3 Gang Light Switch upgrade help
Ask questions and find answers to many subjects relating to electrics and electrical work

3 posts   •   Page 1 of 1
JoeS
Labourer
Labourer
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Jul 14, 2024 3:07 pm

3 Gang Light Switch upgrade help

by JoeS » Sun Jul 14, 2024 3:48 pm

Hello, I’m after some help with a light switch.
I’m trying to switch out a 3 gang light switch. The existing switch is a 2 way switch, but it doesn’t need to be as on conservatory wall powering 3 separate lights.
There are lots of Red wires going all over the place into the L1’s but also COM ports
Would it be possible to wire up a modern switch which has different connections?
See images below.
Many thanks
Attachments
New Switch
New Switch
Old switch
Old switch

Mr White
Project Manager
Project Manager
Posts: 1323
Joined: Tue Jun 20, 2017 10:54 pm

Re: 3 Gang Light Switch upgrade help

by Mr White » Sun Jul 14, 2024 7:49 pm

Hello, you mean can you swap a conventional switch to a smart switch? Unless it was rewired in the last few years, the answer is NO, you can not swap the switches over. 🤨

The main reason is most smart switches require a Neutral (as does yours as denoted by the letter N. on the proposed switch) UK homes lighting is wired using the "3 plate system" this "system" does not allow for a neutral at the switch.

The other thing is that most smart switches require a back box which is 35mm deep, the average back box is only 25mm deep, some are only 16 mm deep. Yes, there are ways round it, but they don't over come the fact there is no Neutral.

All is not lost, you can change your lamps to smart lamps, and control them via an app or voice assistant. It is surprising how bright a single LED lamp can be, and most people will dim them down anyway.

There are a few smart switches that do NOT require a neutral, but these are often proven to be unreliable and troublesome.

ericmark
Project Manager
Project Manager
Posts: 2868
Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2009 9:49 pm
Location: Llanfair Caereinion, Mid Wales.

Re: 3 Gang Light Switch upgrade help

by ericmark » Mon Jul 15, 2024 8:33 am

Looking at your switch, there is one supply to all three switches, with link wires, so you can use a smart switch that uses a single supply, however the smart switches I have used seem to be limited to two gang not three gang.

There are two ways to get a smart switch to work without a neutral, one is to pass a small current through the bulbs, This can cause the bulbs to stay on dim, it can also cause a shimmer on the bulbs, I fitted 5 Energenie light switches, which do not need a neutral, one I had to use a load capacitor on, as lights would not go out completely, and I had to experiment with bulbs, as some makes would not work, three of the switches failed after around 3 years of use, and I moved over to option two, and now fit TP-Link (Tapo) switches, which use a pair of batteries.

Switches which don't use a neutral to keep power use down, use a hub, the power needed to work direct with a router is too high, over the years I have ended up with 4 hubs, one for Energenie, one for ZigBee, and two for TP-link, the latter now only needs one, Kasa (TRV heads) and Tapo now use the same hub, and they double as a doorbell for me.

I have needed to use spacers on some switches, and not all my lighting is controlled by light switches. Varilight seems to have a good name, but never used them. My landing light is controlled with a relay in the light, I have a lot of smart bulbs, And I have been slowly removing smart sockets and replacing them with smart socket adaptors, mainly so if they go wrong, easy to replace.

I also have some strip lights where the smart bit built into the lights.

Consider a power cut, with battery powered light switches, they stay as they were, and you could still switch on or off during a power cut, although you will not know if on or off by looking at them. A non battery switch, will auto switch off, a smart bulb will auto switch on, there are exceptions, but a power cut auto switches on all my outside lights but one, which are all smart bulbs, except one with is a Tapo switch. Has to be Tapo as the lamp has a PIR so does not draw enough current to work any other switch without a neutral.

The different methods to manually switch can be a problem, so we have no terrestrial radio here is Wales, so we got Google Nest Mini's to get radio, and these use voice commands, so are also used to turn lights on/off. The Google Home app is also handy as it works it seems with all makes we are using. Alexa does the same, but costs more.

Smart bulbs can be turned on by turning the old light switch off and then on again. With an 8 bulb chandelier, smart bulbs become expensive, So I use a smart switch, but with single bulb lighting, smart bulbs also allow dimming, colour temperature changing and colour changing, so in the main smart bulbs are the way to go.

The problem is the features are not advertised, and they change make to make, Tapo has dust and dawn settings both bulbs and switches, Wiz has a gradual switch on and off which can be set with their bulbs, handy when a timed off is used, as you have a warning it is going to switch off.

3 posts   •   Page 1 of 1
It is currently Sat Nov 09, 2024 11:19 pm