You could have a look at Niko. It’s a Belgian brand that has been making classic switches and sockets for years but now enters the Zigbee market (watch out: they also have a proprietary protocol).
1 Like
Z-wave is more expensive, but it is also certified at a test facility, so it works well together with other Z-wave devices.
This certification cost some money and that makes Z-wave devices more expensive.
The Z-wave protocol is made for IoT and therefore provide benefits for these devices and especially battery powered devices.
Zigbee is not certified, but then manufacturers can break the protocol and you then need quirks, but the protocol is still good for IoT devices and especially battery powered devices.
Zigbee devices are cheap, like the ESP32-H series or the ESP32-C6.
WiFi (TCP/IP) is a standard communication protocol, but it does not extend to the application layer, so there is not really a standard for IoT devices to communicate here and it has to be invented with every new manufacturer and sometimes it is just not possible, due to vendor lockdowns.
At the same time the WiFi standard is extremely cumbersome to establish a connection on, so short burst of information and then disconnect, which IoT devices typically do, and battery powered devices especially do, is battery expensive and timewise slow.
Matter will be a mix between ZigBee and Z-wave, because it the standard will prevent protocol breaking, but not actually require a certification, Al though theøat is still a possibility.
Matter is based on the same base communication protocol as ZigBee and cheap devices, like the ESP32 mentioned for ZigBee will work with Matter too.
1 Like
Check the electrical code for your country. You often can’t (legally) take neutral from another circuit.
1 Like
While I discouraged to buy that specific wall switch, I disagree with this.
I am 100% supportive on Zigbee versus Wifi devices. I regret from the bottom of my heart buying Tuya Wifi wall switches, this is the reason why I bought that one Zigbee Wall Switch. Don’t assume that if that one is not good, all are not good. I have several Zigbee devices that are way more reliable that all other smart stuff I have.
1 Like
Uh- That’s what a switch does.
1 Like
Well I have over 100 wifi devices at home they all follow my principle of full ownership and therefore run esphome together with “my standard” the native api. Unlike for example ZHA integration which uses only local polling the esphome native api makes use of (the superior) local push 
I avoid battery powered devices as they have by far have the worst impact on the environment. Not is electrical energy out of batteries the most expensive available it is often also the most dirtiest one beside more energy is just wasted for the transport 
Best is to use locally available regenerative energy instead of polluting the earth more hazardous waste 
Neutral from another circuit? Our neutrals are all connected together and only the lives have their own circuits (with breakers) 
But well, I don’t really know as the work was all done by a licensed electrician 
But as always… over 200 countries on this earth so there should at least be 200 rule sets out there - hence I said 
Did you try to really own them (and not just pay money for hardware) yet? → www.esphome.io
Obviously the stock FW is sh!tty like it also happens a lot with zigbee based on the plenty of posts in this forum 
The hardware can be great in theory but if the manufacture ships a crappy *ware you can change you essentially bough garbage 
I’m so glad that all my ~100 esphome devices all work reliable - all work the same way - all use local push and all can be updated on my finger tips without being depended of the good will of the manufacture 
Our breakers have to cut both Live and Neutral together.
1 Like
Never heard of such prerequisites around here 
At the breaker/distribution box. Electricity needs two wires: hot and neutral. Both carry the same current so sharing a neutral makes about as much sense as sharing the hot line. A ground line should never carry a current which is the basis for a ground-fault protection. Ground lines can be shared between fixture boxes.
Typical for Europe and in industrial installations. It is possible that new construction or remodeling might require updating to new regulations, but that would depend on the location. There is no requirement in the US for double-pole breakers.
They should be tied together after a fault current interrupter (FCCI), of which there should be more then one. So, not all neutrals are tied together.
Netherlands: circuit breakers must interrupt neutral and live. Germany, neighboring country: only live needs to be interrupted.
NL: wires must be in pipes in the wall. Germany: wires can not be in pipes in the wall (AFAIK).
UK/US: wires can/must be in metal pipes. NL/DE: big no-no.
Go figure.
I had a look at this as well, but although I like the prices their line up, I kind of trying to stay away of it. the quality and software is not always the best.
Not “must” in the US. Romex without conduit is the residential norm. Conduit when used can generally be metal or pvc. Specific use cases may narrow the options.
In commercial installations, metal conduit is required. Plastic conduit may be used in residential installations, but Romex is by far the most common.
just had a brief look, they do look nice. they are a bit pricey though. do you use any of these? do they have decoupled mode?
there are switches that will keep the relay on and the buttons can be set to do some other actions, usually turning on the lights
- no neutral
I was going to say, good luck. Then I looked at a Sonoff Zigbee module that I recently received has no neutral into the module:
-
decoupled_mode, so I can combine it with a smart bulb
Why? A smart bulb needs to be powered at all times. Smart bulbs are generally dumb. Use a dumb bulb and a smart switch. -
up to 2 gangs
Again, why? You want to control two devices from one switch? -
it needs to fit in the EU electrical housing
The Sonoff and other switch modules like the Shelly are small. The Sonoff module that I am looking at is remarkably small. -
Ideally, it should be EU certified for insurance peace of mind in case of a fire.
No clues here.
Never heard of “decoupled mode”. What, exactly are you trying to do? (Hint, you can’t control a smart bulb from a smart switch).
mine is the same indeed