I am new to Home Assistant but have been running some Google devices, Philips Hue and Ikea ZigBee gear for years. The Ikea gear is currently standalone, meaning a switch is paired with one or two lights but no other integrations.
I’ve been wrecking my brain in coming up with elegant solutions to deal with the dimming and switching dilemma. Many of my switch boxes to not have a neutral (pretty old house) limiting the options for wall switches and dimmers that are certified in Canada. Levitron has some, but they apparently require a Levitron WiFi bridge. I’ve not found any information on what protocol their bridge uses. They do have a dedicated line of Zigbee, WiFi, Z-Wave and Homekit devices. Their Zigbee dimmer requires a neutral.
Wherever I have Ikea or Hue lights, I have the additional headache (mild headache) of dealing with unresponsive lights when the switch is turned off and the lights are not receiving power.
I’ve come up with a few possible options, but finding definite information if anything would actually work as I imagine is hard to find.
Is there a wall switch that allows Home Assistant to independently control the power relay and receive switch input? If so, this would allow programming of an always on switch for smart lights that applies actions to the smart bulb(s) instead of toggling the power relay in the smart wall switch.
Are there any good looking hacks to “hide” a wall switch and overlay a battery operated switch? This would allow for “rebooting” light bulbs if needed but encourage use of the smart switch rather than turning off the good old mechanical light switch.
Any advise on specific wall dimmers or switches to use in Canada that provide maximum flexibility with home assistant?
Have a look at Shelly range, in you case with no neutral i would say 1L or Dimmer2. The no neutral will need a resistor by pass lower current (4.1A compare to 16A with neutral model). 4.1A is plenty for normal modern light unless you have a group of light together.
Is there a wall switch that allows Home Assistant to independently control the power relay and receive switch input? If so, this would allow programming of an always on switch for smart lights that applies actions to the smart bulb(s) instead of toggling the power relay in the smart wall switch.
Yes the shelly can be programmed to do such, when you turn on the wall switch, The shelly will detect the position of the wall switch but will not switch the light unless it program to. These are mode you can set in the shelly
I believe lutron caseta has a switch that doesn’t require a neutral. Zooz and inovelli both have “smart bulb” mode where the circuit stays live but button presses are reported.
One thing to consider is what I think is a small deviation from your 2nd item. Rewire the 2nd (3rd, etc) switch locations to bypass the switch so that it can be removed. Replace the switch in the primary box with a smart switch (Z-Wave, Zigbee, etc.). Cover up the 2nd (3rd, etc) switch boxes with a battery operated remote switch such as the Zooz Zen34. This allows you to use standard (non-smart) bulbs.
While I didn’t have to do this, I was tempted for one of my 4-ways as the wiring used was really strange.
Thank you! I decided to order some Shelly devices and install them into the light fixtures (when they arrive). That way I can concentrate on using smart lights, rather than replacing switches.
