Lighting control is the most basic and core application in smart homes, and there are various solutions for lighting control, such as smart switches, smart light bulbs, smart relays, etc. Today, this article will focus on various solutions. Analysis, whether it is a new house, an old house or a rental house, you can find a solution that suits you!
Table of contents
Smart switch: the best choice for new decoration
As the name suggests, it replaces ordinary traditional switches with smart switches. If it is a new decoration or you want an ultimate solution, then choose this!
advantage
- Compatible with traditional usage habits: Without changing the traditional "manual" pressing of the switch, you can enjoy the various advantages of smart control at the same time. Manual when you want to do it manually, voice control when you want to control by voice, and operate by mobile phone when you want to operate it. Of course, it can also be automatically linked. , Situation control, especially suitable for families with elders, children or friends who often visit. You don’t have to worry about relatives and friends not knowing how to turn on and off the lights.
- Easy to repair: There is no need to climb a ladder to change a smart light bulb, and there is no need to complicatedly replace the relay module buried in the circuit. If the switch is broken, just replace the switch.
shortcoming
- Initial construction costs are higher: The price of smart switches is about 2 to 5 times that of traditional switches, and requires a larger budget for initial construction.
- (Recommendation) A neutral line is required: The neutral line is also called the neutral line. It is recommended to use the neutral line with the smart switch solution, which can reduce the loss of lamps and extend the life of the switch itself. This may also be another budget expense (of course, if the project itself already has Configuration is the best).
Style selection
Usually divided into zero live wire models and single live wire models:
- (Strongly recommended) Zero Fire Wire Model: The difference from the traditional switch is that in addition to the live wire and light wire (also called the load line), it also needs to be connected to the neutral line (also called the neutral line). The purpose is to provide stable power supply (minimum amount) to the switch itself so that the switch can Maintain communication connection (whether WiFi, Zigbee) or other communication methods.
- Single fire wire model: The single live wire model can directly replace the traditional switch. It doesn’t matter if there is no neutral wire. However, in order for the switch to maintain the communication connection, a trace amount of electricity will still be energized through the live wire and lamp wire when the light is turned off. However, such trace energization is not necessarily Stable, there may be several problems:
- Prolonged trace amounts of electricity may shorten the life of the lamp:
I have personal experience with this. I changed the light bulbs 3 times in 3 months after replacing the wiring and light fixtures with single flame switches in my old apartment. - Lower wattage bulbs may flicker.
- Prolonged trace amounts of electricity may shorten the life of the lamp:
Product recommendations
Aqara Smart Light Switch
Aqara smart switch zero-fire version/single-button Taiwan specification adapter-free box needs to be paired with a gateway to support HomeKit and Google [original stock]
s.shopee.tw
- Recommendation index: ★★★★☆
- Price Index: ★★★★★
- Introduction:
- Aqara is called "green rice" in China and can be used with Google Home, Homekit, and Home Assistant.
- The simple appearance is an advantage, but it also has a shortcoming: it only has white buttons (the decorated version can be matched with other brands).
- When multiple loops are under centralized control, they can only be placed side by side, which is a bit unsightly.
LUTRON smart switch
- Recommendation index: ★★★☆☆
- Price Index: ★★★☆☆
- Introduction:
- Lutron is a well-known smart home brand in the United States with a complete product line. If you want to use the same brand of devices for your whole family, you can consider this company.
- It has its own network environment, which is not the common connection protocol on the market such as Zigbee, zWave, etc., so if you want to use Lutron, you need to use Lutron's own gateway, and then connect to Homekit, Google Home or Home Assistant.
- The appearance is very personal. Ashan doesn’t like it, but I quite like it.
Vizo smart switch
- Recommendation index: ★★★★☆
- Price Index: ★★★☆☆
- Introduction:
- Among a few Taiwanese brands, the Zigbee model is compatible with Zigbee2MQTT and is very suitable for Home Assistant. It can also be connected to HomeKit & Google Home with a gateway.
- The simple appearance also conforms to traditional switch habits, so it is familiar to family and friends.
- It's a pity that the price is a bit high, but for the appearance, I can do it.
Smart light bulb: smart home introductory experience, painless solution for short-term rental
The smart light bulb solution can be said to be a blessing for renters. When the switch and original circuit cannot be changed, smart light bulbs are the next best option.
advantage
- No need to change switches or existing circuits.
- Maintenance is extremely easy, just remove the bulb and replace it if it breaks.
shortcoming
- The original switch cannot be turned off. If you turn off the light bulb, it will lose power and lose control.
- Because it is broken and needs to be replaced as a whole, two problems arise:
- The long-term conversion cost is higher.
- Each replacement needs to be treated as a new device and connected to the smart hub, and the relevant automation settings must be reset.
Product recommendations
Philips series
🔥24H✨Large quantity discount✨Philips WiZ WiFi smart full-color light bulb 8W/13W smart lighting/smart light bulb/smart home/Philips
s.shopee.tw
- Recommendation index: ★★★☆☆
- Price Index: ★★☆☆☆
- Introduction:
- Philips smart light bulbs have been around for many years and are considered a very trustworthy brand.
- The price is moderate to expensive, making it the easiest option to get started with.
- The Wiz series is cheaper than the Hue series, but the Wiz series does not support Homekit. The Hue series needs to be paired with a gateway (hub). If you want to choose one, please compare in detail which series is more suitable!
Yeelight
- Recommendation index: ★★★☆☆
- Price Index: ★★★☆☆
- Introduction:
- Yeelight is also a well-known brand of smart lighting. Just like the brand name, its products focus on the "Light" field, including various ceiling lamps, bulbs, light panels, light strips, etc.
- However, because Yeelight only focuses on lighting, you should pay attention to whether it is compatible with the selected smart center when using it. For information on choosing a smart center, please refer to:
What is a smart home? How to start a smart home? Three essential elements for a smart home. The degree of laziness determines the degree of intelligence of the home🤣 – Smart Home EP 1
neiltw.com
Smart relay: hidden in the circuit, switches and lamps do not need to be changed
If you don’t want to use smart switches or smart lights, then smart relays may be a suitable choice.
advantage
- You can use any switches and light fixtures you want.
- Smart relay is the cheapest of the three light control solutions mentioned in this article. The price of a smart relay is approximately between NTD$300~1,000.
shortcoming
- Existing wiring or electrical boxes need space to be installed, and electrical boxes or switch embedded boxes in old apartments may not necessarily have enough space.
- The installation location directly affects the difficulty of maintenance and replacement. It is recommended to install them uniformly in the electrical box and avoid installing them in the switch embedded box or the ceiling.
productrecommend
- Recommendation index: ★★☆☆☆
- Price Index: ★★★★☆
- Introduction:
- There are many brands making smart relays. The key point of selection is to choose the connection method (WiFi, Zigbee...etc.). You can refer to this part:
What is a smart home? How to start a smart home? Three essential elements for a smart home. The degree of laziness determines the degree of intelligence of the home🤣 – Smart Home EP 1
neiltw.com
Take away
If it is a new decoration or you want to have a long-lasting approach, then give priority to "smart switches".
If you rent an apartment or it is difficult to change the wiring, you can consider "smart light bulbs".
If you want to use traditional switches and light bulbs and pursue the ultimate "cheapness", you can consider "smart relays".
Each of the three different approaches has advantages and disadvantages, but there is always one that works for you! Please choose according to your own needs!
This time I will try Amazon affiliate. If you don’t mind, just buy from the products I recommend! During the process of selecting products, I also found that purchasing from Amazon may not necessarily be more expensive than buying in Taiwan. Some of the same products are even cheaper than in Taiwan. I hope this helps everyone!
Hi Neil, I’m sorry to ask again. Regarding the Vizo zero-fire version of the smart switch, I know that it can be connected to the Z2M gateway to connect to HA, but I have a question. The final installation step on the official website is to log in to the APP to enable "multi-control association", but I Since the official Zigbee gateway from Vizo has been abandoned, how can it be possible to use the Vizo APP to complete this step? Or does HA actually have corresponding functions that can be enabled? Thank you for your enthusiastic sharing m(_ _)m.
Hi Neil, I can ask you about your experience in terms of ease of access to HA and daily use of Vizo zigbee Zero Fire or Wifi version, which one is more stable?
We are planning to decorate a 32-square-meter house. HA and Zigbee dongles will be placed in the center of the home. Wifi will be used throughout the whole house using AC AP solutions (for the time being, unifi is selected. The signal and stability should be very high, especially 2.4G for IOT).
Under this premise, will wifi be more stable than zigbee?
Hi Martin,
Depending on your configuration, WiFi will be quite stable. You will hardly feel the difference in stability when using Zigbee or WiFi; but I will still choose Zigbee because I am a bit of a device freak (obviously not in life🤣), smart home If the device is mainly Zigbee, you will not see a bunch of smart home devices on the WiFi router device list.
Hi Neil,
I would like to ask whether [smart switch] and [smart light bulb] are mutually exclusive in nature?
It has been confirmed that [smart switches] + [traditional light bulbs] will be used in the home, but because Taizu hopes that the lamps can adjust the color temperature,
I rarely hear in-depth discussions in this area on the Internet. I would like to hear your professional suggestions. Thank you^_^
Hi Aaron,
This problem will be a bit more complicated, and it depends on how you plan to implement it:
We are currently in the early stages of decoration discussions. The original plan is to have smart switches and lamps.
1. Smart switch [Vizo Zigbee Zero Fire Edition] + [Z2M] + [HA]
– Traditional switches can continue to be pressed
– HA has situational automation, voice assistant and other methods to control the switch on/off
2. Smart lamps [Xiaomi bulb] + [WiFi] + [HA]
– The restricted switch here must be ON before the color temperature can be further changed through WiFi. After power is turned on, the delay in starting the WiFi module in the light bulb should also be a risk?
The third point you mentioned: [The electric box directly supplies power to the circuit at all times (without going through the switch)] makes me a little bit confused...
In this case, is there any connection between the wireless switch on the wall and the light bulb itself? Because the electric box directly supplies stable power to the light bulb,
What is the function of the switch? I haven’t studied wireless switches yet. Can you give me some recommendations for related products?
Thank you very much for your reply m(_ _)m
Hi Aaron,
2. You are right. Even if it is a compromise, I am currently doing this myself, but I usually do not have the need to adjust the color temperature, so there is no problem with daily use.
3. The switch directly controls the switch of the smart lamp, but does not affect the power supply (because the electric box directly supplies power to the lamp at all times). In fact, [Vizo Zigbee zero fire version] is enough. The switch is installed on the wall and connected to the live wire and neutral wire. , set the control lamp in HA
If you use a Vizo switch to connect to HA, do you still need to purchase a Vizo gateway if you want it to be controlled by homekit?
Hi Eric,
Does your Vizo access HA through Z2M?
If you have already connected to HA, you do not need to use the Vizo gateway. You can refer to this article for the setting method:
https://neiltw.com/how-to-integrate-devices-to-homekit-by-homekit-bridge-in-home-assistant/
Hi,Neil
First of all, thank you for your hard work in organizing. Thank you so much for your hard work in teaching!!!
The question I want to ask is
I couldn’t find vizo’s zigbee switch in the supported devices on the z2m official website.
At this time, does he need to write a program in the background to access z2m?
Or can I access it after installing z2m and following your instructions?
Hi Timmy, after Vizo is connected to Z2M, the vendor display is "TuYa". Please refer to the screenshot below after I connected it:
Hi Neil, thank you for sharing so much information. I would like to ask if there will be videos with more technical details, such as which combinations of equipment are used for each function in the introduction, and what additional things need to be found in water and electricity compared with general switches (switches are multi-purpose) Neutral wire, reserved live wire on the ceiling, etc.), as well as recommended locations for equipment placement (in switches, electrical boxes, ceilings, cabinets...), so that the audience can avoid detours, thank you!!
Hi Bruce, it just so happens that we have just started filming, so it’s hot~
https://youtu.be/T0PcHKK9fCg
Thanks for the reply Neil, I have watched the video and have some questions for you!
What is currently known in engineering is that there are two methods that require additional adjustments:
(1) Switch pulls the neutral wire (2) Reserves the live wire on the ceiling
If it is like a vizo switch, it is recommended to buy a zero-fire version & ask a plumber to help adjust it during decoration. (1) Is it correct to pull the neutral wire of the switch?
(2) Have you used the reserved live wires on the ceiling? Thank you!
Hi Bruce,
I didn’t reserve live wires on the ceiling, and I’m not sure what the purpose is.
As far as the switch is concerned, the switch is mostly connected to the neutral wire.
Hi Bruce,
I think of some situations where I would like to leave live wires on the ceiling. If I want to embed monitors, smoke detection, and human presence sensors, I think they will be used. If you haven’t figured out how to use them yet, it will be more convenient to use them in the future if you leave them.
Hi Neil, I have recently seen other people share and mentioned leaving live wires on the ceiling. It seems that they are using traditional switches to install additional controllers on lamps/switches, instead of using smart switches. To be on the safe side, please ask the water and electricity department when decorating in the future. It has been reserved to accommodate different devices in the future. Thanks for your reply!
Hi~Hello Brother Neil,
I have some questions about smart switches and smart relays that I don’t understand~
We haven't started decorating yet. It means that if the smart switch is broken, the switch must be replaced. If the smart circuit is broken, should the circuit be replaced? Or will there be any problems?
Also, I would like to ask which other brands make circuit devices? I only found aquara (that module should be?!)
Haha, although the switch on vizo is really beautiful!!! But the budget is limited QQ
Or you can first pull the neutral line and use a smart circuit device, and then change it to a smart switch later?!
Hi Claire,
If the switch is broken, replace the switch. If the relay is broken, replace the relay. As long as the wires are connected correctly, there will be no problem. Don’t worry😂
The brands that I am impressed by include Aqara and Shelly
It’s okay to use the relay first and then replace the switch 👍
Wow~ I received a reply so quickly!!! (Moved~)
Thank you very much!!! Your article is really informative. I finally understand who is who. I can look back at the implementation of Shumei Pie later if I think about my living habits (sprinkle flowers~~)
Hi,Neil
First of all, thank you for your hard work in organizing. Thank you so much for your hard work in teaching!!!
The question I want to ask is
I couldn’t find vizo’s zigbee switch in the supported devices on the z2m official website.
At this time, does he need to write a program in the background to access z2m?
Or can I access it after installing z2m and following your instructions?
Does the vizo switch have double press and decouple functions?
If what you mean by double-pressing means double-cutting, Vizo has it. You can refer to the introduction on their official website.
decouple I don't know, what is the effect you want to achieve?
Hi Niel, I would like to ask about smart switches. If some lights are to be dimmed, do they need to add a 0-10v controller?
Hi Chris, if the lamp itself has a dimming function (such as the Aqara ceiling lamp), there is no need to connect an additional controller. If you are talking about the lamp itself "supporting" dimming, but it does not have a dimming function, then you may need to connect it to the controller. Intermediate indirect dimming controller (as for whether it is 0-10v, it may depend on the requirements of the lamp itself), but you can consider a smart switch with its own dimming function (eg Lutron, but it is not zigbee, which is a pity)
Thanks Neil~ the article is very helpful!
In addition, I would like to ask, if the Matter protocol becomes popular in the future, can I use a certain company's Matter gateway to connect other brands of Matter-related equipment?
I haven’t used a Matter gateway yet, so I’m not sure, but Home Assistant currently supports Matter and it seems that it can be used directly. I’ll give you a reference~ I will also get a Matter device to try it out in the future.
Have you used or recommended smart light strips?
Thanks;)
I didn’t use a smart light strip. I used a smart socket to set up a traditional light strip.
@Neil Understand~ Your configuration is equal to smart switch + smart light bulb?
Because I read on the Internet that someone suggested not to use smart switches + smart light bulbs.
They said they would interfere with each other. I wonder if there is such a thing? :D
It won’t interfere. It’s just that the smart light bulb or other smart device connected behind the smart switch needs the switch to be turned on (with electricity) to operate. However, such a configuration is really not recommended, and our family tries to avoid such a configuration as much as possible.
Hi Neil, if you want to use a smart switch, do you have any suggestions for pre-decoration work? Currently, I understand that the 0 wire can be pulled first for the switch part.
1. If conditions permit, it is best to pull the neutral line (neutral line)
2. Think about the position of the double cut first
3. Decide where the main control terminal of the double-cut is located (the main control terminal must be connected to the fire, light and zero wires, and the non-main control terminal must be connected to the fire and neutral wires)
4. It has nothing to do with whether you are smart or not. In a place with multiple switches, first think about which light each button will control. If you leave it entirely to water and electricity, it may not necessarily be in line with your usage habits.
Thanks Neil for the suggestion, I will continue to follow YT and Blog 😀
Hi~ I would like to ask if the smart switch cannot adjust the brightness and color temperature of the lamp?
@Easy Our living room is equipped with a smart switch and an Aqara ceiling lamp. When the switch is turned on, you can still adjust the brightness and color temperature of the ceiling lamp; but if you want to adjust the brightness from the switch (the bulb itself must support brightness adjustment, then you can Consider a dimmer like Lutron: https://a.co/d/0C4512o
I would like to ask if the original ordinary switch needs to be used with a track light or ceiling light after pulling the neutral line. Is it better to replace the switch base with a smart switch and the lights can be installed normally?
Hi Nick,
This is basically true, but if you are not familiar with it, it is recommended to look for plumbing installation!