Looking for recommendations for low-cost & reliable smart dimmer switches.
Having to replace my dying insteon switches. Originally purchased for ~$20 but last time I checked they were more than double that price before they closed up shop.
Amazon has a 4 pack of GHome WiFi Smart Dimmer Switch for $65
Can they be used with openHAB without openHAB account or GHome account as I do not require remote access.
Can they/should they be flashed with Tasmota?
Can they be paired so they can be used as a 3-way? (ie 1 light 2 switches)
Can they be used as an on/off switch via setting instant on/off no ramp rate?
Needs to work with HUE emulation so that I can control via Alexa.
Leviton are reliable. $47 in the USA Amazon store
I have 1 ZWave dimmer and 15 Zigbee dimmers and switches. I use a Nortek USBZB01 stick for my Zigbee and ZWave devices.
Leviton WiFi models are NOT compatible with OH.
My old Lutron Caseta dimmers were reliable.
$69 in USA Amazon store.
A Lutron hub is REQUIRED. I had a Casita Hub Pro, recommended over the regular Caseta Hub for simpler setup. (no certificates required)
Lutron Caseta dimmers look kind of goofy if you prefer “Decora” style. Lutron dimmers in the “Decora” style are part of the RadioRA 2 or 3 line and require a RadioRA hub.
RadioRA products are are BREATHTAKINGLY expensive. but very stylish.
The OH Lutron binding directly supports Caseta and RadioRA.
Both of them exhibited goofy dimming when controlled through OH. When going from 0 to 100, light goes immediately to full illumination, then back down to a dim level, then rises back to 100. I just live with it.
I had decided to go with Leviton when I moved into my new house because a Leviton phone support rep said they would have updates for Matter and Lutron is proprietary.
You already bought a TP-Link Kasa, so I’d just stick with those. No flashing necessary and you can deny them Internet access after setting them up.
Any generic switches you find on Amazon are most likely Tuya devices, but newer Tuyas cannot be flashed with Tasmota over WiFi. In my opinion, they’re not worth the trouble unless you enjoy taking them apart to flash Tasmota.
Kasa has 3-way switches, but I don’t know if they have 3-way dimmers.
In the Kasa app, you can set the dimmers to be Instant on/off or fade at three speeds.
As discussed in your other thread, HUE emultation doesn’t care what the device is. It just has to be an item type that works with HUE emulation.
Not a big fan of the switch and still in the return window.
The switch is not a true toggle switch, it is missing LED lights to indicate when it is on and off and apparently is has no way to paired with one or more switches to act as a three way switch. Unlike Insteon switches, Kasa switches are dumb and must be purchased as a 3-way or single poll. Furthermore I have read that to setup and use their dimmer switches you must have a Kasa cloud account.
If true it really limits their usefulness. By code, where I live, rooms must have switches to turn on lights at each entry point. So for example a kitchen with two or more entry points must have two or more switches.
Most smart switches these days are momentary, not toggle. As I see it, this makes more sense when they can be controlled both physically and remotely. Just my opinion, though.
I’m not sure what you mean by “missing LED lights”, as my Kasas all have LEDs. They only light up when the switches are OFF, on the theory that it’s not necessary when the lights are on.
I have a rule that turns the LED in my bedroom switch off at night, so that I won’t be bothered by it when I’m trying to sleep.
Is it really that big a deal to have a TP-Link account that you only use to add and configure devices? So long as your router can block Internet by IP/MAC address, it’s easy to limit them to your local network.
If you’re that anti-cloud, then you might want to consider Tasmota-flashed Sonoffs paired with dumb switches, or go with another wireless technology such as Lutron, Z-Wave or Zigbee. Every WiFi switch I can think of requires a cloud, because the manufacturers don’t expect most people to have their own hubs for local control.
The limiting factor is price. Z-Wave/Zigbee switches tend to be 2-3x the cost of a Kasa switch and require that you also set up controllers. I don’t think there’s anything that offers as much bang for the buck as TP-Link Kasas at this time.
Sonoffs are relatively inexpensive and some folks here swear by them. However, they can be difficult to fit into electrical boxes behind the dumb switches.
Turns out that Kasa does have a 3-way dimmer. Interestingly, it only requires a neutral wire for the main switch.
Where are you located? I’m not doubting you, I’m asking out of curiousity. I’ve only ever heard of 3-way switches being required for staircases, but I’m not an expert on electrical codes.
It’s certainly logical to have switches at entryways, but I’ve always that of that as being more about convenience than code. I can’t think of any houses I’ve lived in where this wasn’t the case.
I understand a bit better what you want now. I didn’t buy them yet but ecodim also sells devices to mount inside electric wall boxes (don’t know right word). They can work together with two physical switches (over here they call it a hotel switch/setup). Limitation these are on/off only. Setting the dimmer level is wireless/zigbee. This is the.connection diagram they supply.
What I should have said is that with the Insteon the top of the switch turns on / increase the light level while the bottom of the switch turns off / lowers the light level. The Kasa switch looks similar but on the bottom part of the switch is functioning. Push the bottom of the switch to turn the light on push it again to turn it off.
The Kasa switch has a faint blue circle in the bottom part of the switch. When the light is turned on it goes off. First the the blue circle is to faint to be useful in daylight lit rooms. For example I installed the switch in my garage, to control the exterior garage door lights, and can barely see that is off unless I am right in front of it. In contract the Insteon switch has a column of LED’s which are bright and can be seen clearly from across the garage day or night. When the light is off the bottom LED is lit when on the top LED is lit and if it was dimmed it would be somewhere in-between.
The states. I unfortunately moved to an area of the country, relatively small in size, were the inspectors love their job just a little too much but somehow favor the builders and trades and not the actual homeowner. It could be they like giving the electrians and other trades more work as it seems everyone is related to each other expect the transplants.
Can’t you tell that the switch is on by virtue of the lights being on?
I don’t mean to make light of your comment. I’m just struggling to come up with routine scenarios when you have to verify the state of the lightswitch by looking at the switch. However, I don’t know your circumstances so I don’t want to make assumptions.
Wouldn’t this be more about the regional government choosing to amend the National Electrical Code? Inspectors can’t force you to have three-way switches at all entrances unless it’s in the local version of the code.
Again though, I don’t think it’s a bad idea to have switches at every entryway. In general, more switches is better than fewer switches.
The Garage Door Lights are outside and they are not in view likewise there are switches in one room that control the lights in an adjacent room. Furthermore I have been spoiled by the feedback my former Insteon switch provided. What do they so you don’t know what you have until its gone.
Ugh The wires are the issue or in my case the lack of wires. I do not have traveler wires going to the lights I need dimmed that are currently using the soon to fail Insteon switch.
The Insteon switches have the ability to be paired / linked together.
I am trying find an example for an openHAB rule/script that would sync the state of a switch when another switch has been changed without creating an infinite loop. Any suggestions?
I hear that. Same as when you buy something and realize that you should have bought the next level up to get a specific feature.
If there aren’t traveler wires, then it can’t be a code requirement.
You’ll only get an infinite loop if you trigger on an item updating. If you trigger on an item change, the rule will repeat itself once, but not again. In RulesDSL, you can use the implicit newState variable to simplify:
when
Item Switch_Front_Door changed or
Item Switch_Main_Lights changed
then
Switch_Front_Door.sendCommand(newState.toString)
Switch_Main_Lights.sendCommand(newState.toString)
end
Working through this:
The Front Door changes to ON
The rule runs and and sends ON commands to both the Front Door and the Main Lights
Since the Main Lights changed state, the rule triggers again
Since neither item changes state, the rule is not triggered a third time.
If you want, you can add if conditions to prevent commands being sent back to the triggering device.
when
Item Switch_Front_Door changed or
Item Switch_Main_Lights changed
then
if (Switch_Front_Door.state != newState) { Switch_Front_Door.sendCommand(newState.toString) }
if (Switch_Main_Lights.state != newState) { Switch_Main_Lights.sendCommand(newState.toString) }
end
This doesn’t change the logic. It just prevents an unnecessary ON command being sent to a switch that is already ON.
The rule I actually use is more complicated, as it also turns on my fireplace lights and some other lights (depending on time of day and light sensors).
I have a couple of shelly 1s and they work great and binding mature, no sonoff here but I’ll give them a try!
They fit in little junction box, they are small and only like $10 - $15usd here in states
I know they have struggled, but I have 127 Insteon dimmers and have been very happy with them controlled by openhab via local hub (no cloud). I have had no issues with them at all, can’t say that about my z-wave switches…
