#Smart switch that can control Home Assistant things, without cutting power to the circuit it's on?

33 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

visual crescent
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Hey folks. I have an interesting setup i'm trying to make. I have a ceiling fan with a light and a fan. The whole thing is powered from the room's lightswitch, but is ultimately controlled by a separate remote. I want to automate this in the following way:

I will build some type of way to spoof the remote commands from my HA installation. Likely some ESP32 based something with a little RF transmitter. This will allow independent control of the fan and the light, from HA. However, I would like to control the light using the lightswitch still. The muscle memory of operating a light switch is deeply embedded and hard to change, lol.

What I'm hoping for is a switch that can be in the same box, and be programmed into Home Assistant in such a way that when I turn the switch off, it commands Home Assistant to turn off the light, but doesn't actually cut the power off to the circuit, so the fan can remain on.

The ability to actually deactivate the whole circuit from inside Home Assistant would be nice to have as well.

Hope that makes sense. I've never worked with a smart switch before, only smart plugs, so I'm just not fully knowledgeable on what's possible.

Thanks in advance!

ivory ridge
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Most smart switches have a "smart bulb" mode which is designed to leave the circuit power always on, and cause the switch/buttons to just send events. They usually also allow remote control of power in that mode.

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Beware that many smart switches are actually dimmers, and you don't want to run the fan on a dimmer. Some might be specifically labelled as being ok for fans.

visual crescent
visual crescent
ivory ridge
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For any more specific recommendations or help, you should say where in the world you are so people know what products are applicable.

visual crescent
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Good ol' US of A.

ivory ridge
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Ok, one thing to check is whether you have a neutral available in the switch box. Not having a neutral will limit your options a bit.

visual crescent
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I haven't looked yet but my home was built recently enough that i'm pretty sure it does.

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Took the coverplate off real quick and it does appear that I do. White wire in the box that is not connected to the current traditional switch that's installed.

ivory ridge
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Do you already have any network like ZigBee or zwave set up for other devices?

visual crescent
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Not yet, but this is something I know I need to learn about.

ivory ridge
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Wifi would make sense for adding a few switches, but you might want to look at other options if you're doing a whole house.

visual crescent
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Right now I'm just in a tiny condo without much automation so probably don't need zigbee or zwave but I will do some reading. I might get set up with one of those so I can learn about it before I move to a bigger place in a few years.

ivory ridge
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a couple options to consider for wifi smart switches which work with fans and have local control supported by home assistant are the tp-link kasa ks205, leviton decora D215S. The tp-link is a push-toggle switch, the leviton is an on/off rocker switch.

visual crescent
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I'm a bit biased to tp-link as I use their smart plugs already and have had an excellent experience. Will take a look at the leviton one as well

ivory ridge
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hmm, actually, i can't find any information on how to enable "smart bulb" mode (have the switch controls operate without turning the load off) on the KS205.

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well, huh, both of my recommendations seem to be bad choices, i can't find out how to do that on either of them :(

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it's probably possible to hardwire the fan on and use one of these switches on without the load connected, but that's not ideal since it means you'd have to switch the breaker to disconnect the fan from power.

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looks like an option some people go with is a Shelly relay - it can be installed into the box behind the existing switch. It'll give you events in HA when the switch is turned on/off, and separately let you control the load.

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aqara have some zigbee switches and relay modules that can do this.

visual crescent
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Thank you so much for your help!

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I've been looking at some things on the Inovelli website and they advertise a smart bulb mode on some of their devices

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Will investigate the Shelly relay as well

ivory ridge
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yeah, inovelli stuff looks nice, but very much a premium option

visual crescent
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I'm actually trained in industrial electrical work so i'm not afraid of wiring on mains voltage if anything "creative" becomes involved lol

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Not worried about 120 when I used to work on 480 fairly often at my old job lmao

visual crescent
ivory ridge
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note that for inovelli they have a few specific devices marked as "fan" switches - but those are AC fan speed controllers, and shouldn't be used for a ceiling fan which also has lighting. you'd specifically want one of their "smart on/off switch" models.

visual crescent
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Noted.

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You've gone above and beyond, I appreciate it

visual crescent
elder crystal
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Maybe check if your fan and light is compatible with a Bond controller. They work with lots of models that have remotes already on (I think) the 433mhz frequency. I've been very happy with mine, and even use it to replace the Leviosa controllers for all of my shades too.