Hello All,
Most probably this topic has been sent before, but i tried to search for an appropriate answer with no success.
I have a connection which looks like the attached image… I’m wondering for such cases what is the best solution to automate the lights?
You cannot use any of the smart switches in this case, but you can use smart bulbs; the only quirk with that solution is that the smart bulbs reset if someone uses the wall switch…
I have a similar problems and opted for the Hue system, as it has also great app that works pretty well in re-establishing the desired scene in case someone uses wall switches or if there is a power outage (also not infrequent for me)
Hello!
If I’m not mistaken, new Aeotec (Aeon) in-wall dimmers and switches can be used without neutral. I haven’t investigated it thoroughly, neither I’ve had a chance to try them, but that’s the way it looks from the documentation. You can find more info on their website:
Best regards,
Davor
Thanks for feedback.
I was also looking at this:
Which looks like a battery powered wall switch which doesn’t require neutral wire… but i didnt see any feedback on it, or anything that is similar to it.
I will try the dimmer option and feed you back.
I’m using this switches.
They do not need the 3rd wire (neutral).
I have a total of 5 such switches and I’ pretty satisfied with them.
The Aquara switch you mention is not battery operated. In the manual you attached is clearly stated: "insert a positive wire to connector L, and a lamp wire to sockets L1 and L2."
Other than that, yes, this switch works with no neutral wire.
Bear in mind that you’ll need the gateway too if you want to operate the switch remotely (from openHAB or from their app).
I see an inconvenient, though… It’s square so it might not fit in a round wall insert…
I ordered one of the switches u mentioned.
I will see and report my experience 
Thanks man 
@Mihai_Badea i had to return the switch 
After installing it, the lamps connected started to flickr
I guess it needs higher load than the small LEDs i have.
The optimum solution would be a switch with battery, so it can totally disconnect the load while still being able to run.
To avoid the flickering you could install a bypass in parallel with the lights (http://www.zwave-shopping.com/en/installation-required/vision-security/4508-dimmer-bypass-visha1101-0019962012303.html)
My switches had such bypass included in the box.
Regarding the battery operated switch… I doubt that there are such switches… I mean battery operated switches that can SWITCH loads.
There are battery operated switches, but they only send commands to gateway/controllers, not turn on some load.
If you can find such switches I would like to know 
Thanks for the comment.
I though about the bypass load for the flickering issue, but didn’t go through because i want to control some led lights which is inside the mirror of a bathroom and just to get into the box and change the wiring to add the dummy load in parallel is super messy and difficult.
Also using an in-wall dimmer as mentioned before didn’t work due to the size of my switch box (so tight), so it didn’t fit inside
I guess i’m stuck for now with no concrete solution.
Even the smart bulbs will not work because if i put the cables to always ON mode (to be able to control the bulb) the bathroom fan works after 5 minutes automatically (the cable to the light is connected somewhere inside the wall), and this will mean the fan will be running all the time in order to make the bulb connected.
Hi All
Take a look at this tread.
These work, and are certified:
Hello!
These look nice, but, how do you connect them to OpenHAB? Do you have to flash firmware, or they already have MQTT or something similar?
Best regards,
Davor
Normaly you would have to flash them to custom firmware to have the mqtt option.
I have for one of my lamps a similar issue. I placed a sonoff direcly at the lamp and control it via wlan. The physical switches are battery powered and on/off is controlled from OH now.
For battery switches, there are plenty of options, also instead of a sonoff, you could basically use any smart switch.
Apparently you can connect a sonoff with no neutral but you’ll need a bit of extra hardware:
http://support.iteadstudio.com/support/discussions/topics/11000016944
I faced the same challenge in my 1950 home and the glass-touch-panel switches mentioned above have worked beautifully for me. Actually, there are several other brand names on Amazon with the same technology (I guess this is an example of China’s lax/non-existent patent laws?), and I have both Funry and Livolo brand RF wall switches in my home and they work beautifully, with Alexa/Google/and with OpenHAB via IFTTT, or I imagine the Broadlink RM Pro once I can figure out the best way to get that working with OpenHAB (I’m brand new to OpenHAB). No neutral required at all. Look very nice once installed. I’ve had no issues.
But yes, for these devices you need an RF transmitter/receiver aka “hub.” I have the Hook Home Automation hub (less than $50) and also the Broadlink RM Pro (you can find them for $25 online). There are pros and cons to both. I like the Hook very much, however it only works on 315 MHz RF signals, while the RM Pro will work with 315 and 433 MHz devices. The hook uses a cloud-based portal and can connect directly with IFTTT via webhooks/HTTP requests. A big plus for the Hook however, is that you can not only transmit RF signals out to control your devices, but the hub is also able to function as an always listening RF receiver, which can also then trigger actions. You can then use any number of RF remote controls/switches/doorbells as buttons to trigger your devices/anything else you want to connect and trigger. I don’t understand why the RM Pro can’t also do this, but have found very little online about it. More bad news for Hook: the company was started by a group of young engineers in graduate school, and for the past few months, it has appeared that perhaps they are giving up on their startup and are moving on to new endeavors. The devices are still on Amazon, but are not available for sale. 
You might be able to find a used one somewhere. I’m reallllllly hoping the cloud service doesn’t just vanish one day soon :’-(.
As for the RM Pro - my god getting it to properly function can be a very painful and frustrating process (the software that comes with it is terrible, though they have made some improvements, basically after being pushed to do so by product owners). It does do the job however. Happy to answer any questions anyone may have or provide more info.
Hi I’ve just ordered a load of Livolo Zigbee light switches. I’m promised they work with just the two wires (no neutral) but my concern now is that the light inside the switch (the red then blue one) won’t work without the neutral. That could be a problem for us since my wife is partially sighted. Can you confirm that the operating on and off light inside the switch works inside the livolo zigbee without the neutral. Cheers.
I use lightwaverf switches , they don’t use a neutral
Hi Mohamed,
I am new here and I just wanted to ask you, were you able to sort out which switches are the best? what was your solution/choice for a switch without neutral?
I ended up using Fibaro dimmers with dimmer resistance… i don’t like it as it is expensive but it was for only one room, so i can live with it 
