Hi all,
Been using HA for a while now, but have only just got around to adding automation to the lights in the house.
The problem has always been the lack of neutral, and whilst there are plenty of switches that can handle this issue, the old 2-way problem (2 switches for 1 light) always seems to rely on software or internet access (ewelink) to accomplish this. I didn’t want that risk, so here’s my solution.
Basically I have added Eachen Smart On-Off mini’s (from Amazon) in each light that I want automated. The beauty of this is that you can leave your normal light switch alone, and mount this at the ceiling rose connection.
The problem of course is where to mount it; I didn’t want to cut a large hole in the ceiling so I decided to design a larger ceiling rose cover that will screw onto the existing electrical plate (I have the MK ceiling rose in my house) and give enough room for the switching box to sit beneath it.
Problem solved! Just print it on your 3D printer and voila!
If anyone wants to use it, it’s available on Thingiverse for download or Tinkercad for editing
Looking forward to seeing how well they integrate with HA. Looking at the Amazon description, these Eachen smart relays have inputs to allow your existing light switches to operate the light as well as Alexa/app/HA - do you know if they work with sprung or momentary switches?
Do you have a permanent live at the light or only the switchable one? My electrician told me that at the light I only have the switched live and neutral from the panel meaning that my options are limited
My wiring is the older UK style wiring. Live is daisy chained to every light fitting, and wire to switch is taken from that live (at ceiling rose) and then returned, so yes, I have live and neutral constantly at each light bulb.
Just no neutral at the switch.
Not applicable for this use case, the Sonos only switches via completed circuit not via mains voltage so would need re-wiring which the op is trying to avoid.
Having said that if the switch is taken from the ceiling rose it would be trivial to take it off the mains and then add as you mentioned or even a modified sonoff basic.
Is flashable. I think many HA users strive to not use cloud based links and look for only local control. Alexa and Google home been the obvious execptions.
What a clever idea. I have fitted a similar module (but dimmable) just above a uk ceiling rose but it was extremely tight to make a hole big enough and still cover with the rose.
Based purely on appearance they look like these ones…
They are ESPhome (or Tasmota) flashable …but as far as I can tell the mcu gives the esp a pulse for any state change on the switch. Fine for basic on/off with either a rocker or momentary switch…but you can’t detect hold or multi click easily etc. For any more advanced controls.
Yeah, I could maybe have expanded on my post a little. I’ve not used the mini myself, but I run a load of other stuff from sonoff and others (T1, dual, pow, th… all flashed with espurna, mostly before they ever got switched on). It should work as a direct replacement as used in the ceiling rose as per the original post, but at a fraction of the cost.
I’ve not really played with many other firmwares, but certainly espurna allows you to toggle the last light state reach time you switch it on from a light switch, which should allow you to skip the extra wiring… In any case, I’m lucky enough to have a neutral wire behind light switches in most cases as per newer wiring standards but it’s not my experience in houses built in the last decade or so (with the exception of slave switches, but you can switch the purpose of one of the wires with a bit of sleeving for safety and sanity). Certainly older house in the UK might not have neutrals, but it’s not every house.
I find the shelly1 to be the best for this situation. The build quality is good, you can flash with tasmota which will integrate directly into ha or keep the stock firmware and just enable mqtt.
I just used Xiaomi (Aqara) light switches. They look nice and can be controlled both a s a normal physical light switch or through app / Homeassistant/ nodered.
Did you find a way to solve 2-way switches with no neutral with the aqara switches then? I have some but haven’t fitted them to my 2 way landing switches yet for this reason…
