Hi guys, I am cracking my head out here.
New to HA.
I have basic setup on Rpi3+ hassio.
Most of the setup now through wifi devices, and starting with z-wave in these days.
I am still missing one key element to the home automation though and I am not able to find solution.
I have standard light switch and standard bulbs.
I want control them from HA the same way as I want to have physical control.
Imperative is local access ideally without cloud service ( cloud should be nice to have).
I also miss Neutral wire.
Basically I can identify two approaches:
smart bulbs in combination with some wireless (zwave?) button
replacement of standard switch with smarter version, which can besides the main role switching the wires also communicate with HA
Can you please share your thoughts and experiences with this one?
There are a few Z-Wave light switches that don’t require a neutral - depending on which country (?) face plate format you need and whether you are prepared to deepen the back boxes. However the ‘without neutral’ capable devices tend to only work well with the older incandescent / filament lamps. Is that what you mean by ‘standard’ bulbs ? This is because they draw power through the bulb even when the light is ‘off’.
When you move to CFL or LED then drawing this current is problematic and manifests itself as flickering or flashing of the light, or just doesn’t work. Sometimes bypass capacitors can be used to get around this . As LED’s are becoming increasingly common then the availability of switches and dimmers without requiring a neutral is getting hard to find. LED’s are typically dimmed by PWM rather than reduced voltage too. Do you want dimming too ?
You can do virtually anything if you’re prepared to pay for it.
Cheapest route is putting a Sonoff Basic in the ceiling at the light fitting where you’ll obviously find your neutral but obviously no dimming of dumb bulbs. Bit awkward to fit for lower floors in a multilevel building but not impossible.
The problem I am trying to address is to keep switches on wall with the same wiring and complement this with the HA option. Any controller I would put directly next to buld on the ceiling would require replacement on switches with some buttons or something like that. But what button to choose?
I think thats it. I have both as 2-wire and 3-wire switches. All without Neutral. This would solve it if I understand correctly to the description, right? the best thing is that I will receive the Aeotec usb stick for my Rpi3 tomorrow so compatibility should be guaranteed, right?
No it wouldn’t, have a search on here, it’s been covered many times, usually placing them in the switch but as that requires neutral you stick them at the light fitting instead but still using the original switch, I and a few others have provided diagrams. In fact, that’s biggest attraction for most people, everything looks the same as before and is internet/WiFi/HA/people proof.
@CZBios, there are lots of options … if you could clarify some of the questions it would help… country, dimming, light type etc. Czech Republic maybe ?
Bobbys suggestion with Sonoff or my preference Shelly is a good one and will work well. These WiFi connected switches are ultra reliable and fast. Your experience with ZWave or ZigBee will vary. Mine is not so good at all, both can be troublesome.
I hear great things about Lutron and might be adding it here just to use the Pico remotes. It’s not a released product in Europe however, only 110v supported.
Sounds great. According to aeotec it doesn’t require neutral, so it should ok to put them directly into the switch., but putting them directly to light seems better idea. I will try find your Diagram
Czech, yes. Dimming optional. Basic scenario is to control remotely current lights. The plus in my case is, that all of them are LED.
I like zwave protocol because it’s local and it seems it is fast.
I have sonoff touch set throught ifttt.
Guess what. Few days after I bought the device ifttt service for ewelink stopped working not mentioning that it is very slow.