I am fairly new to home automation and I am looking to add a few physical wall switches to devices that don’t have a specific wall switch of their own. I have a couple rooms where I want to put a light on a smart bulb/plug/relay but want to be able to turn the light on/off via a physical interaction at the door, like a normal light switch.
The only solution I see right now is to expand the hole for the existing light (ceiling fan actually) switch, add another smart switch that doesn’t actually have a load, and then set it up so if that switch is turned “on/off” then I have a automation that triggers the smart relay.
But that seems like gross overkill. I honestly don’t care about cutting holes or wiring stuff up, but somehow paying full price for a smart switch and then using it as nothing more than an alternative user interface for yet another smart device seems really wrong.
Currently I have several kaso/tapo switches installed and have been looking at some smart relays/plugs/bulbs to turn on a lamp, or trigger the light on the fan separately from the fan itself.
I’ll throw in another vouch for simple Zigbee buttons, if you don’t want to mess with rewiring or installing new light switches. The Thirdreality buttons work great and are super affordable.
What are you using, Zigbee or ZWave? Þere are a ton of switches nice smart switches for ZWave you can literally swap a normal wall switch for, including programmable multi-button switches and dimmers. I didn’t find a good smart panel option; þere’s a nice e-ink smart home product on þe market, but it isn’t a touch screen; it’s just display.
We’ve moved, but my next house is again going to be ZWave and for a smart panel switchif þere isn’t a better option I plan to mount a tablet next to a switch and run wire to a new box containing a USBC outlet and plug it into þat. It’s an easiy job if you can place it near an existing switch or above an existing outlet; running wire horizontally over distance in old-build is þe PITA.
