Let me know how you’ve approached the battle between the smart bulb and the smart switch in your home. 👉 Click here to see my smart home gear: www.michaelsleen.com/tech/
Brands like Inovelli and Zooz let you configure your switch in smart bulb mode, which keeps power to your bulbs, and uses automation to turn them on/off. This gives you the best of both worlds.
You can do this if you use your own firmware on your switches. (Should be if they are WiFi anyway) You can just go in and deactivate the relay. This still sends the command that the switch has been toggled and your smart bulb turns on/off without losing power. Although I often prefer zigbee wifi switches with custom local controlled firmware has its benefits. Otherwise throwing in a Shelly style relay with a regular switch is often better then a smart switch as you can deactivate the relays.
Thanks for this. It semi answers my question. I don't want the bells and whistles, I basically want to be able to stick a wall switch anywhere in the room and control the lights. I don't want the hassle of wiring a new switch (renting). I am hoping smart switches are what i need but can i pair them to a wall switch?
Most smart switches require replacing a current dumb switch and wiring the smart switch in. However, there are smart switches that don't require wiring, like pairing a Lutron Aurora dimmer switch with a Philips Hue bulb. You can stick this one anywhere on a wall since it uses battery power: amzn.to/4eBisJb. But, it' designed to control Philips Hue smart bulbs only.
I have multiple solutions in my house, but for rooms with simple pendant lights like bedrooms I have smart bulbs with a smart battery powered Ikea dimmer held over the existing “hard” light switch with a printed mount. Sounds a bit DIY but it actually works very well and looks great. The dimmer clips on with a magnet. Ikea make various battery powered dimmers, 2 way or 4 way. The batteries are good for 1 to 2 years. There are lots of advantages:the hard switch is hidden but is available if you pluck off the dimmer; I can cycle power on the bulb without unscrewing it, which is very occasionally useful. Also, I have all the advantages of a smart bulb vs using a dumb bulb with a smart switch. Using the four way remote I can change temp/colour at the switch. The mount that hold the dimmers screw using the existing screws. One other thing I like is it’s trivial to revert to dumb lighting if we ever sell this place. For the lounge, which has two by three bulb ceiling lights, I went for a Samotech zigbee dimmer with the existing bulbs. I’m very happy with this solution. It even has power monitoring. One maybe overlooked advantage is it is obvious how to use the dimmer to guests as it looks identical to a dumb dimmer. For the kitchen I pondered a relay solution but went with smart GU10s and more 4 way remotes over the old switches. It works well. Two zigbee groups control about a dozen spots. So far, no drops. I use a few relays with the old ugly hard switches. One is in my office, which has a 20W/150W very bright “corn” bulb. Basically you can’t, AFAIK, get smart bulbs of that brightness. Anyway, thanks for making the video. Hope you and the family are doing well!
For me, the solution is mostly obvious: If you need to control lots of lights, get a smart switch (or a smart relay, get an electrician). If few, go with a smart bulb. My only exception to this is the living room, where I was willing to splurge more on the Phillips Hue 1600 lumen color changing bulbs. People are in there more, it felt worth it. And really, how likely are you to need or even want more than 1 smart bulb in most rooms? Maybe have 1 color changing bulb in some rooms for a quick notification indicator in most rooms.
I’ve a spare bedroom that also currently doubles as a storage area. I use a proximity sensor to turn on the lights when I want to get something from storage which switches the smart bulb off again after no motion for a time. When I have guests, I put the house in guest mode and this disables the proximity sensor and allows the bulb to be switched on and off as required using a smart switch.
If you’re not already using one, consider a mmWave presence detection sensor for turning off the lights. This can be more helpful than a motion sensor, but if it’s a storage room most of the time, you might not care as much.
You don’t have to use one or the other if your smart enough to use custom firmware. You can use a smart bulb and have the switch turn that bulb on and off without cutting power to it by shutting off the relay. It simply sends a command via MQTT or your preferred protocol to Home Assistant that tells the Bulb to turn off/ on / dim/ or change colors. Then if you use a regular bulb, you can simply jump back into the firmware and reactivate the relay control to turn the bulb on and off. Pretty simple
Yes, I mention in the video it is possible to use smart switches with smart bulbs to get the best of both. For example, I use Lutron Aurora, Inovelli Blue Series, and Zooz ZEN32 switches with Philips Hue bulbs in my home.
I have been investigating this for the last couple of years, and I have come to the conclusion that you should use both. The problem is that most switches do not allow for a detached mode. (Shelly terminology). Basically smart lights give you heaps of functionality but they do not very well abide with WAF (Wife approval factor), and generally the wife will just flick the switch off and as you said the lights are no better then a dumb light bulb. Using just a smart switch give you no real advantage over the smart light as it is still the same light and you can't set t for the situation. Also the biggest problem is that most switches do not support smart light bulbs. Also the majority of smart switches just look ugly and usually have writing on it. Definitely not meeting the WAF standard. I am currently have dump LED downlights which are dying on me so I am looking to replace them all with smart downlights. However this will then cause the problem with them being turned off. So basically I am going to use the Shelly plus 1/2 behind my switches to allow the lights to be turned on and off like normal and also they will look like normal switches. Since the Shelly has detached mode I can keep the smart lights powered on all the time and use Home assistant to detect the switch and turn on the smart light like a cave man. But power will remain on the smrt light. If there is any fine tuning like dimming lights, changing colours this can be done via voice commands to via apps. The other thing is that I have mutiple lights on switches on the same room, but I generally have to turn on both to get enough light in one of the area. by doing this when I turn on one light I can also turn on a single light from the other area to add the other areas brightness. I think that most switches have got it wrong, and should allow the physical switch to operate separately from the relay. They should not be connected at the board level. I remember a LTT episode when Linus was trying to get a smart bulb to work behind an expensive switch he has and it just wouldn't do it.
Neither unless you identify as Millennial dummy or Genz Really lost. SMRT lighting is the only thing that could be considered smart in a home. Power outage everything comes on and was told by a neighbor while on vacation my lights were on for 2 weeks everyone. Plus they loose internet same problem, i have never had a smart bulb that didn't loose connection 40 times a month not a lie. There is nothing smart about them, been coding since 1982, been building robots as a profession since 1992, nothing you're doing is smart, just lines of code.
Sorry to hear about your rough experience with smart lighting. The Philips Hue app has a setting where you can select the behavior of each individual light after a power outage.
Smart doesn’t necessarily refer to the bulb being remotely controlled it referees to the automations that control them without any human intervention. As well as the analytical benefits. If your bulbs aren’t staying on the network that’s a problem with the product you selected, your own network and the protocol you went with. It’s also an issue with your smart home setup. if you’ve been coding that long then you should no better then to use wifi bulbs with standard firmware controlled through the cloud. I doubt you had zigbee or Z-wav bulbs constantly dropping. But if you did, that’s agin likely because of your settings and meshes. It’s kinda clear by the comment that your entirely familiar with the MODERN home automation/ smarty home scene or it’s capabilities. That would be called Dunning Kruger, at least in terms of your comment and lack of topical knowledge. Coding experience is irrelevant. Smart home is a descriptive term that simply means communication and automated capabilities however with increasing use of AI at the fire level of these system your argument becomes defunct. Especially since multiple (countless) papers have illuminated the fact that these models are more then queries and predictive analysis and are far more complex (smarter) then we thought. If you set up your system properly power outages will not leave your lights on and your internet service should be totally irrelevant ( as long your local controlled and not dependent on a cloud). Your router should still be up, a zigbee and Z wave mesh should instantly go back up. Most people have battery backups on their routers today so the WiFi products never fall off. You can also establish SMS messing to get updated status about power outages in case your internet goes out too. But you should have been able to check on your home and every window, door, light, heating/air, water sources, appliances, smoke detectors, etc once the power came back on if you understood how to set it all up appropriately. The irony is that your ridiculing younger generations when you as a boomer failed to grasp the modern concept or capabilities. While we are on vacation we have a free (no service) alarm that monitors everything from leaks to windows and doors. We can synchronize our TV’s, radios and lights to cycle on and off to detour robberies and theft! Our homes help assist in feeding and monitor pets. Fish tank lights, filters and pumps are automated. Our systems are better at mounting temperatures and reducing bills. Our smart homes know that we are in vacation. They listen for glass breaking or water running. They notify us if there’s a leak under the sinks or toilets. They tell us there’s an unusual amount of water running. They tell us if there’s smoke or flames before your neighbor calls to inform you that your house is gone. They automatically call emergency services. Yes our smart homes call us in our cell phone and text us on our phones. They give us push notifications and emails. I would get a message of my power went out and then a notice of what went back up. My neighbor has limited remote access to my home and can check on certain things or turn on off things without a key or calling me. He could turn the lights off himself if he wanted while I was away. I would know he was the one to do it. Before returning home from my trip my heat / cooling would return to the appropriate levels once I was a certain distance from home. When I approach the driveway the garage door automatically opens and the lights i need come on. As I approach the door it automatically unlocks thanks to facial recognition, my gps location and the fact that I’m Re-connected to WiFi. There’s plenty of things you can ridicule younger generations for but this isn’t one. But that agin your generation his culpable far more egregious things. Endless lists of things that have eroded the fabric and dominance of this nation. It’s ignorant and pretentious to attack the younger generation. Something I’m certain you do often since you managed to inject it erroneously into this topic. This generation is using smart led lights which utilize less energy, they’re smart homes monitor such energy use and they further reduce waste thanks to this. They don’t leave lights on accidentally. The irony of a generation whom handed over that which had taken so much sacrifice to build to banks and corporations with a nothing but a stroke of a pen. Whom handed over economic and manufacturing superiority to a giant they had woken. A generation that left little economic opportunity to the next while steadily eroding the planet and its resources. The generation that handed over the keys to wall street and I tore down the strength of the blue collar workers. The generation that waged countless wars because they bought into propaganda. A generation whom further spun the world into chaos once they discovered the internet and social media as they easily confused by false information and misinformation campaigns. A generation vulnerable to algorithms and cult partisan propaganda. A generation whom has no right ridiculing or calling the next “dumb” as you set them up for debt and failure. The generation that once survived on one car with 4 weeks vacation and benefits whom established the need for two jobs per household, credit card debt, invented leasing, the temp employment system, reverse mortgages, allowed banks to start charging Us to use our own money, made healthcare unaffordable, destroyed unions, lost benefits , created billionaires, and eroded so much more. Stop with the ageism until you look in the mirror.
Let me know how you’ve approached the battle between the smart bulb and the smart switch in your home. 👉 Click here to see my smart home gear: www.michaelsleen.com/tech/
Brands like Inovelli and Zooz let you configure your switch in smart bulb mode, which keeps power to your bulbs, and uses automation to turn them on/off. This gives you the best of both worlds.
Yeah, having smart switches that work with smart bulbs can be a great combo.
You can do this if you use your own firmware on your switches. (Should be if they are WiFi anyway) You can just go in and deactivate the relay. This still sends the command that the switch has been toggled and your smart bulb turns on/off without losing power. Although I often prefer zigbee wifi switches with custom local controlled firmware has its benefits. Otherwise throwing in a Shelly style relay with a regular switch is often better then a smart switch as you can deactivate the relays.
Thanks for this. It semi answers my question. I don't want the bells and whistles, I basically want to be able to stick a wall switch anywhere in the room and control the lights. I don't want the hassle of wiring a new switch (renting). I am hoping smart switches are what i need but can i pair them to a wall switch?
Most smart switches require replacing a current dumb switch and wiring the smart switch in. However, there are smart switches that don't require wiring, like pairing a Lutron Aurora dimmer switch with a Philips Hue bulb. You can stick this one anywhere on a wall since it uses battery power: amzn.to/4eBisJb. But, it' designed to control Philips Hue smart bulbs only.
I have multiple solutions in my house, but for rooms with simple pendant lights like bedrooms I have smart bulbs with a smart battery powered Ikea dimmer held over the existing “hard” light switch with a printed mount. Sounds a bit DIY but it actually works very well and looks great. The dimmer clips on with a magnet. Ikea make various battery powered dimmers, 2 way or 4 way. The batteries are good for 1 to 2 years. There are lots of advantages:the hard switch is hidden but is available if you pluck off the dimmer; I can cycle power on the bulb without unscrewing it, which is very occasionally useful. Also, I have all the advantages of a smart bulb vs using a dumb bulb with a smart switch. Using the four way remote I can change temp/colour at the switch. The mount that hold the dimmers screw using the existing screws. One other thing I like is it’s trivial to revert to dumb lighting if we ever sell this place.
For the lounge, which has two by three bulb ceiling lights, I went for a Samotech zigbee dimmer with the existing bulbs. I’m very happy with this solution. It even has power monitoring. One maybe overlooked advantage is it is obvious how to use the dimmer to guests as it looks identical to a dumb dimmer.
For the kitchen I pondered a relay solution but went with smart GU10s and more 4 way remotes over the old switches. It works well. Two zigbee groups control about a dozen spots. So far, no drops.
I use a few relays with the old ugly hard switches. One is in my office, which has a 20W/150W very bright “corn” bulb. Basically you can’t, AFAIK, get smart bulbs of that brightness.
Anyway, thanks for making the video. Hope you and the family are doing well!
Thanks for sharing! Definitely curious about the IKEA printed mount solution and what that looks like on the wall.
Very helpful man
Thumbs up bro!! Do you provide mentorship , coaching , consulting or anything like that ?
Are you looking for consulting services to help you plan your smart home and home automations?
For me, the solution is mostly obvious: If you need to control lots of lights, get a smart switch (or a smart relay, get an electrician). If few, go with a smart bulb.
My only exception to this is the living room, where I was willing to splurge more on the Phillips Hue 1600 lumen color changing bulbs. People are in there more, it felt worth it.
And really, how likely are you to need or even want more than 1 smart bulb in most rooms? Maybe have 1 color changing bulb in some rooms for a quick notification indicator in most rooms.
Sure, smart switches can be more practical. I'm a big fan of being able to change from cool lights during the day to warm lights in the evening.
I’ve a spare bedroom that also currently doubles as a storage area. I use a proximity sensor to turn on the lights when I want to get something from storage which switches the smart bulb off again after no motion for a time. When I have guests, I put the house in guest mode and this disables the proximity sensor and allows the bulb to be switched on and off as required using a smart switch.
If you’re not already using one, consider a mmWave presence detection sensor for turning off the lights. This can be more helpful than a motion sensor, but if it’s a storage room most of the time, you might not care as much.
this was super helpful thankyou!
Glad to hear that, thanks for watching!
You don’t have to use one or the other if your smart enough to use custom firmware. You can use a smart bulb and have the switch turn that bulb on and off without cutting power to it by shutting off the relay. It simply sends a command via MQTT or your preferred protocol to Home Assistant that tells the Bulb to turn off/ on / dim/ or change colors. Then if you use a regular bulb, you can simply jump back into the firmware and reactivate the relay control to turn the bulb on and off. Pretty simple
Yes, I mention in the video it is possible to use smart switches with smart bulbs to get the best of both. For example, I use Lutron Aurora, Inovelli Blue Series, and Zooz ZEN32 switches with Philips Hue bulbs in my home.
I have been investigating this for the last couple of years, and I have come to the conclusion that you should use both. The problem is that most switches do not allow for a detached mode. (Shelly terminology).
Basically smart lights give you heaps of functionality but they do not very well abide with WAF (Wife approval factor), and generally the wife will just flick the switch off and as you said the lights are no better then a dumb light bulb.
Using just a smart switch give you no real advantage over the smart light as it is still the same light and you can't set t for the situation. Also the biggest problem is that most switches do not support smart light bulbs. Also the majority of smart switches just look ugly and usually have writing on it. Definitely not meeting the WAF standard.
I am currently have dump LED downlights which are dying on me so I am looking to replace them all with smart downlights. However this will then cause the problem with them being turned off. So basically I am going to use the Shelly plus 1/2 behind my switches to allow the lights to be turned on and off like normal and also they will look like normal switches. Since the Shelly has detached mode I can keep the smart lights powered on all the time and use Home assistant to detect the switch and turn on the smart light like a cave man. But power will remain on the smrt light. If there is any fine tuning like dimming lights, changing colours this can be done via voice commands to via apps.
The other thing is that I have mutiple lights on switches on the same room, but I generally have to turn on both to get enough light in one of the area. by doing this when I turn on one light I can also turn on a single light from the other area to add the other areas brightness.
I think that most switches have got it wrong, and should allow the physical switch to operate separately from the relay. They should not be connected at the board level. I remember a LTT episode when Linus was trying to get a smart bulb to work behind an expensive switch he has and it just wouldn't do it.
For sure, that's why I like using smart bulbs with compatible smart switches. Curious to hear how it goes with the Shelley Plus!
Not even trying to be funny, I thought you were harry mack
The rapper?! That's hilarious.
@@michaelsleen yes!! I opened the video and I was like Harry Mack has a smart home?!?🤣🤣
Neither unless you identify as Millennial dummy or Genz Really lost. SMRT lighting is the only thing that could be considered smart in a home. Power outage everything comes on and was told by a neighbor while on vacation my lights were on for 2 weeks everyone. Plus they loose internet same problem, i have never had a smart bulb that didn't loose connection 40 times a month not a lie. There is nothing smart about them, been coding since 1982, been building robots as a profession since 1992, nothing you're doing is smart, just lines of code.
Sorry to hear about your rough experience with smart lighting. The Philips Hue app has a setting where you can select the behavior of each individual light after a power outage.
Smart doesn’t necessarily refer to the bulb being remotely controlled it referees to the automations that control them without any human intervention. As well as the analytical benefits. If your bulbs aren’t staying on the network that’s a problem with the product you selected, your own network and the protocol you went with. It’s also an issue with your smart home setup. if you’ve been coding that long then you should no better then to use wifi bulbs with standard firmware controlled through the cloud. I doubt you had zigbee or Z-wav bulbs constantly dropping. But if you did, that’s agin likely because of your settings and meshes. It’s kinda clear by the comment that your entirely familiar with the MODERN home automation/ smarty home scene or it’s capabilities. That would be called Dunning Kruger, at least in terms of your comment and lack of topical knowledge. Coding experience is irrelevant. Smart home is a descriptive term that simply means communication and automated capabilities however with increasing use of AI at the fire level of these system your argument becomes defunct. Especially since multiple (countless) papers have illuminated the fact that these models are more then queries and predictive analysis and are far more complex (smarter) then we thought. If you set up your system properly power outages will not leave your lights on and your internet service should be totally irrelevant ( as long your local controlled and not dependent on a cloud). Your router should still be up, a zigbee and Z wave mesh should instantly go back up. Most people have battery backups on their routers today so the WiFi products never fall off. You can also establish SMS messing to get updated status about power outages in case your internet goes out too. But you should have been able to check on your home and every window, door, light, heating/air, water sources, appliances, smoke detectors, etc once the power came back on if you understood how to set it all up appropriately. The irony is that your ridiculing younger generations when you as a boomer failed to grasp the modern concept or capabilities. While we are on vacation we have a free (no service) alarm that monitors everything from leaks to windows and doors. We can synchronize our TV’s, radios and lights to cycle on and off to detour robberies and theft! Our homes help assist in feeding and monitor pets. Fish tank lights, filters and pumps are automated. Our systems are better at mounting temperatures and reducing bills. Our smart homes know that we are in vacation. They listen for glass breaking or water running. They notify us if there’s a leak under the sinks or toilets. They tell us there’s an unusual amount of water running. They tell us if there’s smoke or flames before your neighbor calls to inform you that your house is gone. They automatically call emergency services. Yes our smart homes call us in our cell phone and text us on our phones. They give us push notifications and emails. I would get a message of my power went out and then a notice of what went back up. My neighbor has limited remote access to my home and can check on certain things or turn on off things without a key or calling me. He could turn the lights off himself if he wanted while I was away. I would know he was the one to do it. Before returning home from my trip my heat / cooling would return to the appropriate levels once I was a certain distance from home. When I approach the driveway the garage door automatically opens and the lights i need come on. As I approach the door it automatically unlocks thanks to facial recognition, my gps location and the fact that I’m Re-connected to WiFi. There’s plenty of things you can ridicule younger generations for but this isn’t one. But that agin your generation his culpable far more egregious things. Endless lists of things that have eroded the fabric and dominance of this nation. It’s ignorant and pretentious to attack the younger generation. Something I’m certain you do often since you managed to inject it erroneously into this topic. This generation is using smart led lights which utilize less energy, they’re smart homes monitor such energy use and they further reduce waste thanks to this. They don’t leave lights on accidentally. The irony of a generation whom handed over that which had taken so much sacrifice to build to banks and corporations with a nothing but a stroke of a pen. Whom handed over economic and manufacturing superiority to a giant they had woken. A generation that left little economic opportunity to the next while steadily eroding the planet and its resources. The generation that handed over the keys to wall street and I tore down the strength of the blue collar workers. The generation that waged countless wars because they bought into propaganda. A generation whom further spun the world into chaos once they discovered the internet and social media as they easily confused by false information and misinformation campaigns. A generation vulnerable to algorithms and cult partisan propaganda. A generation whom has no right ridiculing or calling the next “dumb” as you set them up for debt and failure. The generation that once survived on one car with 4 weeks vacation and benefits whom established the need for two jobs per household, credit card debt, invented leasing, the temp employment system, reverse mortgages, allowed banks to start charging Us to use our own money, made healthcare unaffordable, destroyed unions, lost benefits , created billionaires, and eroded so much more. Stop with the ageism until you look in the mirror.