Nice thing about Xiaomi is it can be "paired" with their motion detector to turn lights on based on motion - I'm doing this in my study - its always dark - so the light always needs to be on when you're in the room.
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Smart globe vs Smart switch
- Thread starter Dolby
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RoganDawes
Expert Member
What are the choices for this setting? Off or On? Can they remember the last setting?
Dolby
Honorary Master
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Isn't this manual and WiFI?
http://www.geewiz.co.za/mobile-wifi...eck&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pricecheck
I think it can do previous state - I'll have to check at home. All mine are off at the moment. (Eskom outage)
RoganDawes
Expert Member
Yes, it is. However, it requires you to have a neutral line in the switch box to power the switch, and that is not very common in ZA (or elsewhere, for that matter). Of course, you can easily run a neutral into the switch box, I guess. Unfortunately, it only looks good for a single switch, which can be a problem for some situations.
More info on Xiaomi bulbs: https://www.yeelight.com/en_US/product/wifi-led-w
The complexity of switches and existing infrastructure was why I went with the bulbs.
The complexity of switches and existing infrastructure was why I went with the bulbs.
RoganDawes
Expert Member
Scheduled power outage that I'm aware of
I am also renovating - so the lights are generally off until complete.
Geoff.D
Honorary Master
Ja quite a problem for new homes. I had this problem in a place my daughter purchased recently. None of the light wall switches had neutral lines in them, only Live and the conductor to the light fitting.
Yet my own home has a neutral running through every single switch box.
RoganDawes
Expert Member
It's not surprising that there is no neutral, since it is not normally required, and saves effort and copper. Running a single neutral into the box shouldn't be *too* much work, I suppose. My problem with doing it at a per-switch level is that it gets expensive really quickly
I guess my ideal situation would be cheap triggers in each switch box, cheap wifi-relays near each device (light, whatever), and a central device that receives the triggers and instructs the relays.
Of course, once again, that will involve rewiring, so a no-go for most people.
The other thing to consider with that TP-Link light switch, is that brick houses typically have metal shells in the wall for the light switches to fit into, which won't work too well for wifi, I suspect!
RoganDawes
Expert Member
So, if you open the switch plate (be careful, turn off the mains first!), you are likely to see 1+(number of switches) wires. i.e. 1 live coming in, and then n wires going to each switched device. These will most likely be red for the live, and either blue or red for the outgoing wires.
If you have a black wire, you should be in business. If you don't, you will need to get one run to the switch box, otherwise you will not be able to power the switch itself!
And do keep the "RF in a metal box" post in mind - I really don't know how well something like that will work out for you!
Geoff.D
Honorary Master
Red for Live single feed coming in even if it is a multiple switch box.
Bare copper earth (older houses) for earth as the light switch boxes and covers are probably metal. Newer houses done with plestik, no earth wire
Blue or other colours except black for wires going to the lights themselves.
Rare these days but if available a neutral wire black.
