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For example, not having to get up and go to the door. I find that extremely convenient when lying in bed, about to sleep. I usually read for a few hours with da

For example, not having to get up and go to the door. I find that extremely convenient when lying in bed, about to sleep. I usually read for a few hours with dark red light, when I’m ready to sleep I can just turn the lights off.

OJFord 6y ago
I've had both a switch for the main light (s) and a lamp bedside the bed all my life, multiple houses, none of them 'smart' or wireless. Don't get me wrong - I want to use HomeAssistant or similar - but I don't want to ditch physical switches.
- Semaphor 6y ago
  I have physical switches, I just don’t use them. They are my fallback for when the network fails, the hue hub dies or whatever.
  - OJFord 6y ago
    What I mean is I think I prefer them even if I were technically set up to use my phone or a remote - they'd never be in the right place so I'd have to get up anyway. (And in this case the (dumb) switches on the wall have always been in the right place, by the bed, in my bedrooms. (In addition to one by the door of course.)) I'd just have 'the system' 'aware' of the switches and current state etc. so that I could have certain automations, logging, etc. The physical switches would either be network inputs themselves (easier implementation but reliability concern) or just report events but be electrically connected to the light still; I suppose also light-side state reporting for ultimate reliability (against missed switch events that did change light state because of electrical connection).
tokamak-teapot 6y ago
There is a technical solution for this which might need some research and I’m not sure it’s been proved out yet but if you search for ‘bedside lamp’ you might find a starting point.
- FeepingCreature 6y ago
  Right, but then you have to go to the bed, turn the bedside lamp on, go to the door, turn the room lamp off, go to bed. Bit of a round trip. I wound up with a LED strip attached to a RPi under my bed, driven by a clapper script. Doesn't work completely reliably, but well enough.
lqet 6y ago
Why would you leave the room light on for reading in bed?
- Semaphor 6y ago
  Because I don’t want to read in full darkness. I sometimes read for several hours before I sleep, the lack of light would make me fall asleep far too early (I already wake up at 4 in the morning when I sleep normally).
segfaultbuserr 6y ago
You don't really need a "smart" light for it, a traditional radio-controlled "dumb" light switch is good enough for this purpose. Just press a button, and the remote control sends a RF signal at 433 MHz to switch it on or off, there's no IoT complexity like firmware updates, Linux kernel, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, an Internet connection or other nonsense. It can either be a light switch installed on the wall, or an integrated unit that comes with the LED light fixture (which may also allow you to change the color). Also, neutral wire is not a problem, some wall switches don't need it [0]. "Smart" lightbulbs are more flexible with more features, but personally I'm not a fan of them - many features with few additional benefits (with high price tags, possible bugs, and privacy concerns). Nevertheless, if you are not allowed to change any electrical wiring in the room, using "smart" lightbulbs can be a justified choice. Another genuine use may be controlling many wired-together lightbulbs on a large light fixture as separate groups without a laborious rewiring. Meanwhile I'll keep using my dumb wireless light switch. [0] They solve the neutral problem by using an always-on high resistance in series with the "hot" wire. The lightbulbs on the light fixture completes the circuit, a tiny current starts to flow, which is harvested by the switch to power itself. Clever hack!
- Semaphor 6y ago
  The question was for wireless lights. A radio-controlled dumb-switch used this way is still wireless lightning. And what privacy concerns are there with lights that have no internet connection whatsoever?
  - segfaultbuserr 6y ago
    First, some context. When I was replying to this thread, there were only three comments, the first said wireless lighting was an useless solution waiting for a problem, another said it was a hobby and not too useful, and only you said it was useful. Hence, it thought it was natural to add some comment under your comment. Furthermore, the original article described how the author designed a Wi-Fi based system, and other readers seemed to have "smart" or "Wi-Fi" lights or lightbulbs in mind when they were expressing their disapproval to wireless lightning, so I thought it was useful to make the point that a remote-controlled light is not necessarily a IoT "smart" light, which constitutes the first paragraph of my reply. And the second paragraph in my reply was my personal opinion to those "Wi-Fi" / "IoT" based lightbulbs - they do have legitimate uses, however they may contain "possible bugs, and privacy concerns" (as in: a Wi-Fi controlled lightbulb with a mobile app), thus "meanwhile I'll keep using my dumb wireless light switch". I hope my comment makes sense to you now. > A radio-controlled dumb-switch used this way is still wireless lightning. Yes, and it was also the point I was trying to make.
VLM 6y ago
I have an interesting setup with home assistant similar to your needs Power the bed reading light lamp with a zen15 zooz inline switch which is never shut off but can monitor current and power continuously. So now homeassistant knows when my bed reading light is on or off based on if the lamp is drawing more than 3 watts or less. Which means it can control my ceiling fan appropriately AND dimmable room light bulbs AND mess with the thermostat depending on outside temperature / mode. And maybe other options someday in the future. Some effort to set up the hardware, maybe 30 lines of YAML automation code, but it is nice and convenient. I have a "reading desk lamp" in my basement lab that does similar tricks. Desk lamp no current drawn means my soldering iron and some other apparatus has its power removed. Improves safety a little. If my youngest kid were not an older teen, I've been thinking about wifi/bluetooth presence detection such that my table saw has no electrical power if my phone isn't within X feet of the saw. A kind of similar automation but different opportunity.

OJFord 6y ago

I've had both a switch for the main light (s) and a lamp bedside the bed all my life, multiple houses, none of them 'smart' or wireless. Don't get me wrong - I want to use HomeAssistant or similar - but I don't want to ditch physical switches.

Semaphor 6y ago
I have physical switches, I just don’t use them. They are my fallback for when the network fails, the hue hub dies or whatever.
- OJFord 6y ago
  What I mean is I think I prefer them even if I were technically set up to use my phone or a remote - they'd never be in the right place so I'd have to get up anyway. (And in this case the (dumb) switches on the wall have always been in the right place, by the bed, in my bedrooms. (In addition to one by the door of course.)) I'd just have 'the system' 'aware' of the switches and current state etc. so that I could have certain automations, logging, etc. The physical switches would either be network inputs themselves (easier implementation but reliability concern) or just report events but be electrically connected to the light still; I suppose also light-side state reporting for ultimate reliability (against missed switch events that did change light state because of electrical connection).

tokamak-teapot 6y ago

There is a technical solution for this which might need some research and I’m not sure it’s been proved out yet but if you search for ‘bedside lamp’ you might find a starting point.

FeepingCreature 6y ago
Right, but then you have to go to the bed, turn the bedside lamp on, go to the door, turn the room lamp off, go to bed. Bit of a round trip. I wound up with a LED strip attached to a RPi under my bed, driven by a clapper script. Doesn't work completely reliably, but well enough.

lqet 6y ago

Why would you leave the room light on for reading in bed?

Semaphor 6y ago
Because I don’t want to read in full darkness. I sometimes read for several hours before I sleep, the lack of light would make me fall asleep far too early (I already wake up at 4 in the morning when I sleep normally).

segfaultbuserr 6y ago

You don't really need a "smart" light for it, a traditional radio-controlled "dumb" light switch is good enough for this purpose. Just press a button, and the remote control sends a RF signal at 433 MHz to switch it on or off, there's no IoT complexity like firmware updates, Linux kernel, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, an Internet connection or other nonsense. It can either be a light switch installed on the wall, or an integrated unit that comes with the LED light fixture (which may also allow you to change the color). Also, neutral wire is not a problem, some wall switches don't need it [0]. "Smart" lightbulbs are more flexible with more features, but personally I'm not a fan of them - many features with few additional benefits (with high price tags, possible bugs, and privacy concerns). Nevertheless, if you are not allowed to change any electrical wiring in the room, using "smart" lightbulbs can be a justified choice. Another genuine use may be controlling many wired-together lightbulbs on a large light fixture as separate groups without a laborious rewiring. Meanwhile I'll keep using my dumb wireless light switch. [0] They solve the neutral problem by using an always-on high resistance in series with the "hot" wire. The lightbulbs on the light fixture completes the circuit, a tiny current starts to flow, which is harvested by the switch to power itself. Clever hack!

Semaphor 6y ago
The question was for wireless lights. A radio-controlled dumb-switch used this way is still wireless lightning. And what privacy concerns are there with lights that have no internet connection whatsoever?
- segfaultbuserr 6y ago
  First, some context. When I was replying to this thread, there were only three comments, the first said wireless lighting was an useless solution waiting for a problem, another said it was a hobby and not too useful, and only you said it was useful. Hence, it thought it was natural to add some comment under your comment. Furthermore, the original article described how the author designed a Wi-Fi based system, and other readers seemed to have "smart" or "Wi-Fi" lights or lightbulbs in mind when they were expressing their disapproval to wireless lightning, so I thought it was useful to make the point that a remote-controlled light is not necessarily a IoT "smart" light, which constitutes the first paragraph of my reply. And the second paragraph in my reply was my personal opinion to those "Wi-Fi" / "IoT" based lightbulbs - they do have legitimate uses, however they may contain "possible bugs, and privacy concerns" (as in: a Wi-Fi controlled lightbulb with a mobile app), thus "meanwhile I'll keep using my dumb wireless light switch". I hope my comment makes sense to you now. > A radio-controlled dumb-switch used this way is still wireless lightning. Yes, and it was also the point I was trying to make.

VLM 6y ago

I have an interesting setup with home assistant similar to your needs Power the bed reading light lamp with a zen15 zooz inline switch which is never shut off but can monitor current and power continuously. So now homeassistant knows when my bed reading light is on or off based on if the lamp is drawing more than 3 watts or less. Which means it can control my ceiling fan appropriately AND dimmable room light bulbs AND mess with the thermostat depending on outside temperature / mode. And maybe other options someday in the future. Some effort to set up the hardware, maybe 30 lines of YAML automation code, but it is nice and convenient. I have a "reading desk lamp" in my basement lab that does similar tricks. Desk lamp no current drawn means my soldering iron and some other apparatus has its power removed. Improves safety a little. If my youngest kid were not an older teen, I've been thinking about wifi/bluetooth presence detection such that my table saw has no electrical power if my phone isn't within X feet of the saw. A kind of similar automation but different opportunity.