Hi all,
I’m moving towards an automated home, and I’m trying to work with people who, like me, have the habit of hitting a light switch in the room. One is in our basement, for example. My stepson shares half of the basement with my wife’s sewing room, one switch, 2 smart lights. They are in the habit of hitting switches, because they’ve been doing it their whole lives.
I need a toggle, I guess, something where, if they switch the light on or off, the circuit itself stays live, so voice and automation commands make sense… This way, they can turn the light on or off when they enter or leave, by habit, but the lights themselves stay available to the system. I don’t know if one of those wireless switches that are really just WiFi switches work, what kind of toggle to get, any of that.
And I have a similar request for a ceiling fan in my bedroom, it’s not a smart fan, so I’d need a controller that converts it.
I just don’t know where to start looking, since there are so many options. Any tips on what terms to search for, or examples would be greatly appreciated. I don’t need anything fancy, just something that gives “regular” light control as well as the smart home features…
Last question: When the switches say “neutral required”, is that just the bare copper ground wire, or is there a third wire as well as the ground, for a total of 4 leads?
Shelly’s can do this as well. I’ve always done either a Shelly at the switch or a smart bulb, but folks commonly use both to get the best of both worlds.
There are several ways a switch can be wired (and even more if there are multiple switches for the same load). In general, there are 3 wires with AC wiring (hot, neutral and ground). For a switch, then you will have additional wires running to the load. It sounds like you’re not super-knowledgeable about electrical work, so I’d HIGHLY recommend hiring an electrician. It’s very easy to make a mistake that injures or kills you, fries your equipment or causes a fire in the future.
Well, I’m knowledgeable enough to replace outlets and switches, not making new runs, adding breakers, or stuff like that, but I can definitely rewire, replace, upgrade. And I at least know where the breaker is for that area.
But yeah, I wasn’t sure about the “neutral required” part, because what you described in general was what I was more or less familiar with. So I’m not worried about wiring it correctly as much as making sure I’m grabbing the right stuff. I do have an electrician friend who can help me with the real projects.
And thanks for the tip on the Shelly products as well. This helps.
