Best way to make a light switch a zigbee controller?

Hardware
, ,
1

I am looking for a device that can go behind a wall switch or replace it and do the following in priority order.

  1. Emit zigbee events that can be used to control a zigbee smart bulb
  2. Emit dimming events that can be used to control a zigbee smart bulb
  3. Directly bind a good number of bulbs so that operation will continue if HA goes down
  4. Is mains/neutral powered
  5. Is cheap
  6. Has a fallback mode so that if it does not successfully trigger the bulb it triggers a relay. (Fallback to dumb)

Related:

2

sonoff mini r4 (wifi) ticks off all the list except #3

for #1 & #2, it would require z2m and you could add rules to send toggle/dimming/ action based on button press thru tasmota/esphome.

1 Like
3

Great thanks for your reply. From looking, it seems to be WiFi based. So you are saying that you use it to emit MQTT events that your then translate into zigbee commands usign Z2M?

Unfortunately I am using ZHA so that may well be a no-go for me but I am sure its a useful pointer for visitors to this thread.

Do you know of any guides on how to configure #6 on the MINIR4?

4

There is nothing about 1 & 2 that couldn’t be done with native ZHA.

1 Like
5

With which device?

6

A mini r4 doesn’t do zigbee at all. You would have to have HA automations to respond to button presses and send appropriate commands to the bulb.

There isn’t anything special about z2m vs ZHA in setting up those automations. Either will do.

Also, I don’t think a mini r4 does dimming.

7

Here’s an example

1 Like
9

Thank you.
More specifically the second config on that page: Best way to make a light switch a zigbee controller?

Looks as if it would acheive 1,2 (non-zigbee events),4(ÂŁ12.99),5,6. Best option yet, it is just missing zigbee binding.

10

I’ve had good success with GE / Enbrighten Zigbee switches: https://ezzigbee.com

In particular, I’ve bound two switches directly together so toggling one toggles the other. As well, I have one switch bound to a Sengled plug to turn on a china cabinet’s lights when the dining room light goes on: Sengled E1C-NB7 control via MQTT | Zigbee2MQTT

I’m using zigbee2mqtt, but I don’t see why this wouldn’t work with ZHA either.

I’ve had mixed success with direct binding in general. For example, I have a Sengled bulb that responds to on and dimming commands, but not off. I think many manufacturers don’t test direct binding at all.

11

Thanks for this, on reading the website it’s not clear of these are ZigBee controlled switches. Or mains-powered ZigBee controllers. I.e do the cut power to the light fixture? How do they work with ZigBee smart bulbs?

Which of the six points in the OP do they satisfy?

12

They work with regular light bulbs and cut power to the fixture. It’s much cheaper than bulbs, especially for fixtures like chandeliers that have many bulbs. I wouldn’t recommend them for smart bulbs. Instead, leave a regular switch but put something like this to ensure people don’t turn them off.

13

I fear you haven’t read my original post. I’m looking for ZigBee controllers, and to only trigger the relay if the ZigBee/HA network fails.

N.B it looks as if the Aqara H1 could satisfy many of these requirements as when integrated via Zigbee2MQTT it has a decouple option that stops the button presses triggering the relay.

1 Like
14
  1. Emit zigbee events that can be used to control a zigbee smart bulb :white_check_mark:
  2. Emit dimming events that can be used to control a zigbee smart bulb :x:
  3. Directly bind a good number of bulbs so that operation will continue if HA goes down :x:
  4. Is mains/neutral powered :white_check_mark:
  5. Is cheap ÂŁ34.99
  6. Has a fallback mode so that if it does not successfully trigger the bulb it triggers a relay. (Fallback to dumb) :x: (but can be switched from de-coupled to coupled via home assistant)
1 Like
15

If you’ve read that thread, you’ve probably seen my post towards the bottom.

The Aqara Z1 Pro seems to fulfil all your requirements except 5 & 6.
I’m considering it not cheap purely because it’s around €70 for a 4-gang version, but considering you get twice the switches and a slider compared to the T2, it works out to be the same price.

You can forget about 6 on any zigbee device. It’s a feature which doesn’t exist so far.

1 Like
16

That’s great, is it capable of binding?

17

I don’t have one yet (got impatient waiting for it to be supported and bought a bunch of H1Ms), but it should. At the very least, you should be able to get on/off control via direct binding.

The bad news is that I can’t seem to find anyone selling it apart from a site in Singapore. You might have to be a bit more patient than I was and wait for it to start showing up on other sites.

18

Just following up, did you get one and how was it?

19

Nope, still only available in Singapore and now Dubai apparently. Nothing shows up in Aliexpress.

1 Like