What is a wireless lighting system? What is the advantage of such a system over a switch next to the door?
E: A wireless lighting systems seems to be a light bulb with WiFi capabilities.
E: A wireless lighting systems seems to be a light bulb with WiFi capabilities.
First world problems, but it is handy.
What really keeps me going with home automation is the door & lock control. Being able to monitor the status of the garage doors and the deadbolts on all doors is worth the price of admission. The kids each have their own code to get in the house, I can lock the doors from afar if they get left open or unlocked, I can check the status at any time, etc. I have the system close & lock everything at bedtime if it isn't already, and it communicates status to me as things are opened/closed/locked/unlocked.
I could give up the lighting if I had to. I could just use the built-in scheduling on the thermostat. No biggy. But the locks and doors functionality is worth the effort.
1970's technology to the rescue: https://www.amazon.com/Clapper-Sound-Activated-Switch-Each/d...
As for when my hands are full, elbows work just fine.
If/when I become bedridden or crippled, I'll probably get Alexa. Until then, I get up and walk to the switch. It's a privilege to be able to do that, and I'll do it as long as I can.
Do clappers hear through doors and across different floors? E.g. in bed upstairs and light is on downstairs? Plus would one clap not turnnoff everything that hears a clap, and not just the thing you want off but leave other things on? And can it auto clap itself off/on at certain times when you are asleep/not there? Can it hear you clap when it is at home and you are in your car/at work? And only 300% as expensive as a WiFi switch? Bargain.
But you know, when my hands are full I can just put everything down and rub two sticks together to make a fire just fine. The power of humanity's intellect and dominion over nature is a wonderful thing and making fire is a privilege that not all mammals have that I plan to use for as long as I can - 4000 BC's technology to the rescue </sarcasm to illustrate a point>
So much technology could easily be done "the old way" (fire to oil lamps to candles to gas lamps to electric lamps for example all make the room bright I'm the darkness), but it makes things simpler/more convenient/easier/etc. This is one of them IMO
Don't get me wrong - I want to use HomeAssistant or similar - but I don't want to ditch physical switches.
(And in this case the (dumb) switches on the wall have always been in the right place, by the bed, in my bedrooms. (In addition to one by the door of course.))
I'd just have 'the system' 'aware' of the switches and current state etc. so that I could have certain automations, logging, etc.
The physical switches would either be network inputs themselves (easier implementation but reliability concern) or just report events but be electrically connected to the light still; I suppose also light-side state reporting for ultimate reliability (against missed switch events that did change light state because of electrical connection).
I wound up with a LED strip attached to a RPi under my bed, driven by a clapper script. Doesn't work completely reliably, but well enough.
"Smart" lightbulbs are more flexible with more features, but personally I'm not a fan of them - many features with few additional benefits (with high price tags, possible bugs, and privacy concerns). Nevertheless, if you are not allowed to change any electrical wiring in the room, using "smart" lightbulbs can be a justified choice. Another genuine use may be controlling many wired-together lightbulbs on a large light fixture as separate groups without a laborious rewiring. Meanwhile I'll keep using my dumb wireless light switch.
[0] They solve the neutral problem by using an always-on high resistance in series with the "hot" wire. The lightbulbs on the light fixture completes the circuit, a tiny current starts to flow, which is harvested by the switch to power itself. Clever hack!
And what privacy concerns are there with lights that have no internet connection whatsoever?
I hope my comment makes sense to you now.
> A radio-controlled dumb-switch used this way is still wireless lightning.
Yes, and it was also the point I was trying to make.
It does, thank you :)
Power the bed reading light lamp with a zen15 zooz inline switch which is never shut off but can monitor current and power continuously. So now homeassistant knows when my bed reading light is on or off based on if the lamp is drawing more than 3 watts or less. Which means it can control my ceiling fan appropriately AND dimmable room light bulbs AND mess with the thermostat depending on outside temperature / mode. And maybe other options someday in the future.
Some effort to set up the hardware, maybe 30 lines of YAML automation code, but it is nice and convenient.
I have a "reading desk lamp" in my basement lab that does similar tricks. Desk lamp no current drawn means my soldering iron and some other apparatus has its power removed. Improves safety a little.
If my youngest kid were not an older teen, I've been thinking about wifi/bluetooth presence detection such that my table saw has no electrical power if my phone isn't within X feet of the saw. A kind of similar automation but different opportunity.
My rationale for it is that I want to be able to dim them, but exchanging halogens for LEDs would mean the transformer wouldn’t see enough of a load to dim properly. By exchanging everything for IKEA bulbs I save on changing the transformer since the dimming circuit is in each bulb.
And if you're hunting for relays and other actuators... the compatibility between IKEA Tradfri products is excellent, but your mileage will vary when going with other Zigbee products.
Some sets of three occasionally go into party mode and start flashing in a sequence. They reset themselves every month or so. I'm tall and my ceilings are not so it's quick for me to pair them again. It would be super annoying if they were too high to reach. Setting the white spectrum fails using the 5 button controller. Often one or two usually fail to set correctly resulting in a weird mix. I simply don't bother anymore. They work nicely with the app, when still paired.
I haven't had any problems with the e27's in the same rooms.
'Dumb' rf motion detector triggered under-counter lighting in the kitchen has been way better bang for buck. It just works. No smart home required.
Providing a solution before the problem exists is exactly what this is.