Remote light switch - what's the options these days

[couch67]

Hi there, looking at a new spring project to replace a few old light switches that control lighting to the front driveway light and back deck outlet (mainly for christmas lights), as a start. These are currently X10 which are ancient, but they do work. I've been eyeing HomeSeer, which will help me incorporate a number of other things around the house. It has support for many different lighting technologies.

Looking online, z-wave still seems to be the dominant market. There's some zigbee stuff too, and also ethernet-enabled switches. I'm leaning towards the z-wave because of its solid track record (at least what I can tell) - but what does Garage Journal use?

 

[flyt100]

I use z-wave for most of mine, has been pretty solid...

 

[brianpgriset]

Z-wave is the way to go. I have Hubitat with Inovelli switches all around my house and love the them. The form factor is great are they are packed with options.

 

[dogdog]

Wifi...

Costoc sells pack of 2 Feit ones 3 way capable wall switch/dimmer or individual switch/dimmer $30... and the plugin for $25 pack of 3.. can't beat that.

The app is better than POS Wemo.

 

[rabakoe]

Z-wave or ZigBee for sure. I stay away from WiFi for a few reasons. Security concerns, instantaneous local control, congested WiFi network, etc.

If you're thinking Z-Wave, take a hard look at Inovelli switches, red series. The sky is the limit when paired with a robust home automation system like Home Assistant. Very nice product, and they are releasing ZigBee switches (blue series) this year as well.

I like Z-wave because they just work well with other z-wave devices. Manufacturers can be a little loosey-goosey with how they implement the ZigBee standards and you might have to take a few extra steps to get ZigBee devices to play nice with each other. They also don't share the same frequencies as WiFi like ZigBee does. This may not a concern if you have some distance between neighbors.

That said, if you're diving into other smart home technologies like smart bulbs, ZigBee starts looking nice. Price is better, and virtually all smart bulbs are ZigBee (or WiFi. Very few Z wave bulbs out there.) Add a couple smart bulbs or smart plugs and you have the backbone for a solid ZigBee mesh network throughout the house.

 

[macdabs]

I have three structures Two homes and a shop all in a two acre area . Have various switches and outlets using Lutron . I’m using multiple routers and my actual network is 10 miles away that I microwave in . No problems and very little bandwidth is used.
mac

 

[Metal-Marc]

I have Hue and SmartThings which use both Z-Wave and Zigbee. It works great.

 

[infinkc]

Wifi...

Costoc sells pack of 2 Feit ones 3 way capable wall switch/dimmer or individual switch/dimmer $30... and the plugin for $25 pack of 3.. can't beat that.

The app is better than POS Wemo.

Have to disagree. Wifi switches are only as reliable as your connection. If your internet goes out your lights won’t turn if you have them on a schedule.

they may be cheap and work, but if you plan to do your whole home automated there are better options.

i am using insteon switched controlled by a Universal devices controller so it’s all standalone within the home and doesn’t rely on the network.

 

[justsam]

Seems like a bit of a spread in terms of wanting to control a few Christmas lights, to implementing HomeSeer.

Like you I have been at this game since X10, and we may be among the few who even recognize it. Today I use Z-Wave and some WiFi. Home security and lighting related to it is Z-Wave and cellular based, no WiFi/Internet. Lower security or convenience type devices use WiFi/Internet. Much of it is voice controlled via Echo.

It has been delayed in the past, but you might want to consider waiting for more of the "Matter/Thread" devices to appear on the market. All the big player will be supporting this but will no doubt have a ZigBee slant to it.

I have had good luck with Leviton Z-Wave in spite of them being late to the party. They also have both Z-Wave and WiFi switches.

https://www.the-ambient.com/guides/matter-smart-home-explainer-guide-2676

 

[dogdog]

Have to disagree. Wifi switches are only as reliable as your connection. If your internet goes out your lights won’t turn if you have them on a schedule.

they may be cheap and work, but if you plan to do your whole home automated there are better options.

i am using insteon switched controlled by a Universal devices controller so it’s all standalone within the home and doesn’t rely on the network.

That is totally untrue and a misconception of how these switch works. I can't say for all wifi switches... for the two brand (wemo, Costco Feit) that I bought and used. Both incidents where internet connection was weak or limited to no connections, the scheduled on/off event functions fine, I just can't control it with the app. The switches will still physically work and the timer piece will continue to run on the schedule, without daylight saving.

What is true is that if you need the remote app and your Siri/google/Amazon to work and program the schedule, it needs internet access.

The 10 year old wemo switch I have, it's function as a scheduled timer on/off fine with or without internet once programmed. Just crappy app and incompetent support. , it is a crappy app with crappy functions made by crappy people (cisco third party I think) , but already bought into 4 of the switches... The Feit app is much better and responsive. and allows to organizes and grouping them... each of the brand still have their cork and kinks to setup. So if you are a frustrated old person that is tech challenged... probably not for you.

 

[Git]

Z-wave with Homeseer. Actually Homeseer is having a sale this weekend. $80 is pretty reasonable. Don't forget the Z-Wave is a mesh network - the more hardwired devices you have the better the system works. You need a gateway, like the Aeotec Z stick, the software and something to run it on 24/7. I have a number of devices from different brands - GE, Jasco, Intermatic, Aeotec, Zooz, etc, It it is Z-wave they all meet the same standard and will work

HomeSeer HS4 Smart Home Software

HS4 is an advanced smart home automation software that's designed to work a wide range of smart home products and technologies. Use to remotely and automatically control smart switches, thermostats, door locks, security systems, audio-video equipment, irrigation systems, garage doors, sensors...

shop.homeseer.com

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X0AWA6E/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[couch67]

Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated. Sounds like z-wave is the way to go. Git, thanks for the heads up on the HS4 sale. I had bought it about a month ago (there was a February sale). I have it integrated with a few other devices like my ecobee T-stat. Now to get a few switches and try them out!

 

[Git]

Zooz makes some pretty cool devices and here is a link to some on sale. (Actually I have found that there 700 series dimmers works quite well with my wafer led lights. )

https://www.thesmartesthouse.com/collections/zooz

 

[couch67]

Zooz makes some pretty cool devices and here is a link to some on sale. (Actually I have found that there 700 series dimmers works quite well with my wafer led lights. )

https://www.thesmartesthouse.com/collections/zooz

Thanks for the link - unfortunately they don't ship to Canada, BUT they had a link to their partner in Canada, who are in the same city as me! Hadn't heard of them before. https://shophometechsolution.org/

 

[Shiftless]

I’m definitely old school, but to control outside security and landscape lighting I use a simple timer. Same for Christmas lights. I set the on and off times once when I put up the Xmas lights and that’s it. For the landscape/security lights I adjust the timer a couple of times per year to accommodate different lengths of darkness. I could use photocell for that, I know.
Except for the cool factor, is there a specific reason you need to have such complicated and expensive controllers for lights? Please pardon my ignorance.

 

[couch67]

Good question, Shiftless. There are definitely cheaper and perhaps simpler ways to skin this cat. I still have a few Intermatic mechanical timers that have been used for outdoor Christmas lights, and a box full of x10 modules collected over the years. I guess you could say home automation and monitoring has always been a hobby of mine.

What I like about the setup is that it is flexible, you can create rules. So for the driveway lights for instance, I would want them to turn on at dusk, and turn off at 11pm. Easy enough with a photocell and cheap switch timer (which is what I have now), but the photocell had failed last year at some point so its 'always on', and the timer requires numerous yearly adjustments to keep the time sync'ed, and to adjust the 'on' time like you do. With a Z-wave switch and home automation software, its very easy to set up this rule, and you never have to fuss with it. And you can create additional rules- so if the front camera detects motion, turn on the lights (if it was past 11pm).

I'm not planning to automate every light switch in the house - I too don't see the need for that. But there's a handful of lights and outlets I'd like to configure, to start with.

 

[Git]

I guess you could say home automation and monitoring has always been a hobby of mine.

That is how I got started also. First big improvement was the ability to remotely turn on the recirc pump for our water heater and it just grew from there. Out door lights that are set to turn on X amount of minutes after and dusk and then off at a certain time. Helps with security - power to the garage door openers get turned off every night and then back on every morning. Water leak detection system - if one of the sensors detects a leak, the main water valve to the house gets shut off. We probably have about 25 lights/dimmers controlled by z wave that are voice activated, as well as a couple z-wave CO/Smoke Detector. If the detector goes off - all the interior and exterior lights will come on, alerting us to a problem and making it easier for responding emergency crews to locate our house in the middle of the night (it's the house with all the lights on). We have 4 of those 'Quiet Cool' fans that are programmed to turn off or on depending on the outside temperature. I even have a mouse trap (electric zapper type) that I used up in our attic where access is difficult. It will alert me when it goes off and also sends me an email. (Before I got it there were a couple of times a dead mouse had been trapped for a little too long). The front door lock will automatically lock a couple of minutes after it was unlocked but the system is smart enough to detect if the door was open again to restart the lock sequence again. The list goes on...

For me, it's kind of like security cams. We got the first one to keep an eyes on the place when we were gone and it has grown from there to about 14 cams (hobby stuff)

 

[Metal-Marc]

I’m definitely old school, but to control outside security and landscape lighting I use a simple timer. Same for Christmas lights. I set the on and off times once when I put up the Xmas lights and that’s it. For the landscape/security lights I adjust the timer a couple of times per year to accommodate different lengths of darkness. I could use photocell for that, I know.
Except for the cool factor, is there a specific reason you need to have such complicated and expensive controllers for lights? Please pardon my ignorance.

You use smart lights/outlets/locks because of the flexibility and the endless possibilities of automating tasks.

You might still have an old rotary dial phone on your kitchen wall and still be able to make phone calls. Or get up from your couch to change the tv channel.

How much technology do you want to use on your daily life?

 

[ycgoat]

I am considering https://www.altechcorp.com/SmartRelay/ , for my garage lights.

 

[couch67]

Received two of the Zooz 700 series switches and z-wave hub today! Will get to try them out on the weekend...

 

[couch67]

Got one of the switches installed this week (controls the driveway light post). Adding the Zooz controller to HomeSeer was pretty straightforward. Getting the controller to recognize the switch was another story. Put the switch into 'inclusion' mode, but the controller failed to recognize the switch and would time out. It was only after running an 'Exclusion' on the switch, then do an inclusion, success! Thought maybe I did something wrong with initial setup, but after repeating the setup with my second switch, I had to go through the same process for the switch to be adopted. Something for me to remember for next time.

Set up HomeSeer with a few events to turn light on at dusk, and off at 11pm. So far so good! Next thing will be figure out where to best use the second switch, and to start integrating my cameras into HomeSeer....

 

[NHDave]

I used X10 for years as well, when we moved into our new place it started getting flakey after a while. I searched for a while to find something that would give me timers for on at dusk and any off time I wanted, plus smart phone control but no loss of local control if the internet went out. I eventually went with Lutron Caseta and love them. For some they may not be DIY as you replace switches but it's not that hard. Also have them on our 2 ceiling fans. I can have them bedroom fan turn off during the night if the temp is going to drop during warm weather (I get cold after I fall asleep). You can also control them with little hand held remotes.