Smart Switching for the home.

[Nigel]

Any recommendations on smart switching for the home? Would like it Alexa compatible.

 

[ian.]

Sonoff devices are quite good and very cheap, work with Alexa and IFTTT

 

[Leesparkykent]

Rako. It’s not cheap though once you start buying rak 4’s, switches, bridge and cloud gateway. I’ve done about 5 houses with Rako lighting and blind controls. I never bothered with the course as it’s self explanatory when it comes to wiring and connecting it all up . I then pay Rako 200 odd quid for half a day to come out and program it all. I obviously just include the cost of the programming in the job. Once it’s set up it’s easy to make any changes to scenes etc via the app. I get their engineer to email me the file so if there are any significant changes that need doing I just send their engineer the file and he can can connect remotely via the bridge and carry out any changes.

 

[Nigel]

Rako. It’s not cheap though once you start buying rak 4’s, switches, bridge and cloud gateway. I’ve done about 5 houses with Rako lighting and blind controls. I never bothered with the course as it’s self explanatory when it comes to wiring and connecting it all up . I then pay Rako 200 odd quid for half a day to come out and program it all. I obviously just include the cost of the programming in the job. Once it’s set up it’s easy to make any changes to scenes etc via the app. I get their engineer to email me the file so if there are any significant changes that need doing I just send their engineer the file and he can can connect remotely via the bridge and carry out any changes.

Had a look at their website. Seems really overly complicated no? Also I am always worried with these bespoke manufacturers about what happens if they fold?

 

[Leesparkykent]

Had a look at their website. Seems really overly complicated no? Also I am always worried with these bespoke manufacturers about what happens if they fold?

No it’s not really overly complicated. The hardest part is getting your head around that you are setting scenes....For it to work you really need multiple zones of lighting. For example I think I’ve got a 10 button switch, up and down for blinds, all off and 7 lighting scenes in a open plan kitchen/diner/living room. It would be pointless having it if you only had a pendant on it. So I can hit one of the scene buttons, the blinds come down and all the lights come on at 50%, another one where just the under cupboard, roof lantern Led strip and 5A sockets come on. The easiest way to think about it I suppose would be to set different scenes like cleaning, movie, entertaining, dinner, evening, cooking etc. If it wasn’t done like this then I would have to have a bank of dimmers and adjust everyone every time they were switched on. You can tell Alexa to select different scenes....I know what you mean about bespoke manufactures but in reality that’s what they all are Lutron, crestron, loxone, control4 etc.

IMO Lutron is behind the times when it comes to LED, crestron is for multi millionaires, loxone is good but they take the pee out of installers, control 4 is rubbish...So Rako gets my vote, plus they are based in Rochester This video might explain it better about the scenes.

Wiring is simple take each zone of lighting back to a central point like a mains cupboard where you can fit the rak 4’s in, run a cat5/6 out and loop in and out at each switch position, chuck another couple of Cat 5/6 in from this cupboard to router position, 4 zones of lighting per rack, 1 x 10A feed per rack 4 from the board.

Connection wise the raks are linked by an Ethernet cable and you punch down the cat 5/6 on to one of the raks, the bridge plugs into the rak and the cloud gateway plugs into the bridge.

 

[Nigel]

Sorry I should have said. This is for my house. Which I do not want to rewire so a wireless option is what I am after if possible.

 

[Squid]

No it’s not really overly complicated. The hardest part is getting your head around that you are setting scenes....For it to work you really need multiple zones of lighting. For example I think I’ve got a 10 button switch, up and down for blinds, all off and 7 lighting scenes in a open plan kitchen/diner/living room. It would be pointless having it if you only had a pendant on it. So I can hit one of the scene buttons, the blinds come down and all the lights come on at 50%, another one where just the under cupboard, roof lantern Led strip and 5A sockets come on. The easiest way to think about it I suppose would be to set different scenes like cleaning, movie, entertaining, dinner, evening, cooking etc. If it wasn’t done like this then I would have to have a bank of dimmers and adjust everyone every time they were switched on. You can tell Alexa to select different scenes....I know what you mean about bespoke manufactures but in reality that’s what they all are Lutron, crestron, loxone, control4 etc.

IMO Lutron is behind the times when it comes to LED, crestron is for multi millionaires, loxone is good but they take the pee out of installers, control 4 is rubbish...So Rako gets my vote, plus they are based in Rochester This video might explain it better about the scenes.

Wiring is simple take each zone of lighting back to a central point like a mains cupboard where you can fit the rak 4’s in, run a cat5/6 out and loop in and out at each switch position, chuck another couple of Cat 5/6 in from this cupboard to router position, 4 zones of lighting per rack, 1 x 10A feed per rack 4 from the board.

Connection wise the raks are linked by an Ethernet cable and you punch down the cat 5/6 on to one of the raks, the bridge plugs into the rak and the cloud gateway plugs into the bridge.

Crestron is good stuff, used to have to support it in various offices.

 

[Midwest]

A simple but expensive option is Philips Hue.

What are you doing exactly, i.e what sort of luminaries, what rooms?

 

[Nigel]

In a nutshell I would like to change my normal switches for smart dimmable switches. Lights will be a mixture of the lighting you usually find in a home.

MiHome seems to be ok. You can add sockets to it also for table lamps etc.

 

[ferg]

I think your best bet here would be to get a part P qualified electrician in to look at it for you.

The tanning booth lighting is probably notifiable too.

 

[Squid]

You also have Lightwave, but don't you need a Neutral at the switch to help power it all, I think its been mentioned in the past but I have never looked in to it.

I just trained the girlfriend with a few commands, worked for about 15 minutes then the novelty wore off and now I have to do it manually.......

 

[Midwest]

I would also agree ^^^ about consideration of the Lightwave stuff. Never used it myself, but seen it recommended by some on other forums.

Was gonna give SWD a agree or like, but didn't want to get involved up with misogynist sexist remarks

 

[Squid]

I would also agree ^^^ about consideration of the Lightwave stuff. Never used it myself, but seen it recommended by some on other forums.

Was gonna give SWD a agree or like, but didn't want to get involved up with misogynist sexist remarks

She just kicked me in the ghoulies and told me Foxtrot Oscar.......

 

[plugsandsparks]

FWIW, i have used Lightwave for small projects, very simple very cheap, does the basics.
However for those who are concerned about Rako, Lutron, Creston, Control4 and the like being proprietory, i get it, and thats why on a monster home automation project i am currently doing, its KNX.
I am a KNX installer, its not casual but the solution has solved every problem so far. I have the following dimming protocols , DALI, DMX, Phase, RGBW and i have used products from Gira, BES, MGT and ABB. All the big boy suppliers are KNX compliant so i have UFH controllers, a massive choice of switches, presence detectors, binary inputs for alarm status, garage door status, alarms from MHVR system, pool controller, GSHP controller. Other aspects are gate control , door entry and CCTV with touch panels, all beautiful stuff. I think i will have spread the stuff over 6 suppliers. I can operate and control stuff with multi menu light switches, simple light switches, touch panels, Ipads, Iphones, Alexa - Its the ultimate and cheaper than some of competition since i can flip between manufacturers if their product is a bit quirky or expensive, Oh Schneider have just gone large in this sector as well.......

 

[Silly Sausage]

She just kicked me in the ghoulies and told me Foxtrot Oscar.......

Clearly not the first time by any stretch of the imagination.
I get your gender neutral status now

 

[Midwest]

I started reading plugs post, but got winded in the goulies. Perhps tomorrow.

 

[Chris1234]

I’ve had SmartThings for just over a month.
Supposedly it’s made by Samsung, but there is no mention of them anywhere on the box or instructions.
I’ve not managed to get any Z-Wave devices to work with it so far. So currently it’s a white box on top of my Sky box that doesn’t do anything.
There are two different apps to use, the new one doesn’t support much and the old one doesn’t work much either.

 

[Squid]

For my outdoor lights I used Quinetic from TLC which is app based haven't tried it with Alexa (just check it does) but did have a Smart Plug top to turn on the Christmas tree lights,

Quinetic - https://www.quinetic.co.uk

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B075F33Q78/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1