Hi everybody,
I currently use multiple Aqara Opple switches. These are battery powered zigbee devices you can stick to your wall and have a handy switch. They cannot be controlled and act as sensors only.
Then I have some Moe’s 3-Gang light switches (zigbee also); these replace existing light switches in the walls. They can be controlled via physical touch and act as sensors as well.
While I prefer the Opple, I don’t like that they are battery powered. The batteries seem to last for quite some time, so it isn’t that bad.
The Moe’s seem to cause issues when using them as sensors instead of switches.
Example: I can integrate the Opple into an automation. When I press the button, the automation triggers and whatever is supposed to happen, happens. The Moe’s, however, seem not to like it when I want to use the button presses as triggers for automations, but not to physically switch anything.
Let’s say I have one single light in my room, and a 3-gang Moe’s is connected. I can use one switch to trigger this light - both physically, and through Home Assisant. This should mean that I can use the other two switches - which are not wired to anything at all - as sensors. When I press them, nothing physical should happen, but they should trigger an automation.
However… when I use those switches (on the Moe’s) that are not wired to anything, things don’t work quite as expected. Sometimes, they to into pairing mode and switch off all three switches while doing this. That means, I press button 3 (not physically wired), and instead of acting as a trigger (on software level), the button goes into pairing mode and turns of switch 1 and switch 2. So the light that I didn’t mean to turn off will turn off.
Is there something in between? Like a wired zigbee switch with multiple switches that can act as a regular switch (=“turn light on/off” on button 1), but will not break when using button 2 - button 6; use them as triggers in Home Assistant, but not wrongly trigger the switches pairing mode or turn off any switches that are not meant to be switched off.
My alternative idea is to use ESPHome with multiple input_booleanmomentary switches. Downside is that I’d still have to have a “normal” light switch (for turning on the light in question, which would then always be “on” so that the light bulb itself can be controlled through Home Assistant and the ESPHome) - and fit the ESPHome device in the wall.
So while the ESPHome solution would be better imho in theory, it’d also mean much more work I’d prefer to avoid (drilling additional holes near existing electrical wiring). My walls are made of bricks, not drywall.
Any of you felt this way and found a solution for this? Thank you in advance for your ideas 
Aqara Opple
Moe’s
