What Wall Switch Options are there?

I’m not seeing the 2 gang or 3 gang. Like the Sonoff T1’s I see them as 1-3 buttons in a single gang housing. Unfortunately I’m not looking to pull the box, put in a single and float some sheetrock.

This is the issue I’ve seen many people having to deal with. https://www.amazon.com/Screen-Switch-Required-Wireless-Control/dp/B074KY26WM/B075R9NZH1?ref=dp_vse_rvc0

I think you mistake what “3 gang” means. It means that it has three separate switches so you can control 3 circuits with it. But that doesn’t mean it has to be three times the size of a one gang switch.

In terms of old fashioned (non smart) I have one 5 gang switch at home, but it takes up one space on the wall, similar to this https://www.electricalwholesale.co.nz/switches/115-legrand-excel-life-5-gang-switch.html

Guess I’m an old school guy coming from wiring houses and such for years. Always went by the names of the boxes themselves and what the hardware stores call them. 1-gang, 2-gang, etc. We would put more than 3 switches inside a 3 gang at times.

3-gang box here… 6 screws, etc.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/CARLON-3-Gang-Blue-Plastic-Interior-Old-Work-Standard-Switch-Outlet-Wall-Electrical-Box/3128537

If we had a 3 gang box, we might throw in a 3-switch with 2 singles for 5 switches in one 3 gang box:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Eaton-3-Switch-15-amp-Single-Pole-White-Rocker-Indoor-Light-Switch/3430082

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I’m not a contractor or electrician, but based on my DYI shopping experiences, I’m under the same impression that the number of gangs refers to the physical dimensions of the box, not the number of switches in it.

This may, of course, be down to regional usage too!

I know this is a super late reply but it looks like you never got an answer about how to get the Ankuoo Light Switch working. See here for the answer. (I can confirm this config works.)

And just to mention it for people new to this thread, the Ankuoo Light Switch is currently still the cheapest off the shelf switch I’ve found that works natively with Home Assistant. (It requires no custom firmware much less soldering to get it working with Home Assistant.)

Yep, think it’s the US ‘call a thing by any name other than what it is just to be different’ protocol in action again. Calling a two way circuit a three way switch is my personal favourite :slight_smile:

Correct. It does kinda make sense too, as someone could come up with a way to pile 8 switches into a single gang box, or even more switches, we can’t just change the name of the box. (box fill code requirements aside)

I do believe this hits the nail on the head though on why I can’t find any US size WiFi switches larger than 1 gang. Does everyone in other countries just use these small boxes for 3 or 4 switches? No wonder I see so many threads about no neutrals in boxes as you can’t fit it all in there. It’s rare for me to find boxes without neutrals in homes unless they are super old and they probably don’t have earth grounds either.

The reason they call them 3 way switches in the US doesn’t refer to the number of switches, it refers to the number of electrical terminals on it from what I’ve been told. Seems to be an old confusing term indeed.

Interesting… looks like no cloud as well. Can you confirm they work without an internet connectivity?

Wonder if these can be flashed though, I kinda prefer a switch where I can flash & customize my own firmware. Allows me to have more control over things and control my own destiny and not later have some firmware update pushed to me breaking something. Big investment in time and money in replacing a bunch of switches later to have some company decide lock down their API and then HomeAssistant won’t work anymore.

Yeh I know, that’s what makes it particularly dumb as it isn’t three way at all, it’s a two way switch with the three terminals you obviously need to make it two way…and then to compound the lunacy they name the whole circuit after it :slight_smile:

Then of course, the circuit’s wired up so bizarrely too that you need yet another type of switch to make it an actual three way, called four way because of the extra terminal you shouldn’t really need, but at least that gives you a neutral at your switches :+1:

When three switches get involved it does get a bit wild. Things that further compound things are when people get lazy and power lights at the light box itself for any configuration, but luckily at least in my region most electricians have jumped from switch to switch for power junctions.

Hello @Bobby_Nobble

I had another of the Chinese switches arrive yesterday, my third. Having gone through the bother of flashing and configuring it, it was only at the last stage of fitting it to the wall that I found that the screws fixing the board to the case had been omitted at manufacture stage.

But at least this gives me the chance to post an image of the business side of the board for you. This is a 1-switch and - as you can see - has only one relay. It’s not obvious to me whether the other two switches are connected - I’ll have a play later.

UPDATE - I configured the switch under Tasmota as a Sonoff T1 3CH and found that both of the two switches on the left operated (ie MQTT stat post) POWER1 and the switch on the right operated POWER3. Slightly odd.

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Cool, thanks @PianSom, think I need to invest in some of these.

It appears from this thread Add Support for Smart Life Components - #49 by samuscherer that this switch may be able to be directly controlled by home-assistant without flashing and without using their cloud server, so I am going to try that before trying further with Tasmota.

Yes, the Ankuoo switch can be controlled directly / locally without any cloud or internet connection.

Just to be clear though, despite what the title of the Amazon listing might sound like, the Ankuoo switch is fully functional (not sure why the listing title says “NOT Plug & Play, Limited DIY Required”) and it definitely does include cloud functionality. (It can be controlled remotely without opening any ports in your firewall via the Ankuoo Neo App which is what the high quality, professionally printed instructions direct you to download in order to setup the switch.)

But again, I’ve tested & can confirm that once the switch is setup, if you block the switch at your router so it has no internet access, Home Assistant has no problem controlling it. (And while I didn’t test it, based on the setup procedure I’d be willing to bet you can actually get the switch connected to your Wifi without it requiring internet access. Doing this would prevent the device from downloading any firmware updates & should eliminate the possibility of the manufacture doing an update that breaks Home Assistant support. Plus it’s probably more secure.)

But I totally understand your position on preferring to flash your devices so you can be in complete control and to that end here’s a list I’ve compiled of similarly priced switches that all have reports of people successfully flashing them with custom firmware:

  • GresaTek (amazon) (See article below for flashing)
  • Joso (amazon) (See article below for flashing)
  • Lyasi (amazon) (See article below for flashing)
  • NewRice (amazon) successful flash report
  • Nexete (amazon) (I seem to be missing a link to a confirmed successful flash on this right now but I shouldn’t have added it to my list if I didn’t read somewhere that someone successfully flashed it.)

Flashing a GRESATEK Smart WiFi Light Switch with an ESP8285 chip (or Joso, or Lyasi, or DLX Control Solutions, DLX-KS602)

It would be nice if the Ankuoo was flashable as well but I haven’t seen any reports of that just yet. Oh and speaking of the Ankuoo, currently Amazon is running a promo where you get an additional 15% off if you buy 2 or more!

Anyway, hope someone else finds all this info useful.

Thanks for those links! I even see some real US sized 2-gang switches. Might have to pick up one and see how it performs or if it can be flashed.

EDIT: Side note, sometimes I can find the FCC ID on the pictures or customer review pictures, then search the FCC ID and find the internal pictures during the certification to see if it has an ESP chip and/or easy to use headers.

ok so after all of this, which are the best switches for the UK without neutral ??? :smile:

Thank you @KBrown for a great explanation of the Ankuoo. I think it’s just what I need to replace my old MyQ switches.

I have a python program that sends a command to the sonoff s20 on/off with a gpio 12,1 command.
How would I do this with the Ankuoo? Nevermind I think maybe just an automation
Thanks

Like the OP, Im also in South Africa but a beginner with HA stuff.

Just wanted to find out, what do I need to look for to determine if a switch will work in SA, we use 220V.

Also, do I need to look for something with US dimensions?