I have Philips Hue lights in most of my room, and I would like to replace the wall light switches with a small screen to control any smart devices in that room. Ideally, I would like to create the dashboard in HA.
I have seen many tutorials for various screens that fit a UK light switch back box on how to load HA dashboards. However, they all seem to be 1+ years old, and I see comments that the method in the videos doesn’t work any more.
I was wondering if anyone has had any recent experience loading HA onto any of these devices and if they have any recommendations.
Hi,
I’m going to give a dissenting opinion and suggest alternatives (including a very strong hint from Nabu Casa).
You may well have very valid use-cases that are different from my experience, so this is more to provoke thought - YMMV…
Back in the day, I was importing X10 dimmer modules from the US and modifying them from 110 to 240V so have some experience and from that opinions!
The issues then, as now are:
UK light switches don’t have a Neutral connection, so any power for a device has to flow through the load (bulbs). With incandescent bulbs, this wasn’t ideal, but with LEDs and their multiple boost-buck, capacitive-dropper, etc complex driver chips, the result is often unreliable.
And yes, I’ve tried “ballast” devices (usually a capacitor and bleed resistor). Opinion: Mount UK control gear in or behind the ceiling patress (with secondary insulation to meet BS7671). Inside some light fittings can also work. Anything else? Rewire.
UK light switches don’t have the space for any useful kit.
1G back boxes range from the unusable 17mm (hard for a simple mechanical switch) to 35mm (space, but you may need a SDS drill and plaster to retrofit). Opinion: See above!
Opinion: If you need to touch a light switch, then you are doing Home Automation wrong!
It is called automation as the better solution is for systems to sense and anticipate your needs. PIRs, door reeds, microwave presence - all these sensors mean the only time I touch a light switch is the time it takes me to swap out a failed part!
Opinion: Standing at a doorway is not a good location for a control centre.
Kit like the HA Switch Plate, openHASP, or the Sonoff NSPanel looks great, but Would you like to?:
Stand up, move next to the door, and step through several small pages of text to find an option?
Stand up, move next to the door, and use a cheap tablet with a much larger screen?
Stay relaxing, and use your phone? (or a device on a table)
Wait for two weeks for 2024.12 and see what Nabu Casa has been hinting at for months?
There is a reasonable chance that Nabu Casa is about to launch a voice satellite hardware device with a screen and which might be about the size of a UK 1G patress. There’s been enough hints lately on live streams, and even an reference in the 2024-12 BETA relase notes!
If you have already invested in Hue bulbs (and not separate control modules), the issue is more preventing family from turning OFF a light switch (rendering bulbs useless).
This can be solved by the many designs of UK switch covers designed to shield the existing switch, still allow access for maintenance, and perhaps hold a Hue controller. There are lots of designs out there - look on Printables for a few ideas (eBay has then if you don’t have a 3D printer).
You may well have very valid use-cases that are different from my experience, so hope this has provoked some thought!
You have some thought-provoking comments, but saying that I am doing Home Automation wrong is a bit harsh; I am just doing it differently. I don’t think it is possible to fully automate everything in my household; there still needs to be an element of human interaction.
One of the ideas for this device (which I forgot to put in the original post) is to display some info, such as whether it should switch to the doorbell camera when motion is detected. As well as having a mic so I can use voice assistance (using a local LLM), etc. There are other ideas I have.
I am new to HA, so I wasn’t aware of the hints of a device. I am interested.
this post!