Amazon dropped the price of this again (not quite to the ATL I posted before Xmas), but still worth considering if you need one and are in the Hue ecosystem. OW & Bunnings have both matched, so no advantage in seeking a PB from them.
CamelCamelCamel.
So you want to combine the physical switching mechanism (relay/dimmer) with the physical rocker switch, into one physical unit ? If you think about it there is no need, and 240V relays have less function than smart bulbs. But it will let you use existing bulbs.
One option is to install a device like Shelly 1, or Sonoff mini, which will do the light switching, and you connect your existing light switch to that as a low-voltage control.
If there is space and a neutral wire behind the existing switch, you can mount the device there, otherwise it goes with the light in the roof-space.
Do you know if the Sonoff L2 Mini are certified in Australia? I have emails Sonoff but no reply from them.
Certified matters if you are in the business, selling them. Irrelevant for DIY imports. Unless you have a particularly by-the-book electrician. The sort of tradie who never does a "cashie". Oh look! A flying pig.
Honestly, I am thinking not a rocker switch, but rather a push button switch that toggles the light on/off (maybe a led to say which state it is in).
I agree it isn't strictly necessary, but I'm in an old building with no roof space (straight concrete slab for a ceiling) and a bizarre assortment of light types (GU10, e27, b22, etc) to the point where it is easier to not have to manage all the buffering smart bulb types (and they don't really exist for GU10 as far as I know for external fixtures).
I also like actual switches (counting toggle button here) and really don't want one more thing that needs batteries that I need to think about. But it would be nice to be able to control them with phone/voice commands.
Look at LIFX switch
If you're in an older building you might not have a neutral wire which is needed for anything like that. Best to check that first. Philips hue also has similar to the Shelley
Gu10 can be bought by hue too.
Mercator Ikuu Zigbee switches are great for local control and easy integration with Home Assistant
Mine was a bunch of Tuya wall switches with Tasmota in the beginning and now all on ESPHome.
Same generic Tuya model (KS-811 white-box products with 1-3 gang models, may be under a more known brand of Zemismart/Milfra in other markets) but eventually had to drive to multiple stores to sweep the last bit of stock to replace all switches in the house.
Technically speaking they're certified as most of mine are Connect SmartHome branded and some are directly bought from a local smart home vendor with generic brand. Last few are from eBay. Had to buy a few spares as I may never see them on the market again.
I bought it only because I like the design and use of mouse-like microswitches (very clicky!). I only had one fail among 19 switches. (and it was a failed relay board, button board is fine) so not too bad. But if I get to choose again, I'd go Zigbee instead. Wi-Fi got degraded fast when you have too many devices.
We've gone full circle. 1. Get smart light for app features. 2. Buy a physical button to use it like any other light.
Wait, what?
For smart lights to work, they need the light switch to be on. Switching them off at the switch means you can’t use an app to turn them back on.
dont know why people downvoted you. this is the reason why I took out smart bulbs because more often or not, turning on/off using physical switches is still more natural, and guaranteed to work everything
@Anubis: This…
Shelley plus home assistant plus zigbee switches. Can control lights:
Via voice (Google)
Via standard light switches
Via smart panels/phone/laptop
Via strategically placed zigbee switches
Via lux sensors
Via motion detectors
Via automations……
@bheart: I have a quite big room with 11 lights in the ceiling. originally wired up in 3 groups to have them not all on at once. one set has parallel switches so can be turned on and off from two places. Was better than all on one circuit, but not ideal.
I've now got smart lights for all of them, 3D printed press fit covers over the switches on the walls, and zigbee switches like as in this post or from ikea to control them all individually or in groups. (put a magnet in the printed cover, the light switch is then in the same place as it was)
How could this be done using 'standard' lights and smart switches?
@bheart: I ended up getting dual channel Fibaro Zwave switch modules in the wall, with channel 2 feeding the lights, nothing connected to channel 1.
The standard light switch is an input on channel 1. So when I flick the switch, it doesn’t actually control any load. All it does is updates my controller, which then sends a command using the local non cloud Lifx protocol to turn the bulb on or off. Channel 2 is basically always on feeding power to the lights.
I can still physically kill power to the light by commanding channel 2 to switch off from the controller.
I still have Hue dimmers everywhere, most rooms have presence sensors and motion sensors too. The dimmers are a cheap way of getting 12 usable commands (press, double press, press and hold on each button) I rarely use the Hue dimmers, but they are there to force the lights on or off, and at night the lights turn on at about 30% brightness when triggered by motion, and sometimes that’s too dim to find my favourite mug or stash of treats at the back of the pantry, so a tap and hold overrides them to 100% brightness.
I don’t know any legacy light switch that you can take off and walk around with, cycle through custom scenes to your liking while dimming brightness and being about to mount anywhere without a sparky
And needs periodic charging. 😜
Hue light switches don’t require charging. Just replacing the battery after a few years.
I've had Hue dimmer switches going for like 6 years straight without the battery running out
One of the older Hue switches works without batteries at all, so no charging or replacement batteries needed.
It gets all the power needed from the push action itself.
The buttons also allows you to also adjust the light scenes and dimmer.
Anything is possible really, I’ve got a hue dimmer near the front door, one button stops the front door locking itself when I close it, another closes all my roller shutters, another turns off all the lights etc
I have a couple of this. Not worth full price. The click doesn't feel very nice.
This is useful if you are in zigbee ecosystem, not just "in the Hue ecosystem". They work really well controlling 'anything' connected to Home Assistant via zigbee2mqtt etc.
and for the comments about these needing battery replacement… that is "sometime". I have a previous model, used daily (controls the kitchen light), been there for YEARS. Is still on the original battery, with the planned replacement battery bought months ago on the shelf near it.
Is this newer version any different?
Is this newer version any different?
Newer version uses smaller battery but "more standard" one (CR2032). But still should last years.
Waiting for motion sensor deal here
You just missed them last week
I find the $5 motion sensors on Aliexpress do the job well enough.
But have never quite found a true substitute for the Hue switches.
Anyone know of a good smart switch system that can replace existing switches (wired) to be able to control them through an app/voice commands?