I’m a rookie in smart home, just bought the Homey Pro
Managed to connect multiple IKEA Stoftmoln LED ceiling lamp, did a couple of flows but I have an issue:
The switches in my apartment are not smart, so even though I switch off the light, in the Homey it appears as on (for sure the switch just kills the power), because of this aspect the flows are not working (after 22:30 the lamps should be dimmed to 30% when turned on, which is not working).
Did some research and I’m pretty sure that I need either smart switches (suggestions of cost efficient ones?) or smart relays (same suggestion).
Probably biggest mistake for most New people in Home Automation / Smart Lights…
That is just not Smart …
Keep alle Smart systems 100% of the Time “On” and switch them with Smart Remote’s , an App (Homey) or Flows … just never Kill the power to that Smart systems, it make’s them dump.
The lights need to be powered all the time, which means “just” adding a smart relay won’t fix your problems, because such relays still switch the power.
You need a smart switch/relay that allows for “detached” mode, meaning that the mechanical switch does not switch the internal relay but only sends a signal to Homey that the switch was toggled. And that signal can then be used to toggle the lights.
Alternatively, you can bypass the switch entirely in the pattress box by connecting the incoming live wire to the outgoing switch wire. That way you don’t need a device that has a detached mode (but that will require having a neutral wire in the pattress, which isn’t always the case).
In any case, it will require changing (mains!) electrics, which means that if all of the above doesn’t make a lot of sense it’s probably better to ask someone qualified to change them.
