Home Automation - Smartkit

lucifir said:
I am trying to dip my toes into this area of home automation, starting with light switches.
Any suggestions on where to start ?
I have been looking at sonoff, but was wondering if maybe there are other options on the market, as I have read/heard that they don't fit easily into the boxes.
I am open to replacing the switches with new switches if costs are not too much higher
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Maybe a few primer questions:
  1. Do you want to have "normal" light switches, or ok with a touch panel type like these: https://www.smartkit.co.za/product/sonoff-tx-series/
  2. Consider that you may need to pull neutral wires down to your light switches, depending on which route you go. Would you want to do that and probably get an electrician out?
  3. Would you have a rasperberry pi or similar always on server/pc to run home automation software on? Or are you looking for something more plug and play that you don't need to figure out and install on your own server
 
InternetLuddite said:
So you saying only 5 of those zones are yours and the rest aren't?

Wierd. Are you connecting directly to IP150 or via Swan?

When I first connected , PAI to HASS, I used the Swan connection but it was not stable .I did this cos I still needed to use insite gold app.

But then I tried the direct connection to IP150 with PAI, and it's definitely faster and 100% stable. Have had no ghost zones come up. More wierdly, insite gold app still works - sometimes just a bit slow.

Also would like to know if anyone can advise, how I customise the PAI custom bypass button. I want to bypass two specific zones at night when I arm perimeter, but not sure how to exactly do that.

View attachment 877201
Click to expand...

Hi

I'm also looking for a way to bypass certain zones. Been scouring many of the forums, but haven’t had any joy!
Also been trying the Dev branch, but no luck.
 
SAguy said:
  1. Would you have a rasperberry pi or similar always on server/pc to run home automation software on? Or are you looking for something more plug and play that you don't need to figure out and install on your own server
Click to expand...
Just a headsup on this. All my lights are using Sonoff light switches. I also have a few Sonoff Basics controlling various other things and I'm looking at motorising my blinds.

All of this are being managed by Ewelink in the cloud, so I have no local servers running. All devices are running in LAN mode so the cloud only gets used to sync statuses and to access devices when I'm not home.
 
SAguy said:
Maybe a few primer questions:
  1. Do you want to have "normal" light switches, or ok with a touch panel type like these: https://www.smartkit.co.za/product/sonoff-tx-series/
  2. Consider that you may need to pull neutral wires down to your light switches, depending on which route you go. Would you want to do that and probably get an electrician out?
  3. Would you have a rasperberry pi or similar always on server/pc to run home automation software on? Or are you looking for something more plug and play that you don't need to figure out and install on your own server
Click to expand...

1. I am ok with touch panels like the TX series
2. I am fine with pulling neutral wires
3. I plan to have a server down the line at some point, but would prefer if these switches could work without one for now and maybe integrate later once i get a server setup, if the server can add value
 
Chevauxza said:
Well since I don't know what a contactor is, a contractor is probably a good idea! :)
Click to expand...

A contactor is a heavy-duty relay that you typically switch on/off with AC (as opposed to DC). So in my case, I use a Sonoff basic (10A max) to switch on/off a contactor to switch on/off a 4kW geyser (around 17A).

Just note, if you use a contactor then you can no longer measure current/power consumption of whatever you're switching on/off using something like a Shelly EM or Sonoff POW. You would only measure whatever current the contactor use, not what it is driving.

I didn't realise it, but if you've ever been in an office where you flick one "normal" light-switch, there's a "thunk" noise and then the whole building/floor's light turn on/off? That "thunk" is a contactor. So you use a normal, lightweight switch to switch on/off the contactor, which then turns on/off all of the lights of the floor.
 
lucifir said:
1. I am ok with touch panels like the TX series
2. I am fine with pulling neutral wires
3. I plan to have a server down the line at some point, but would prefer if these switches could work without one for now and maybe integrate later once i get a server setup, if the server can add value
Click to expand...

I actually prefer something like the sonoff mini or the Shelly's a bit more, since you can put them behind a normal light-switch and still operate the lights using the normal switch.

That makes it completely transparent to most people - but you can still control it via automations.

It also means that you don't have to replace your existing switches, or struggle fitting switches made for other countries into our boxes.

Unless you don't like the idea that the light switch can "point the wrong way", the same way you get with a two-way switch. You can set the Shelly's (and I'm sure the Sonoff) so that a toggle of the light switch toggles the relay too. But this means that you can have the light switch point to on, and then switch off the relay via the app, and the only indication that the light is actually off is that the light is actually off.
 
ebendl said:
I actually prefer something like the sonoff mini or the Shelly's a bit more, since you can put them behind a normal light-switch and still operate the lights using the normal switch.

That makes it completely transparent to most people - but you can still control it via automations.

It also means that you don't have to replace your existing switches, or struggle fitting switches made for other countries into our boxes.

Unless you don't like the idea that the light switch can "point the wrong way", the same way you get with a two-way switch. You can set the Shelly's (and I'm sure the Sonoff) so that a toggle of the light switch toggles the relay too. But this means that you can have the light switch point to on, and then switch off the relay via the app, and the only indication that the light is actually off is that the light is actually off.
Click to expand...

Problem with that is you need a Shelly/Sonoff per switch which very quickly drives up the cost but also consumes the space.

Most ever switch in my house is a 2-gang with some being 3 or 4-gang.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Problem with that is you need a Shelly/Sonoff per switch which very quickly drives up the cost but also consumes the space.

Most ever switch in my house is a 2-gang with some being 3 or 4-gang.
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The Shelly dimmer need less wires at least. The dimmer 2 doesnt need a neutral but can use it.

There is also the shelly 2.5 which have 2 relays so a little bit of a space saving.

Would have liked it if there was a 2 relay dimmer. Now that would be perfect.

But yeah I also have only a few switches that are 1 gang.
 
Tinuva said:
The Shelly dimmer need less wires at least. The dimmer 2 doesnt need a neutral but can use it.

There is also the shelly 2.5 which have 2 relays so a little bit of a space saving.

Would have liked it if there was a 2 relay dimmer. Now that would be perfect.

But yeah I also have only a few switches that are 1 gang.
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Yeah, I have 2 shelly's 2.5's which definitely helps. One of them fit just perfectly in this lightbox:

1595415760971.png
 
Tinuva said:
The Shelly dimmer need less wires at least. The dimmer 2 doesnt need a neutral but can use it.
.
Click to expand...

Do they make one that doesn’t dim?

I’ve got no need for that but would be keen to try the no neutral option.

The Sonoff version didn’t work as it made me LEDs flicker...and the way to fix it is to fit a thingy on the neutral line which defeats the point.

****

I see it supports SW1 and SW2? What does that mean exactly? Two light switches can be controlled?
 
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SauRoNZA said:
Do they make one that doesn’t dim?

I’ve got no need for that but would be keen to try the no neutral option.

The Sonoff version didn’t work as it made me LEDs flicker...and the way to fix it is to fit a thingy on the neutral line which defeats the point.

****

I see it supports SW1 and SW2? What does that mean exactly? Two light switches can be controlled?
Click to expand...
If you asking about SW1 and SW2 on the dimmer, its for a single light. It is an option to have 2 switches for the light, 1 that dim down and 1 that dim up. But just 1 light.

The 2.5 however has SW1 and SW2 that can control 2 different lights.
 
Tinuva said:
If you asking about SW1 and SW2 on the dimmer, its for a single light. It is an option to have 2 switches for the light, 1 that dim down and 1 that dim up. But just 1 light.

The 2.5 however has SW1 and SW2 that can control 2 different lights.
Click to expand...

But the 2.5 needs neutrals again.

Can never win.
 
alqassam said:
I may be wrong but you can connect the shelly at the light and run the switch wires down to the light switch.
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Yes as is the case with almost any of these things but would require getting in the roof to do.

Almost as much of not less work to run a neutral down.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Yes as is the case with almost any of these things but would require getting in the roof to do.

Almost as much of not less work to run a neutral down.
Click to expand...

I don't know, I have a great fear of using an existing wire to pull down a neutral, only for it to get loose somewhere and then losing the ability to pull back the original wire or pull it fully through scares me enough to rather head into the roof!

The last neutral I pulled down myself, I discovered that there actually were two lives coming through, of which the one was completely redundant. So I re-labeled the one into a neutral with some black electrical tape!
 
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