Echo & Alexa Forums
General Category => Smart Devices and Gadgets => Topic started by: Merlin051 on October 21, 2016, 07:41:19 pm
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Hi,
I've been looking at the lightwaverf kit, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to replace my existing wall switches.
I'm led to believe the wiring in the UK isn't a simple swap out...
Anyone used any smart light switches?
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Oversimplifying quite a lot - nobody makes a smart light switch you can use in most UK houses.
LightwaveRF make a dimmer - which I'm considering - but there's no echo (or yonomi?) control at the moment as far as I know...
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The issue is whether your lighting circuit has a neutral wire going to the switch box or not. In the UK, older properties may do, but anything built in the last 50 years probably will not. (DO NOT confuse a neutral wire with the earth connected to your actual switch box; they are not the same thing). I was spoilt when I first played with home automation, living in a flat in an old Victorian house. When I moved to a 1980's house, I went "where's the neutral wire gone?". :D
A lot of home automation kit will not work without a neutral wire. However, some will. This module, for instance, can be wired into the box, and then the existing manual switch connected to it, allowing the module to be controlled both by the switch and remotely.
http://www.vesternet.com/z-wave-fibaro-universal-dimmer-2-250w
When searching for kit, what you want to see are words to the effect of "2 wire system" or "Neutral not required".
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There's a made in China product that doesn't require neutral wire: broadlink TC2 smart switches. I got mine from aliexpress.com