Australia - "Smartening" dumb switches

Hardware
#1

Greetings!

Can anyone share their experience in making “dumb” light switches smart? (and obviously connect them to HA)

All of my lights are currently rocker switches (Clipsal Iconic) and some have dedicated (seperate) dimmer mechs. If I were to use the authentic Clipsal bluetooth switches, the cost would be cost prohibitive.

My thoughts…

  1. Purchase “dumb” momentary push button mechs
  2. Purchase some in-wall controllers (Shelly? Sonoff? Other?) to provide the interface to HA
  3. Get sparky to wire them up

How would I handle the lights with dimmers? Is it possible to have a “long press” control the dimming function?

There’s a chance that I may have answered my own question from the list above, but I’m very new to this and am keen to hear experience and guidance from the braintrust :slight_smile: e.g. Other manufacturers to consider, ease of connecting to HA, preferred protocol, Australia-specific considerations, low/no reliance on third-party cloud controllers… etc…

Thanks in advance!

#2

Yes, my preference nowadays are Shelly devices where possible (neutral required), and wire them to the existing rocker switches.

In some cases I installed them in junction boxes near the lights in the roof where there was no neutral or no space in the wall.

Well, I tried a cheap one with a Shelly Dimmer and the haptic feedback is bad, but works in principle.
In the meantime I replaced the mechanics with a Clipsal 3-way rocker switch from their office product line. Much better, but looks very different so probably not suitable for the whole house (in my case at least).

1 Like
#3

I’m toying with the ideas, mainly around the Zigbee protocol, to reduce the load on my Wifi.
Currently looking at the Sonoff ZBMINI with neutral, so that they are then users as Zigbee Routers, but from what I’ve read the only with with an On/off switch, not a push button. where as the Sonoff ZBMINI-N1? i think doesnt used a natural, but will only work as an end point.
So im between a rock and a hard place. OCD of having to use the switches in off, when on, etc. or using all end points. and putting in a push button.
The beauty though is being about to turn if off/on at switch, like an old person, and then still be able to use HA to turn them on regardless of the state.