7 ms·
How about a "standard" light switch that is also controllable via Z-wave, which doesn't require Internet access or Wi-Fi or anything like that? Which is what mo
by jaywalk 5y ago
How about a "standard" light switch that is also controllable via Z-wave, which doesn't require Internet access or Wi-Fi or anything like that? Which is what most of the switches in my house are, and really what a proper smart home should be using.
- rwmj 5y agoThe "Z-wave" function would never be used in my house so it would just be adding cost. Considerable cost at that - a plain white plastic light switch is £1.99, and the "Z-wave" ones I can see on Amazon are all around £20-£40!
- jaywalk 5y agoI was providing a smart home alternative to your example of having to use an app to turn something on and off. I don't think you're going to find a smart switch, Z-wave or not, for £1.99
- rwmj 5y agoSure. I'm not opposed to people spending large amounts of money on smart devices, I just don't choose to do it myself because in all honesty I don't understand what the point is.
- HeyLaughingBoy 5y agoNeither do I. At my first job, I worked for a company that built (among other things) X-10 powerline-control interfaces that would let your PC do the same thing: switch on lights/fans, etc. As far as I could tell, the only people buying that stuff were hobbyists with a lot of disposable income. Part of my duties was customer support and I can't recall a single instance of anyone doing it for any reason that didn't boil down to "it's cool." Not making judgements, but I really don't see what the big deal is with getting up to turn on a light, and I live in a pretty big house.
- mavhc 5y agoConnect a switch to a £1 esp32, now it's smart
- zrail 5y agoMaking that arrangement safe probably costs more than £1.
- mavhc 5y agoThe fact we're sending 240V AC around inside the walls for no reason is a whole other question. But an optocoupler relay is also about £1, so there's that.
- Chris2048 5y agostill need to power the esp so you'd maybe need mains AC-DC PSU.
- mavhc 5y agoI put ethernet everywhere to use PoE, 48V DC is much better suited for most things in your house these days
- Chris2048 5y agoI agree, and power negotiation is great. But things that can use it seem to be expensive. I checked, the chips are fairly cheap; but all the PoE stuff I might use aren't "one per light socket" prices. Plus I'd still like a decent mains relay board that is appropriate to put in a wall - the Shellys' are a good form for this, but I cannot see a similar wired solution (although some Sonos devices get close).
- mavhc 5y agohttps://www.olimex.com/Products/IoT/ESP32/ESP32-POE/open-source-hardware https://www.olimex.com/Products/IoT/ESP32/ESP32-POE/open-sou... is probably the best option
- bluGill 5y agoAre you sure? The normal switches should be the normal way. But sometimes I've realized I left a basement light on and didn't want to walk downstairs to flip the switch. There are also odd niches. I have an air compressor in a far corner of my shop (for noise reasons) with pipes running to where I need air. I want to control that without having to walk across the shop. (So far I don't have this because finding a switch that control a multi-horsepower induction motor is hard - most top out an 1/4 horse)
- jaywalk 5y agoI have no idea if it'll meet your requirements or not, but have you looked at something like this GE direct-wire smart switch? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YTCZZF0 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YTCZZF0
- zrail 5y agoI have two use cases for this specific switch that I haven't acted on yet: * schedule my non-smart EVSE to charge our car when power is cheaper at night * monitor (but not control) the energy usage of our electric hot water heater. It's the second biggest electricity user in the house but I have to infer how much power it's using based on the other separately metered components. Cost is the thing holding me back. Will it have positive ROI in a reasonable time for our PHEV minivan that only has a 30KWh battery? Seems somewhat unlikely. Would monitoring the power usage of the hot water heater have positive ROI ever? Also seems unlikely.
- bluGill 5y agoThanks, I haven't found that one yet.
- HeyLaughingBoy 5y agoThe standard way to do this would be to use the wireless switch as a pilot-duty relay to switch a contactor for the compressor.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]