Using smart relays in your home
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- Опубліковано 27 тра 2024
- There are so many things you need to know before buying a smart relay.
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This is what I cover:
00:00 - Intro
00:35- What are smart light relays?
01:17- How do smart relays work?
02:05 - Using smart relays with existing light switches
04:51 - When to use smart relays
05:27 - Downsides of smart relays
06:19 - Smart Relay features
07:28 - My recommended smart relays - Навчання та стиль
Amasing video! Thank you so much. Exactly what i needed.
First ever smart home videos I actually found useful! Great content, super clearly explained and relatable. Thanks you so much for your dedication!
I'm glad it was useful! Thanks for the comment 🙂
Good video! I'm an learned electrician, so yeah, DON'T mess with something you don't know! besides that, I love the shelly's too, I actually use the 2PM one as a single relay to turn on 2 different light sources independantly: For example, in the bathroom I only turn on the furniture light when brushing teeth, washing hands, etc, it's even motion activated with a Aqara sensor (you gotta love HA), or when we take a shower, I go with voice command to turn on the main lights. In the office I'm using it to turn on two LED panels independantly from each other (mine or my wifes), so that when one person is here, not all lights are on, only the one you need. I've also installed the 4PM (DIN rail), to turn on different circuits in my garden, so we can have light at the place where we are, and not all around + at night, when someone would try to break in, there is an automation that turns on all off the lights when motion is detected on one of the cameras.
Keep up the good work and nicely explained!
Not many have the opportunity to build an smart home from scratch. But if you have a hard time finding information about that. At least that’s how I feel. There are many products to “make something smart” or to retrofit smart home, prolly because there is a bigger market for that. But the topic of building an smart home from scratch is not that “mainstream”. For example there is not that much info on Bus System like KNX and so on. I’m grateful for any source / product for building an smart home from scratch.
Thanks for another great video! Relays are such a great way to smartify a house and still keep it friendly to people that might not be familiar with smart homes in general. I wish I knew about these back when I used to live with my parents that had a chandelier with 12 x E12 Candle type light bulbs that were incredibly expensive to replace with Hue/other mdoels.
Just found your channel and I’m amazed by your content! Keep up the good work❤.
You touched upon power consumption in your video a little. I’ve had PIR sensor switches installed about 11 years ago in my house. Recently I got a thermal camera for different reasons but discovered all my sensor switches emitting heat. I took one off the wall and measured it. 1 watt of consumption regardless of when switch relay was energised or not! I’ve got 14 PIR switches in my house, so it adds up to having 3x 4W 860lm light bulbs being switched on all the time.
It’s a lot, and it demonstrates that while home automation makes life a bit easier, it comes at a cost of having an increased baseload.
Now the more I look into it, the more I realise that the problem is the inherent inefficiency with AC-DC switched mode power supplies when load -> 0. They all consume power when there’s zero load! It’s something that manufacturers haven’t addressed properly yet, but I wander if they could be a bit more clever with their designs to eliminate this zero load drain.
There are Xiaomi smart ceiling lights in most places of my home and wireless switches, so I don't need a lot of relays. But in few places, where I left "traditional" lights, I use Sonoff zigbee and WiFi switches and even Moes Dimmer. Of course, I use Home Assistant instead of their "default" ecosystems
And I replaced traditional two-positional wall switches with non-fixing switches (in some switches you just need to insert small spring inside to make the button return after pushing)
Another great video, thanks.
i put a smart relay on the extractor fan spur from my bathroom light.
when guests would come to stay, they would switch on the main bathroom light, sending the loud extractor fan running. so i use a relay and a home assistant routine to disabale the extractor fan between 11pm and 7am so as not to wake evryone up or panic the guest who feels instant remorse (we've all done it)
That's a great tip! I might implement this in my own house soon 😉
Another couple of awesome benefits of smart relays: you can make your light switches do anything you want. Shellys, for example have a "detached" mode which turns that switch into an interface button that you can program to do whatever you want! Set a scene, turn off a different light, or fire an automation. On top of that, these relays can be wired into a 3-way (or 2-way if you're not american) circuit if you know what you're doing. I managed to do that for my main floor lights via access to the attic. I have a few shelly dimmers up there in junction boxes that are successfully controlled from a switch on either side of the room. It's great!
Did those shelly relays need a ZigBee Hub? Or did you installed the wifi ones and connected them directly to your router? I'm thinking of those relays, but I need the 2way ones (ie staircase which is controlled from 2 sides). And by the front door I need to connect a 2way relay (which will control 2 build-in lights) with a motion and light sensor, so they turn on automatically only at night. (or manually with a switch). what would be the best choise? Can you send me the product names?
Thanks!
@@gustonator Shelly’s use Wifi, so no need for an additional hub. And any of the Shelly’s can work with a 3-way circuit (or 2-way for non-Americans) as long as you have a constant hot wire you can access.
The Hook Up UA-cam channel has a video about how to wire a Shelly into a configuration with multiple light switches.
"If you do something wrong you may explode!" 😂
Hey there, awesome video! What would be your suggestion of a solution when you are building a brand new house and want to do home automation? Would you still do it with relays and physical switches, and would you use some specific switch type?
Great video 👍. Smart relays are great and if there was one that would take 240v from a PIR and turn it into a wireless signal, my life would be complete 😀
Thanks for a great video. One question, can relays handle 2 way switching - i.e. 2 switches controlling one light. Most of the switches I have are simple one light one switch set ups but the stairs have a switch at the top and a switch at the bottom. Although I could have one switch physically connect and the second connect logically through Home Assistant, if there is somewhere I would prefer to work properly without HA it's the place where you can bounce down a flight of stairs if you cant see what you're standing on. I have looked at smart switches but haven't found one yet that can cope with proper physical 2 way switching.
Hey, great video! Which product would you use for a three gang switch set? Our kitchen has one panel with separate switches for ceiling lights, island lights and cabinet lights. Not sure which would save the most space in the backbone, as electrician says there's no permanent live in the ceiling to be able to install at the rose for instance. The main lights are also on two way switches. Any advice greatly appreciated.
I recently deployed 20 switches (Sonoff of course) in the house in UK - after thinking too much how to deal with lack of the N in the switch box on the wall, I realised that all lamps in my house have all the necessary wires ... on the ceiling, where the lamp is connected. So now all my switches became smart ones ;-)
Perfect!
Yep, done the same with mine, all controlled via a rasperry pi
@@Mr31Vince mine too - home assistant of course ;-)
Can you provide a diagram pls?
Does this also mean the switch on your wall will always stay on ON position otherwise the relay won't work otherwise ?
Or can you still switch on via switch on wall and the the smart one?
@@bimiuk4051 You do not need to leave the switch on. The switch can work as a toggle. So you switch it, and it will toggle the light on or off. You can also toggle it on and off via the app or smart home system.
In the USA we have Phillips hue set up, which required their own hub, it worked well through their app. That was until our hub became unresponsive and now I have to manually turn them on to the color I want. I am however interested in a relay to control outdoor lighting so we can turn on entryway lighting., via an app. So I’ll be looking into the home assistant option, thanks for your insight.
Great content and just what the home automation novice needs to get started. I just flipped from another channel's video titled "Beginners guide to Shelly Relays" and 75% of a 13 minute video was how to wire the relays. I like your emphasis on leaving this task to professionals. I live in a country where DIY electrical work is illegal, for good reason. In fact every website that sells these relays is required to publish a notice that they require a licensed electrician to install.
Hi, thank you for your time to teach us! Got a question as a newbie i am with these smart things: if you would have smartify your lighting, what would you use for togling lights on/off (no dimming), a classic on/off swith or a one time push button that looks like a switch but comes back to initial state, ready to be pushed again. i would like the last option because with a switch you will get most times the on/off state reversed. but then, any of those relays out there to go with such a switch?
Philips have some CR10 dimmable 25 and 36 degree cone CRI 97. I have a boat load installed with shelly dimmers. Real nice in Switzerland with neutrals everywhere and light switches being instantly convertible into NC or NO push buttons.
They're really great, with so many positives! I just wish they'd fit nicely into my UK Back boxes.
Great video. Most houses I work on don’t have the neutral at the switch which is a shame. Still chasing the “perfect” solution
I’m thinking about getting the Sonoff No-neutral Mini. Need to find a small dumb reverse relay( big AC switch to connect low power DC instead of the other normal way round) as I don’t have normal switches at present and every example I find is huge and will never fit in a light box.
Thanks! can you hsare how to install a two way relay? I am not been able to control 1 light with two different switches
Since you mentioned the diagrams, I noticed that you had your blue neutral wire, illustrated to the center of the lamp in your brown hot wire on the shell of the lamp socket. That's backwards if we're talking illustrations... Awesome illustration ...
Fair comment! I appreciate the note!
I have been looking at the Sonoff relays for the last two years, but considering my sub-optimal Philips Hue experience (god their switches are bad and ‘Friends of Hue’ ones overpriced) and it’s inconsistent integration into HomeKit, I resolved to waiting for Matter to come into use before adding any more smart home tech.
I love playing around with this stuff, but I don’t want to spend a few minutes explaining to family and guests how to turn a light on or off every time they are over. My wife just about puts up with it, most of the time.
When Sonoff have matter relays that I can put behind my existing wall switches (1- 2- and 3-Gang), they will have all my money.
Many thanks broh
Perfect video
Thank you!
Hi, I'm looking at zigbee+rf relays as I don't have neutral at the switches and I want to install relays in the roofspace and use RF switches instead to switch the relay (as well as Home Assistant). Do you know of any good model that would allow that (and pair with HA)?
Can you show how you cabled one of these up?
GREAT VIDEO. and yes love the diagrams as they do help make sense and even the super cheesy sense of humour. But dont quit your day job anytime soon. :)
This is all just a hobby, I'm definitely not quitting the day job! Thanks for the message though!
What's the pairing process look like? Will I need to get them out of the wall/ceiling if it loses connectivity?
Hi! Great video! Do you know of any DC relays compatible with 12v (2 to 5 A is all I need) that provide a voltage reading in the app or Homebridge, or Home Assistant? Ideally something zigbee or lora or maybe matter (or wifi it it has a low power sleep mode chip for periodic transmissions of data ). I have some small solar controllers in my camper suv that I want to control based on weather, day/night, and or battery voltage. Any thoughts from someone like yourself, who has seen lots of models, would be amazing. 🙏
What about 6-7-7-6 switch scheme? Is there any relay to manage more switches in circuit?
Any chance you could recommend a relay that works well with Hue?
(Shelly doesn't do Zigbee)
Hey, Mr Guy, that was such a clear explanation with the moving wires, that I think I'm going to buy some of those Shellys. Can I buy them over here in the USA?
Yes, Shelly Store or Amazon. Shelly is Wifi only. You might also consider Sonoff, which are Zigbee also.
I'm not sure Rick, best to check their website to make sure they're 120v compatible. Glad you also liked the moving wires 😉
liked, subribed, any tips and trics on matter & thread for a new house? use HA als central unit? Matter & thread gu10 downward lights but 'im stuck at the switches? What should I take? I would like 4 buttons on every switch so I have some ones left for new functions I would like to add. Matter & Thread switches with mutliple buttons, where are they?
Are there relays that support two way switching?
Thanks for this video and I do like the "moving" wires animations!
I notice that you have adopted the term "smart relay" as used by Shelly to describe any kind of smart module. I think this is technically inaccurate (for example, a relay and a dimmer are clearly quite different) and potentially misleading.
So, I prefer to name them as follows:
smartmodule switch (solid state on/off control)
smartmodule dimmer (solid state on/off/dim control)
smartmodule relay (contact closure on/off control)
As you point out some smartmodules are available that can work without a Neutral, but AFAIK there are none that use a relay for contact closure control. Relays typically need more power to operate than can be provided by a current through an LED bulb without it glowing or flickering when "off", so a smartmodule relay will need a Neutral.
Totally agree, I use this exact same terminology.
Do you know of any relay solution. for 3 gang/switch + 3 way + dimmer ?
Im about to rig my new build in Australia with 40-50 shelly devices, pretty interested to see how they work out.
Few people would be interested in this mate
How’s your family dealing with the switch position doesn’t indicate on/off like it used to? Or are they just cool with it
The family is fine with it.... But it definitely messes with my personal OCD. The Shelly push button switches make it way less obvious and triggering
No different to two way switching in the UK. Switching from two places, top of stairs and bottom of stairs.
Hi Alan. Thanks for another excellent video. Just came across your channel recently and I’ve been a happy subscriber ever since. Which relay of smart switch would you recommend for heavy loads like Water Heater, cooker or swimming pool pumps? Have you considered making the main switchboard smart? Thanks again?
I'd suggest looking at the Shelly devices, they have some DIN rail mounted ones that are capable of switching heavy loads. I have a few energy monitoring devices in my switchboard, but other than that everything is dumb. I rely on my heating system to turn on and off the water heater and the cooker and ovens use around 1W on idle. Also living in London, a swimming is not on my radar
Hi Alan. Thanks for your response and suggestions. I’d looking into the Shelly products….I’m in the Middle East so swimming pool is essential for hot summers 😂
I'm in the process of smartifying my home now and I've seen this relays before. My problem with them is space in the wall is already limited so wouldn't it be tough to fit these in already cramped gang boxes?
Hi there lovely video. Does Shelley work with Hubitat?
I believe so. I found some drivers for it here
github.com/ShellyUSA/Hubitat-Drivers
Using a similar switch but control to physical light switch is different from one in the video.
It uses output and input from relay to complete the circuit to switch.
States in instructions in red not to connect live to it 😅
Should check what's the voltage of it one day.
I have smart switch with neutral wired needed. Can I connect the neutral wire to smart switch (N-in), but connect neutral wire to lamp without using (N-out) from smart switch?
In your "Don't buy the wrong smart light switch" you mention at "8:30" that you use Zigbee as the protocol for your switches. This video kinda recommends Shelly which is connected via wifi.
Reading about Shelly it sounds great - and it even support power monitoring. What would you recommend as the Zigbee alternative?
I use Zigbee for all my sensors and my smart light switches where it makes sense, but for those where I don't want to replace the switch or have a different device that I want to power I use Shelly. Sonoff have some good smart relays that are Zigbee based, but they make a loud clicking sound when they engage which I find annoying
No links for Shelly?
are there any smart relays that work in Europe 230V that work with thread? I can not find anything
great video. Shelly seems to have the best reviews but do not seem to be Homekit compliant? I have moved from Smartthings to Homekit and need to replace my relays.
I don't think they are natively compatible with HomeKit, but I've seen several blogs that explain how to connect them in. I'm unfortunately not a HomeKit expert, but I wish you all the best with it!
Interesting example, what make is the example ?
Interesting because with that one, with it having a separate trigger wire, you can use it on a lugging circuit that has more than one switching point. I don't think any smart light switch does that.
Great video ! I am looking for smart dimmer relais for homekit which do not cost 100 bucks, unfortunately i could not find any. Does someone know dimmers which would be good with homekit ?
I had a lot of trouble finding dimmer relays. I only found the Shelly, but I'm not sure if it works with homekit
@@HomeAutomationGuy thank you for the response! The relais from shelly i saw werent compatible with homekit, but i will check if I find any
Nice work! Question- if you already have smart bulbs installed could you use the relay in conjunction with those bulbs? Why would you do that you ask? IDK LOL just curious, I can't think why I would want to. Any use cases where that would make sense? Personally I am smart bulb poor- I have so many that I am locked in to that option. Always looking for an excuse to buy more smart stuff however!
Actually, you can. If you want to use Adaptive Lighting (also called Circadian Lighting) with your ambient White CCT bulbs, you will need (use) the relay (or certain smart switches) to maintain power to the smart bulb. The wall switch can then the use to give the perceived impression of a tradition wall switch or dimmer. You will need Home Assistant to manage this. Ideally, you could also use a relay and bulb using the same protocol (e.g. Zigbee, Z-wave, Thread) and use binding. Home Automation 401!!
Just be aware that if the smart bulbs lose power they'll be unavailable in your home automation system. If they're Zigbee they also will stop acting as repeaters when they're off and may mess up your Zigbee mesh network
I’m looking for one that takes the load off the switch. I have a smart switch but the limit is 300 watts of power. So I want the smart feature but looking for a way to have the load off the relay switch I place. So the smart switch doesn’t carry the load. Any advice?
Take a look at the Shelly Pro range of relays. They support 40A or so, and I believe they take the load off the switch.
I want to be able to, when someone makes a booking into my Airbnb I want that booking to trigger the sauna to heat up and when the door opens for my virtual recording to treat them by there name can we do this ? How much to consult with me ?
so i use smart lights, they are set for times and intensities etc, different scenes and voice commands. when i have guests they will switch the physical switch off, urggghhh. with one of these my smart lights will still work as planned? even when guests fiddle with the switch?
5:58 if you don't even know what a neutral wire is or why it's important, you shouldn't be messing with electricity, period.
my father was an electrician, so i probably know more about electrical installations than the average joe, but i know there is still stuff that i don't know.
Using a smart switch for a led will work but you will need a capacitor 1 micro farad ( looks like an upside down U so 1 u) connected across live-neutral
Is there a Smart Relay (either for DIN or into the wall socket) that supports LAN cable instead of wifi? I do not want to rely on the wifi connection for them.
The Shelley pro series that are DIN rai mounted work on Wi-Fi and have a LAN port for Ethernet connection
Ever come across a dumb small relay that is switched by high AC but connects a small current? My current light switches aren’t completely dumb but also not smart. They can be turned on by RF and use a tiny amount of current. I was thinking of connecting them to a relay and the relay to the switch connectors on a No-neutral Sonoff Mini. I have no neutral wire. I can easily find relays that are switched by AC 230 but they are humongous.
I wish my wiring was as new as 1950s :)
So does the physical switch just change the state of the relay? For example, the switch is in the on position with the light on, I then turn the light off via HomeAssistant so now the light is off but the switch is in the on position. What happens when i flip the switch to off?
Yes, the switch becomes a toggle. So the light switch position doesn't match the "state" of the switch anymore, and that really annoys my OCD. This is why I personally use smart switches instead of relays.
Relays are a good idea if you have specific styles of switches that you want to maintain - or find some press button style switches that don't show their state via an up down position.
I make my own smart relays with esp32 or esp8266
I have 1 room where i could use a relay, all other rooms use round dimmers that i turn, iv been looking for a video about smart dimmers but dont find anything good.
Is there a smart relay that is compatible with HomeKit? Thank you!
Not easily. You need to flash it with special HomeKit compatible firmware which isn't a walk in the park
I'm searching for a smart relay that will keep power to my smart light bulbs (hue) and will act light a smart switch, but then also act like a regular dumb switch if there is no connection to the hue hub. Basically internally programmed, IF connection --> send signal to Hue hub to toggle, IF no connection --> power to lamp via relay. This can probably be done with ESPHome and Shelly, but shelly is Wifi, and not zigbee. If this doesn't exist, how do people react when the hub or network is down. My philosophy for home automation follows, "An escalator can never break: it can only become stairs".
The Aqara H1 Smart Switches have "Decoupled Mode" which can do exactly as you describe (With some scripting to switch it to non-decoupled mode if your Automation System is down)
is there smart relays that can be wired to something like arduino or raspbery pi?
That is outside of my comfort level, so I can really comment. Messing with higher voltages and home made equipment scares me 🤣
Many smart relays are not made for switching LED lights! I've had problems with this myself. This who have the 'zero crossing ' feature are great at controlling LED lights
Hello! automation guy. Let us see if you can be helpful to me! Can I connect a 3 gang wifi relay to my existing fan dimmer, if yes how?
I wish Shelly smart devices were compatible with 12Ga wiring required in new homes. My Home built in 2010 has zero 14 ga wiring. Our home inspector won’t allow them in any switch boxes because you’d have to lower gauge which isn’t allowed by IRC.
Hey Shelly if your reading this how about make your devices capable of holding a 12 Ga wiring which is required on most circuits in the United States. It makes your device illegal to place behind light switch.
Can any one help me I need a wifi operated bell push switch
Yes, in the Netherlands I use "klik aan klik uit" brand. I don't use iot technology. Instead the system uses its own local frequency and radios in the device. I have found smart connection over iot not that valuable in the longterm. The technology is useful to start off with if you don't know your consumption and what you really want. I was already frugal to start off with and investing in this technology didn't provide much added value. I found as a person I already had frugal habits, which in the longterm didn't provide much advantages to further investment in smart home technology. I even noticed it became a convenience factor, made me lazy, because I controlled everything remotely. I gave up and also saw benifits to turning things on and off to keep active in the house and become less sedentary, which added to health benefits. A few things I have done smartly is having low tech manually programmable timers for certain lights in the house. If I forgot to turn off something, I had the peace of mind I knew it would turn off after a set time, which is also a way to save energy. And there is one remote radio switch connected to a smart relay in the bedroom. The remote switch is above the headboard of the bed, which is convenient in that I don't have to walk blindly, rsik an accudnet in the dark at night to find the bedroom light when I need to wake up or go to the toilet. There are options to couple them with motion sensors, but I have found many unreliable or janky to use, so I gave up on those. To a degree smarthome automation is an interesting future, but in my experience is not a panacea or added value for every home. There are also benefits do have some things in the house basic and manual.
agree with your comments
do smart relayswork with dimmer switches?
There are some smart relays that work as dimmers, but you need to be careful with what combinations you use.
i need a kind of relay which keeps the lights powerd all the time because my lights are also smart
Thanks for the video! I have a conundrum, after hearing you talk about trying to keep things looking nice-I thought maybe you could help.
I have a bathroom with an exhaust fan/light over shower. I wired whole house on Lutron RA2. I wanted to use the Lutron combo switch to operate fan w/timers and light separate all in one switch. The light is LED and Lutron’s combo switch only works with fans + lights that are halogen.🙄
Is there a Lutron compatible relay or something I could use with a Lutron 3button pico remote that would have one button for fan (program it to just be 30min timer) and one button each for on/off of the light and fan? Or something else that wouldn’t look like garbage? Single gang for minimal switches. 🙏
I'm not familiar with Lutron, I am not sure that they are that popular here in Europe / UK
@@HomeAutomationGuy ah interesting. What if we weren’t talking about Lutron? Same scenario-single gang to control a fan (with timer ideally) and an LED light.
I was just thinking how to make those lines move
I haven't seen one of those gadgets yet that can fit inside a US single box with a switch in it.
So you seem like a mostly Zigbee guy, even though the Shelly relays are not Zigbee you prefer those over others? I ask because I need some relays but really do not want to use Wi-Fi smart devices and prefer Zigbee. I actually don't have any Wi-Fi smart devices in my home right now, and don't even know how to connect them to home assistant if I were to get any. I strictly use Zigbee right now.
I used to be against WiFi devices too, but now I use them if the features of them are better than the Zigbee alternatives. This is how I feel about the Shelly, they're great, reliable and open. Home Assistant auto discovers the Shelly devices once they're connected to the WiFi and they show up as normal switch entities.
Not going to work for me, about 85% of my boxes are full of wiring. No space for a relay.
I use Shelly switches a lot . However they are quite unreliable, sometimes they will just not respond to the Wi-Fi or light switch commands and I have to open the light switch to disconnect and connect the Shelly just to restart it.
I have dozens of Shelly relays inside my walls (every single outlet or light is connected to one) and I don't have this problem you described. Isn't the problem in your Wi-Fi network?
Wifi probably is not the problem in this case because relay should respond to switch input even without wifi. Did you try restarting it from HA or Web interface?
Those prices are insane.. And not like incredible sale insane. Like you'd have to have a chemical imbalance to consider paying them.
Shelly devices have great features but after a year 10% have died. Support also sucks asking for videos and proof of very obvious problems.
I'm sorry to hear that! I have not had that experience myself
I refuse to buy Shelly until they start sponsoring you. Not just with just some equipment butaan a proper sponsorship. No worries. If they recognize quality, they will reach out to you.
I was really enjoying this until you said home assistant.
Why?
23 shelly devices to date, all integrated into both Home Assistant and Alexa. Shelly devices, made in Bulgaria of all places are phantastic. The only thing you need to be aware of is that they are all connected to WIFI and may bring your router to its knees. I switched to a Mesh network (TP-LINK Deco) to fix this issue. This is the cheapest, fastest and least intrusive way to smartify your home.