs which worked OK, but would flicker and buzz as they got down to the lowest output. If you just have single pendant light fittings then a single LED bulb will probably be too lower load for the dimmer. Not dimming is not an option due to the "soft start" where as you turn them on they fade up from the lowest setting to full brightness. Looks good with compatible bulbs, looks awful with ones that aren't compatible. After getting my house all lightwave compatible I then moved house (taking all the dimmers with me) and after trying to get it working with new light fittings I gave up and sold it all.

Dave

timmeh · 7 Jul 2016 at 22:53

I have a Belkin Wemo light switch in the bedroom - it's great. No hub required or anything and it took about 10 mins to install. I read that a few people have had issues with it dropping off the network. It's done that a couple of times for me but if you give it 2 mins it reconnects. Not a big issue.

I've also hooked it up with ifttt.com so if I hold it down for 3 seconds it'll call my wife's phone as she's always losing it.

EDIT: Ignore, you can't get Belkin Wemo light switches in the UK.

mattyg · 7 Jul 2016 at 23:05

Nazbit said:
Hi,

Thanks for the reply. But doesn't that require the light switch to be left switched on so that I can control the bulbs from my phone?

I need other people in the house to be able to use the switch normally, my girlfriend won't want to faff with her phone.

Philips hue!

Can still be used with normal switches. Yes you leave it on so you can control it via your phone. But if you switch it off and on again it'll come on at full brightness...Just needs an extra flick of the switch

DannyDrama · 8 Jul 2016 at 02:50

mattyg said:
Philips hue!

Can still be used with normal switches. Yes you leave it on so you can control it via your phone. But if you switch it off and on again it'll come on at full brightness...Just needs an extra flick of the switch

Sounds like you're describing the way LIFX bulbs work. If you switch them at the wall, they come on at full brightness but you need the phone to turn them off rather than the wall switch. If you turn the wall switch off, no phone control for the others in the house.

Could probably be done with some hue-friendly switches but not your average off the shelf.

uchuff · 8 Jul 2016 at 09:14

I've got a bunch of Fibaro Z-Wave dimmer units, they sit behind a normal light switch in the back box. I have 35mm boxes and they fit behind MK grid switches no problem (although I haven't installed the new v2 Fibaro Dimmers I ordered yet, which are a little bit larger, but they look like they should fit).

They work in 2 wire setups, not requiring a neutral, and can either work with normal switches whereby (I think) pushing the switch in either direction toggles the state (I.e the switch position isn't important) or, as I have them hooked up, with momentary switches, so when you click the switch it pops back out: tap to come on at last brightness or turn off, hold to dim, double tap for full brightness, soft on (not tried with LED yet, but nice smooth effect on halogens) etc

Quite configurable, can be set to work as a switch rather than a dimmer, we have this in our kitchen. There's also a second input on each dimmer, which can be used to control something else, for example we have some counter top lights plugged in to a zwave socket in a cupboard, we then use the second input on the main kitchen light dimmer to switch those on with a second switch.

We have a battery powered motion detector sat on a high up shelf that turns on our hallway lights, quite a few compatible bits of kit.

Tech wise they do need a controller hub for installation and management, there's quite a few out there. The individual devices form a two way custom mesh wireless network so they talk to each other, report their status back, and can be associated directly rather than having to route every message via the controller.

There's a couple of threads on here with good info, Imys is great:

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18578296

Reasons for choosing this for me was I could use normal looking MK light switches and any old bulbs.

uchuff · 8 Jul 2016 at 12:47

FWIW Vesternet are rolling out special offers on smart home stuff each Monday, I've picked up some deals in the past:

http://www.vesternet.com/blog/2016/06/vesternet-mondays-2016

This coming Monday has discounts on a Razberry Pi daughter board for Z-Wave controllers, some Hue stuff and Lifx bulbs among other things.

SPG · 8 Jul 2016 at 13:15

I use lightwave RF

Although i find the app to set timers utterly utterly confusing and not user friendly at all.

All i want is

Time on Time off and repeat on days.

DailyGeek · 8 Jul 2016 at 15:59

Look at Milight/Easybulb (same thing) as they are dead easy to use and you can use a mixture of apps/remote controls to operate the lights. No reason why you couldn't mount a remote on the wall to achieve a similar thing.

Nazbit · 9 Jul 2016 at 15:22

Thanks for all of the replies, they've been very helpful.

divuk83 said:
As someone who used to use lightwave...

Thanks I was pretty set on lightwave so it's good to get some first hand insight. Unfortunately from what you and others have said it sounds like I'll have too many compatibility issues with my existing ligets. While they may work in some rooms I'd like to have the option to roll them out throughout the house one day and have the same switches throughout. Disappointing but at least you've saved me from making a mistake.

timmeh said:
I have a Belkin Wemo light switch in the bedroom ...

EDIT: Ignore, you can't get Belkin Wemo light switches in the UK.

Yes you're right, we can't get them in the UK yet. They would be an ideal solution for me as I already have a number of wemo power sockets on various floor lamps, table lamps and heaters. I also have them connected to CCTV and outdoor sensors via IFTT so I'm already invested in that system, it's a shame.

mattyg said:

Philips hue!

Can still be used with normal switches. Yes you leave it on so you can control it via your phone. But if you switch it off and on again it'll come on at full brightness...Just needs an extra flick of the switch

Click to expand...

I do have some hue bulbs in the bedroom and they do work as you describe in that another person can toggle the switch off and on again to take control. That's a good start but then when the other person turns the light back off, me and my mobile are locked out of the system so unfortunately it doesn't really solve the problem.

uchuff said:

I've got a bunch of Fibaro Z-Wave dimmer units...

Click to expand...

This sounds like it would solve my switching problem, either with my existing switches or I could change to momentary ones.

It all depends on my back boxes, I have all new MK switches throughout but some of the back boxes are pretty crummy and if I remember rightly some of them are shallow.

Obviously the hub is extra investment so I'll have to research whether or not I can get any other benefits from the system.

Nazbit · 9 Jul 2016 at 15:26

Sorry for the dual post but the one above was getting a bit too big to manage on my phone...

SPG said:
I use lightwave RF

Although i find the app to set timers utterly utterly confusing and not user friendly at all.

All i want is

Time on Time off and repeat on days.

And does the dimmer function work ok? No buzzing or flickering and access to the full range of light?

DailyGeek said:
Look at Milight/Easybulb (same thing) as they are dead easy to use and you can use a mixture of apps/remote controls to operate the lights. No reason why you couldn't mount a remote on the wall to achieve a similar thing.

I'd rather have my normal switches integrated than add a secondary remote to the wall I think.

uchuff said:
FWIW Vesternet are rolling out special offers on smart home stuff each Monday, I've picked up some deals in the past:

http://www.vesternet.com/blog/2016/06/vesternet-mondays-2016

This coming Monday has discounts on a Razberry Pi daughter board for Z-Wave controllers, some Hue stuff and Lifx bulbs among other things.

Thanks I have subscribed.

SPG · 9 Jul 2016 at 16:07

Dont have any issues with flickering and the odd time it throws a wobbly just off and on again and its sorted, had to this twice in 16months or so.

For the money its pretty good tbh.

Nazbit · 11 Jul 2016 at 18:27

Hi Uchuff did you have to use the bypass module with any of your Fibaro Dimmers?

It says this might be required if your load is less than 50 watts. The first fitting I want to do is a total of 25 watts but I won't get both units in my back box.

uchuff · 12 Jul 2016 at 11:02

Yes. The bypass with the v1 dimmers was tiny, I popped those in the light fittings rather than the switch back box (in both a pendant rose and a aluminium kitchen light type thing)... I now have a couple of v2 dimmers with the chunkier bypass modules but not tackled those yet because baby so not checked where they will fit.