Best 2way Smart light Switches - Have Neutral wire

solosheep

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Hello Guys

I have had to sign up as new users as I have lost my old account

I hope you can help. I’m looking for some smart light switches and I have had some success with Sonoff units which are 1 way.

However, when it comes to 2 way switches this is where I have some issues. I would like them to work with ALEXA and I don’t have a Broadcom or other hub so ideally, I would like them to work of EWLink or SMART LIFE etc.

Most of the house which I’m looking to use the smart lights are wired to have neutral apart from one socket. I have included photos of the light sockets below. I’m also looking for switches that would cover the hole left by the 3 gang rocker switches.

I hope you guys can offer advice on which units I would require. I would like a straight swap to allow the switches to work even with loss of WIFI. Also, if it’s too expensive to do all the lights I would look at only doing the 1 4 gang unit and the 2 3 gang units.

Hope it makes sense

Kitchen switch (4 gang)

50046935_10162066086065377_2273592524989792256_n.jpg

Hall light on the same level as Kitchen

49525767_10162066087235377_7786376589222084608_n.jpg


Landing light

49771578_10162066087210377_3324000070843498496_n.jpg


Landing light 2 – No neutral in this slot have looked at installing the below unit (which is on order)

Yoswit Smart Light Switch 2 Gang - No Neutral Wire Required, Control Lighting from Anywhere, No Hub Required, Built-in Timer and Support IFTTT

49899226_10162066087250377_619158607035891712_n.jpg



Attic light

49671323_10162066087260377_5201996902094077952_o.jpg
 
I had the same dilemma. My research into Sonoff was worrying, so they were discounted as I like my house looking like a house, not a pile of ashes.
I eventually decided that the best solution was to use ZWave modules as they allow standard light switches to be used, but also allow home automation.
The only downside with using Zwave is that you need a controller / hub for them to work.

There are other solutions available such as Lightwave (which a lot of people in the UK like); or Rako - these can be expensive.

If you are interested in the ZWave solution, Vesternet is a good starting point

Z-Wave Fibaro Universal Dimmer 2 250W

APNT112_Fibaro_2-Way_On-Off.png



APNT-54_Dimmer_Light_switch_install.png

 
Hello Mushii thanks for the quick reply.

Forgive me but still in early days with the whole smart home stuff. my house has both neutral and none neutral wires which I do find odd. I thought as they areas I want to use the smart switches have neutral wires this is something that can be achieved without a "hub"?

At present I have done tests with 1 way lights i.e On and off. These work fine.

I have ordered one of these items which does not require a hub or Neutral wires for the second switch on my landing which does not have the Neutral wire

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yoswit-Sma...70&sr=1-16&keywords=yoswit+smart+light+switch

I think the difficultly comes when trying to replace my 4 Gang and 3 gang units which have 2 way switching. If the above works this could be the solution however they are square boxes which will not fit in the gap left by the 3 and 4 gang units.

Plus as I have neutral wires is there not a product out there that will act as a switch?
 
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Can you see the brown collars that are on the wires in the diagram? They signify that these wires are actually switched live. It looks like you've got brown tape around yours to indicate the same.

No matter, a lot of smart lighting systems are designed to work with live/switched live regardless. Fibaro and LightwaveRF are certainly good places to start.
 
Hi yes I can see the brown tape and yes these are live but at the back of the photo there are some Wago connectors with blue neutral wires in on all but one light which is the 2 gang switch.

I was ideally looking for ones that don't have a hub and wide but it appears this might not be the case.
 
Ok I have done a Map after some more investigation
49898570_10162095165175377_3966751495877033984_o.jpg
. It appears I have two 3-way sockets so not sure smart lighting would work for me?
 
Lightwave would work for you as I understand it (they work with two or three wire and the new ones I think do multi way in an unlimited manner) but it does mean a hub and is not cheap! I think it works locally too, certainly on normal switches hutbibthinkbthe multi way but just requires the hub rather than an internet connection.
 
Super thanks for this information. it looks like this is not going to happen in the near term then :-(
 
i think that you need to look at what it is you want to do. There are many ways to slice and dice this but my advice would be this:
1. Decide what you want to achieve
2. investigate architectures that will fulfil your requirements
3. Invest in that architecture.

What i currently see is a piecemeal approach that will end up leaving you frustrated.

I have spent the past 6 months finalising my lighting solutions, based on what I want to achieve, was is on the market and what my budget is.

Here is what I learned. The cost goes from a few pounds to thousands. the quality of products range from Sonnoff to Lutron. Functionality is similar but how it is executed varies

There is a break even point (for me) that meets quality and functionality. That price point for me is around £45 -£50 per switch. To achieve what you want - minimum reliance on cloud / interwebs really means investing in some sort of hub to control your devices. These again range from tens of pounds using a RPi to thousands for solid state products such as Crestron. Again, for me I spent a lot of time researching and narrowed it down to few products that met my needs and budget.

In the end I bought a second hand Gen 5 (i3) IntelNuc for £150. Added to this I purchased a software solution (Homeseer) for £130 (with some discounts). This is the backbone of my Home automation and lights. Add to this £40 for an Aeotec z_wave USB stick and that is all I need - for everything that I want. I suggest that you can do this far cheaper with a RPi and other HA software to achieve a similar result.

My advice to you is that in reality you can probably do the hub at at around the same price or cheaper. One of the appliances that I looked at was the Athom Homey which retails at around £270 which get favourable reviews. Also looking at what you wish to achieve, using ZWave modules, which allow you to use your existing switches and configuration, are worth considering.

Unfortunately, to do this well and reliably, you do need to invest in some architecture and a hub and will cost a little more than you are currently spending.
 

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