Smart light switches

[Dolby]

I was about to give up, when i found that tucked behind the switch socket was neutral cables cut-off and insulated.

That's very interesting - thanks !

I would imagine when older houses have been re-fitted, they got rid of neutral in the switch but the house was wired for it already so its just sitting there, usually tucked behind or back into the conduit. So before you give up try look for it

My place is about 20+ years and I luckily had

 

[Saba'a]

Shelly 1 doesn't sleep - I can only imagine there is something else wrong. If it goes offline, it's either faulty or the wifi coverage isn't great in that area. They have tiny antenna, but it has to be one or the other.

They can work without cloud - but if WiFi coverage is the issue, you're all going to have an issue. I actually think you can see WiFi quality within in the app in About or Details or something.

For local , go to I/O settings and read up about direct device to device (DDD) communication

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://shelly.cloud/documents/developers/ddd_communication.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwi98OzO9bD3AhUSz4UKHezyB3MQFnoECAUQAQ&sqi=2&usg=AOvVaw3a1CCwhVltmcjtPUbmkmj8

View attachment 1298360

I stated wifi shows good. I have a mesh running at 780mbps only 3 metres away.

Will test it out somewhere else.

 

[Saba'a]

Played around and I think enabling cloud solved issue as:

In shelly app it pops up immediately
In Google Home it shows online immediately

 

[Saba'a]

Defeats point of LAN but maybe its a Google Home issue

 

[spiff]

I need to add some outdoor smart led light strips to my back garden for back lighting etc. - something like in the link.

anyone have experience with these types of light?

is there anything better on the market or a better solution?

 

[Mzezman]

I need to add some outdoor smart led light strips to my back garden for back lighting etc. - something like in the link.

anyone have experience with these types of light?

is there anything better on the market or a better solution?

I use an L1 for my TV backlight - works well - no issues except that the LEDs are not addressable - so if the colour is red then the whole strip is red. If thats not an issue for you then no stress.

 

[deesef]

I need to add some outdoor smart led light strips to my back garden for back lighting etc. - something like in the link.

anyone have experience with these types of light?

is there anything better on the market or a better solution?

The L2 was recently released

SONOFF L2 SMART LED STRIP 5M

Sonoff SONOFF L2 SMART LED STRIP 5M Home Automation A Waterproof (IP65) 5M Smart LED Light Strip to be used indoors only. Includes Controller and PSU. With 16 million colour options to choose from the Ewelink APP.L2 Smart LED Light Strip Overview When the holiday season comes, everyone in the...

www.communica.co.za

 

[MidnightZA]

I need to add some outdoor smart led light strips to my back garden for back lighting etc. - something like in the link.

anyone have experience with these types of light?

is there anything better on the market or a better solution?

I have the L1 for my staircase light. It cloud only which sucks but other than that it works as advertised.
You can also use a D1 mini or any ESP8266/32 controller and buy your own strips, then use wled to control the light from your phone. Would work out far cheaper.

 

[Saba'a]

I have the L1 for my staircase light. It cloud only which sucks but other than that it works as advertised.
You can also use a D1 mini or any ESP8266/32 controller and buy your own strips, then use wled to control the light from your phone. Would work out far cheaper.

But I thought Shellys are LAN? Cloud being an option but not necessary.

Although to work with Google Home I had to put it on cloud, otherwise its offline and lags coming online

 

[Dolby]

But I thought Shellys are LAN? Cloud being an option but not necessary.

Although to work with Google Home I had to put it on cloud, otherwise its offline and lags coming online

How would your Google Home know about it otherwise though? It isn't going to pick up a device on your local network. That's pretty much the Google issue.

But that said, you can still use Direct Device communications that I mentioned earlier to have Shellys chat directly to each other without breaking out (except when you use Google Home)

 

[Saba'a]

Was lagging in Shelly app itself as well. Now that cloud on it doesn't lag much.

When I open app it shows offline now but at least change to online almost immediately.

When cloud was off it was offline in Google Home and was offline in Shelly app. Lagging quite long before coming online in app.

 

[MidnightZA]

But I thought Shellys are LAN? Cloud being an option but not necessary.

Although to work with Google Home I had to put it on cloud, otherwise its offline and lags coming online

The L1 device spiff linked is a sonoff device. That one is cloud only. I know nothing about shelly devices

 

[Saba'a]

Installed a Shelly in kitchen and garage.

Works a perfectly with Google Home Assistant.

 

[akescpt]

Personally loving the sonoffs. Whole house has been set up and all the lamps in the house have been hooked up as well. Loving the automation. Some of the scenes used are as follows:

1. Movie lighting (voice command and one click button on home screen) - main lights in living room/library go off and lamps turn on if not already on.
2. Sunset outdoor (time of day: sunset) - outdoor lights turn on
3. Sunset indoor (time of day: 30 min before sunset) - all lamps turn on in the house, this is great for ambient lighting. The main lights are manually turned on as needed.
4. Sunrise indoor (time of day: 30 min before sunrise) - all lights in kitchen and scullery turn on.
5. Lights out (voice command and one click button on home screen) - all indoor lights switched off.

Leaving the lights on much longer than needed doesnt bother me much as they run on solar/battery bank.

Will play around more in the weeks to come but so far very happy with the tech upgrade for the house

Also added all sonoffs to a new gmail accounts basically [email protected] which can be given to the new owners when we sell one day - thanks for the suggestions guys!

Which sonoffs are you referring to?

 

[Snyper564]

Which sonoffs are you referring to?

Main light switches

Smart Home Products

Buy Smart Home Products online at the Best Prices! Door to Door and Overnight Delivery. Voted the best online store in SA. View Here

www.geewiz.co.za

Lamps

Sonoff Basic R2 WiFi Smart Switch (compatible with Google Home/Alexa)

Power Supply: 90V~250V AC Max. Current: 10A Wireless Standard: Wi-Fi 2.4GHz b/g/n Security Mechanism: WEP/WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK Operating Temp.: 0℃~40℃ Operating Humidity: 5%-95% Material: ABS Connector: universal

www.geewiz.co.za

 

[HenracTech]

New Tuya Smart Light Touch Switches have 'Dual Mode Neutral' meaning they support both 'neutral wires or no neutral wire (+capacitor). 1, 2, 3 & 4 gang with 4 face plate colours. WiFi + BLE (BT low energy)

Smart Wifi Switches & Dimmers Lighting | South Africa | Home Automation

Smart WiFi Switches Touch & Dimmers for Lighting. 1 to 4 Gang, 10A - 125A Switches. Widest range of Smart Home Automation Products | Henrac Tech

henractech.co.za

 

[alqassam]

Could someone assist with wiring this switch to a 2 way switch. It works as is as a 2 way but I can use a shelly on 1 or 3 on switch 1 as if I switch the relay it does not switch off the light.

I can't add it to switch 2 as there is no constant live. I.e. depending on which way switch 1 is either 1 or 3 would have live.

 

[HenracTech]

Hi Alqassam, one of the great benefits of 'going smart' is that 2, 3 or anyway switching is relatively easy (once you understand the 'automation' feature on your smart platform e.g. Tuya.

With smart switches only one switch needs be connected to the the applicable lights while the other switches only need power. Via the automation feature you then specify if SW1=ON then SW2=OFF and visa versa etc.

In your case SW2 is connected to the light array which must therefore have a neutral. But as SW2 has no LIVE I would connect the SW1 (red) to the LIVE (yellow) to provide a Live for SW2. You can then connect the SW2 Purple to Neutral to power SW1.

SW1- will now have Live + Neutral only (no other connections)
SW2- will also have Live + Neutral + connection to light array.

You can then rename these switches in the Tuya app and use the 'Automation' feature to control the 2 way switching.

Hope this helps.

 

[alqassam]

Hi Alqassam, one of the great benefits of 'going smart' is that 2, 3 or anyway switching is relatively easy (once you understand the 'automation' feature on your smart platform e.g. Tuya.

With smart switches only one switch needs be connected to the the applicable lights while the other switches only need power. Via the automation feature you then specify if SW1=ON then SW2=OFF and visa versa etc.

In your case SW2 is connected to the light array which must therefore have a neutral. But as SW2 has no LIVE I would connect the SW1 (red) to the LIVE (yellow) to provide a Live for SW2. You can then connect the SW2 Purple to Neutral to power SW1.

SW1- will now have Live + Neutral only (no other connections)
SW2- will also have Live + Neutral + connection to light array.

You can then rename these switches in the Tuya app and use the 'Automation' feature to control the 2 way switching.

Hope this helps.

So basically you will have a shelly on both ends. And use the detached switch to control the other one.

Doubles cost but oh well

 

[HenracTech]

Several members on this thread are 'expert level on Shelly' and sure they can provide a suitable solution

I can can only put forward a solution to consider using Tuya Smart Home platform, you basically only need 2pcs of 1 Gang smart switches unless you have other lights not shown on your diagram. In this case you can go 2, 3 or even 4 gang as required.

Smart Wifi Switches & Dimmers Lighting | South Africa | Home Automation

Smart WiFi Switches Touch & Dimmers for Lighting. 1 to 4 Gang, 10A - 125A Switches. Widest range of Smart Home Automation Products | Henrac Tech

henractech.co.za