Or adding physical controls to a virtual system
One of the pain points on our smart home journey has been allowing visitors and children without i-devices to control the lights. So far I’ve installed two different solutions, and one of them actually works. The one that doesn’t work is due to the construction of my home, the device itself seems fine.
Better still, the one that works is easier to install and cheaper to purchase.
If you’re invested into the Hue ecosystem, the Hue wall switch module is a great addition.
One of the downsides of smart devices is that they always need to be energized in order to respond to wireless signals. If you install smart bulbs in a light fixture, you have to stop turning off the fixture and use an app to turn off the bulbs.
The zero dollar solution is to put tape over your light switches, which looks awful. Another solution (which doesn’t look much better) is to install a safety cover over the switch so that it can’t be accidentally turned off.
If you’re comfortable working with electricity, the Wall Switch Module is an effective solution to this problem.
Install is straightforward. Remove the switch from the gang box. Connect the line and load wires together, resulting in an always on light fixture. The physical switch is connected to the battery powered Hue Module with included jumper wires. Module and switch are packed into the gang box and cover plate re-installed. The Module is configured through the app as either a single press or triple press button.
The only real downside to this module is that it only controls Hue lights.
One thing I didn’t realize until I installed the second one, is that the Module can control any Hue lights, not just the ones that were controlled by the switch originally. In my living room one outlet is controlled by the wall switch. I configured the module to control the lamp plugged into that outlet and the lamp on the other side of the room.
I’ve got six can lights in my kitchen and the price of replacing these perfectly good lights with six Hues seemed excessive. That being said, I wanted to add some flexibility to the kitchen lighting, so a smart dimmer switch seemed like a good answer.
Unfortunately, the Leviton Decora Smart Switch doesn’t work in my house, though your results may be different.
My house was built in the early 70’s and all the original gang boxes are made of metal. All of the switch plate covers are steel. When I totally encase the smart switch in metal, it can’t communicate with the WiFi network. When the switch plate cover is removed, it works fine, but changing out the cover was vetoed by the wife. Leviton does warn that the switch works best in plastic enclosures, but I didn’t find that information until after the packaging had been carted off to recycling.
The Smart Switch seems a bit more complex to install than a dumb switch, but it really isn’t (much). It does require more volume inside the gang box because the connections are made with wire nuts rather than terminals on the switch. Additionally, the switch needs a neutral connection for itself. The yellow lead is only used for three-way applications.
Given that the Zigbee signals used by the Hue Module aren’t affected by the metal gang boxes as much as WiFi (Leviton) and I have some more lights I want to add smarts to, I may test another manufacturer’s switches, but this time I’ll be sure to keep the packaging until I’m satisfied with the results.
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