by ericmark »
Sat Jan 20, 2024 11:02 am
Energenie do a smart switch pair that has a master and slave, so work like two way switches, but I had 5 Energenie light switches, now down to 2, where they have failed, OK some were 5 years old, and not had any other make that long, but they default off, so if a bulb blows they switch off, and any power cut they switch off, Where a smart bulb default is on, so after a power cut they turn on.
I now prefer the TP-Link (Tapo) smart switch, it has a battery in it, should last about 2 years, can be changed without turning off power, switch face plate comes off to renew so no exposed live parts when renewing, and the switch stays as set when bulb blows or there is a power cut, no current is sent through the bulb, so no problems with LED bulbs flashing or shimmering. And the hub only needs power, it does not need connecting with LAN wires to router, it connects wireless.
Because wifi needs a lot of power, and systems like zigbee use far less power, any device which want to use low power will need a hub of some sort, so getting a system which will do all, means less hubs, so one does need to study the systems to decide which suits you, I now have four hubs, which is not ideal, one the original energenie wired, one zigbee, and two TP-Link (one Tapo and one Kasa for TRV) which double as door bells.
I have 8 x 6 watt E14 candle bulbs in living room lamp chandelier, so 8 smart bulbs would be expensive, so have a TP Link smart switch, there is a button which can be used with the switch, I did use it at first in dinning room to switch light from bed when wife had knee done, but found voice commands worked well so used as door bell instead.
But for rooms with less bulbs, smart bulbs are the answer, I leave the switches turned on, but if I do want to turn on light without voice commands, turning switch off/on turns on the lights. I use google Nest Mini's for voice commands.
