Hi, I’ve got what I think is some simple requirements which I can’t confidently solve on my own. It’s a similar problem in two rooms, in both cases I’d like the state of a lamp to match that of the overhead lights, and I want the overhead lights to work exactly as they do now, whether Homey is down/off/whatever, with the same switches ideally. The most cost efficient way to do this seems to me to add two Ikea (or similar) zigbee smart plugs, and then somehow identify if the lights are powered or not. I think Sonoff’s DIY smart switches can get me quite close for the second part.
The two rooms both have two wall switches to control the overhead lights, but different wiring:
One is a standard two way light switch. This seems like it should be easy - all I need to know is if current is flowing, but the Sonoff zbmini-l2 etc. all have the sonoff relay take over the light control. I don’t want this! I’d rather have something inline that just signalled if it was getting power, and when it lost it. Still, worst case I can get this working by running an extra wire between the switch boxes, I think? like this:
Just realised the easiest thing to do is to add a smart bulb to the overhead lights - it will presumably report its status if powered on/off, and I can work off that?
e: on further research it seems like this won’t work smoothly most (all?) smart bulbs don’t like being disconnected from power - maybe the Hue ones do? I have basically the same question as here except a smart plug won’t work for me.
If I have understood correctly, you want to be able to turn your lamp on and off with the light switch on your wall that also turns the ceiling lights on and off?
If so, I should install a Shelly device in your light switch (1pm mini if you have a neutral, or 1L gen 3 if not). I would then put a smart bulb in the lamp.
If you want extra functionality like ability to dim the ceiling light or change its colour/warmth then you could use a smart bulb there too, and operate the Shelly switch in detached mode.
If you want offline connectivity then you’ll probably want Philips hue and a hue hub as you suggested for the bulb(s), and then for the Shelly set it to have a static ip address
Thanks! I ended up using the Sonoff equivalent of the no-neutral Shelly device and a battery powered switch in the other to avoid some tricky rewiring. It works although the switch is not terribly responsive.
