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I'm looking to install smart switches for my lighting. Since I have LED lights and 2-wire circuits to the switches (no neutral), I'm looking at wifi controlled remote relays - which I can find no problem.

However, all these switches seem to integrate with smartphone apps - not with something I can fix to the wall in each room. Is there a good reason that I can't find a physical switch that can be hooked into some sort of smart control system? Obviously if there exists something, I can route it via IFTTT to close the loop (and remember that I need some legacy lighting just in case the network goes down)

The closest I've found so far is a 433 MHz stick-on wall mount switch, and a 433MHz/WiFi relay - but I'm intrigued about why there is no existing product to meet this application.

To clarify one specific use case, my wired switches seem to often turn out to be where I want some furniture - so I'm primarily looking to re-locate the switch without doing any re-wiring (and also gain connectivity). Preferably a manufacturer who addresses the EU market.

Sean Houlihane
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2 Answers2

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If you want to go the DIY route then using sonoff relays with the MQTT firmware update then it would be pretty easy to make a esp8266 based wall switch that published on/off messages to control the relay directly or via something like Node-RED or OpenHab.

If you want an off the shelf product then most of the vendors for lighting normally skip the relay approach and go for direct control of the bulbs. Both Philips Hue and Ikea Tradfri have wall mountable controllers to put next to the existing switch that can control on/off, brightness and colour/colour temperature

Helmar
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hardillb
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Belkin have their Wemo light switch, which replaces a standard wall switch and allows remote control of ceiling lights.

I haven't tried one, but I have the Wemo light bulbs and wireless sockets, and they work well with Home Assistant if you don't want to use Belkin's mobile app.

(You still have to do the initial setup with the app, but once it's connected to your network you can ditch the app for HA)

Edit: This answer mentions Bluetooth Low Energy switches which don't need batteries. I can't find them for sale online yet, though.

Aaron F
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