I loved the video, I watched it through even though I only came for the smart relays. One pro tip is if you want to control home assistant while you are away from home, you can setup a simple vpn solution to your home network, and then access home assistant directly without a subscription. Otherwise great video!
Thanks! Hope you enjoyed it. Yeah... I used a VPN connection before there was a Nabu Casa option. But to be honest, the Nabu Casa connection plus the easy integration with Google Assistant and the mobile app on both my Android and the wife's iPhone makes the small subscription worth the price for me. While it can all (mostly) be done without it, the subscription also goes towards funding future development of Home Assistant as well. So, I do make an exception to my normal rule regarding a subscription service for this one. Thanks for watching and taking time to drop me a comment. I appreciate it!
This is excellent. I was not aware of the capabilities of the Shelly 1 PM, i.e. use a wall switch normally to control a ceiling light and also use a smart relay to do the same thing with Home Assistant. I was looking at a convoluted and messy way of controlling the light with a relay and turning the wall switch into a 3.3 volt on/off signal into an ESP8266. The Shelly seems to do all this in a compact package!
Thanks! I have a LOT of Shelly's installed in my home. They are great because they allow the existing switch to operate exactly like it did before, but adds the ability to use it as a smart switch. In fact, I converted my kitchen overhead lighting (4-way switching.. 3 physical switches in different locations) to 'smart' lighting using two Shelly 1PMs and a smart dimmer switch. The best part... everything works just like it did before with the existing switches (which the wife likes), yet I can do all sorts of stuff with automations... auto-dimming, auto-on/off, etc. The Shelly line also has the distinct advantage of providing pin headers for each flashing of custom firmware (e.g. Tasmota or ESPHome) or built-in MQTT for local control without reliance on the cloud or the need to create a Shelly account. Thanks for watching and taking the time to post a comment!
Very nice video. Just one question on the smart switch as you had. Your neutral was combine because one side was going to bulb and one was going somewhere.... and what you done is to combine these two with one neutral cable going to the smart switch, right?
I'm not 100% sure I follow.. but the neutral from the smart switch should connect to the neutrals in the box. Often, there will be more than one neutral and they will be bundled together with a wire nut. The smart switch neutral is just added to this bundle. Then the hot/live from the smart switch connects to the live/hot line in the box (what is normally already attached to one side of the existing switch. Then the load line connects to the wire going out to the device that is to be controlled. The neutral line(s) normally just 'pass through' the box and aren't connected to anything. The smart switch neutral is just added to this pass-through. There should be a wiring diagram or instructions with any smart switch you buy that might explain (or show) it better than I can describe here. I hope that answers the question you were asking.
@@ResinChemTech yes, it helped. I have also the case with old switches without use neutral but unlikely with other videos where the neutral wiring in the wall was missing (maybe somewhere elsewhere) i have it but with a wire nut. So since the smart switches with neutral are more common and less expressive i thought maybe i can connect one more neutral cable in that nut.
You are correct that most smart devices require a neutral wire in the box... and won't work without one. There are some smart devices (switches, etc.) that are designed to work without a neutral (Lutron switches for one), but you are right that those devices are generally more expensive. Check both your box and the device itself for neutral wire requirements before you purchase and attempt to install. But if you do have a neutral, then yes... you can add the neutral from the smart switch to the existing neutral wire or neutral wire bundle.
In the relay setup, when you turn on the light with the regular switch and turn off with the app, the regular switch will turn on the light in the next switch? What happens if my zigbee or wifi hub is disconnected, the switch keeps working without smart functions?
Yes to both questions. When using the Shelly 1PM relay, flipping the physical switch will always toggle the on/off state. So, you can turn the light on or off with the app and then flipping the switch will still toggle the state. Now, this does mean that the physical position of the switch might not match a "normal" switch... e.g switch is 'down' when light is off and 'up' when light is on... but flipping the switch will always toggle the light from off to on or vice versa. In addition, the flipping of the switch to toggle the relay (or on/off state of the light) is all done locally on the relay itself. So, if your wifi goes down, you won't be able to control the switch with the app, but you can always use the physical switch to turn the light off or on via the relay even with no wifi (or Zigbee if using a Zigbee-enabled relay similar to the Shelly 1).
I'm newer to the smart home game, and am interested in things like home assistant and/or hubitat for local control. You mentioned gosund switches are they plug and play with home assistant and allow for local control through an official integration?
Welcome to the deep rabbit hole that is home automation! As far as the Gosund switches, I believe I was referring to the fact that they were still flashable with custom firmware for local integration (at least when I published the video). They are NOT local directly out of the box and would require the Gosund app (Smart Life I think). As a general rule, if the device requires an app on your phone to setup and control, it is going to be cloud-based and not local. Many of these cloud services have Home Assistant integrations... but they aren't truly local. For true local control, you have to flash the device with custom firmware like Tasmota or ESPHome.. (these also have native integrations in Home Assistant). There are a few exceptions out there. Shelly devices, for one, have the ability for local control (MQTT) without use of the cloud or flashing custom firmware. Other companies, like Athom, sell devices with custom firmware, like Tasmota, flashed for you. I support your desire for local control, but in most cases, you will need to flash this custom firmware... and as I mentioned, flashable devices are become rare and hard to find. Best of luck on your home automation journey! Don't hesitate to reach out if you have additional questions. I can only speak about Home Assistant, but there is a great community out there to help you along your way if that's the route you choose.
@@ResinChemTech i appreciate your response. In my limited research that is what I have found. I may have to split the difference and use Hubitat and Zwave or zigbee devices. I don't have the patience or the coding know how to make HA the way I would want it.
I actually have that on my list for one of my next couple of videos! It might be a little more advanced due to the need to flash Tasmota to switches... and flashable switches/dimmers are getting much harder to come by these days. But keep an eye out for it soon!
I loved the video, I watched it through even though I only came for the smart relays. One pro tip is if you want to control home assistant while you are away from home, you can setup a simple vpn solution to your home network, and then access home assistant directly without a subscription. Otherwise great video!
Thanks! Hope you enjoyed it.
Yeah... I used a VPN connection before there was a Nabu Casa option. But to be honest, the Nabu Casa connection plus the easy integration with Google Assistant and the mobile app on both my Android and the wife's iPhone makes the small subscription worth the price for me. While it can all (mostly) be done without it, the subscription also goes towards funding future development of Home Assistant as well. So, I do make an exception to my normal rule regarding a subscription service for this one.
Thanks for watching and taking time to drop me a comment. I appreciate it!
This is excellent. I was not aware of the capabilities of the Shelly 1 PM, i.e. use a wall switch normally to control a ceiling light and also use a smart relay to do the same thing with Home Assistant. I was looking at a convoluted and messy way of controlling the light with a relay and turning the wall switch into a 3.3 volt on/off signal into an ESP8266. The Shelly seems to do all this in a compact package!
Thanks! I have a LOT of Shelly's installed in my home. They are great because they allow the existing switch to operate exactly like it did before, but adds the ability to use it as a smart switch. In fact, I converted my kitchen overhead lighting (4-way switching.. 3 physical switches in different locations) to 'smart' lighting using two Shelly 1PMs and a smart dimmer switch. The best part... everything works just like it did before with the existing switches (which the wife likes), yet I can do all sorts of stuff with automations... auto-dimming, auto-on/off, etc. The Shelly line also has the distinct advantage of providing pin headers for each flashing of custom firmware (e.g. Tasmota or ESPHome) or built-in MQTT for local control without reliance on the cloud or the need to create a Shelly account.
Thanks for watching and taking the time to post a comment!
Great video thanks
You're welcome! Hopefully you found something helpful or useful.
Very nice video. Just one question on the smart switch as you had. Your neutral was combine because one side was going to bulb and one was going somewhere.... and what you done is to combine these two with one neutral cable going to the smart switch, right?
I'm not 100% sure I follow.. but the neutral from the smart switch should connect to the neutrals in the box. Often, there will be more than one neutral and they will be bundled together with a wire nut. The smart switch neutral is just added to this bundle. Then the hot/live from the smart switch connects to the live/hot line in the box (what is normally already attached to one side of the existing switch. Then the load line connects to the wire going out to the device that is to be controlled.
The neutral line(s) normally just 'pass through' the box and aren't connected to anything. The smart switch neutral is just added to this pass-through. There should be a wiring diagram or instructions with any smart switch you buy that might explain (or show) it better than I can describe here. I hope that answers the question you were asking.
@@ResinChemTech yes, it helped. I have also the case with old switches without use neutral but unlikely with other videos where the neutral wiring in the wall was missing (maybe somewhere elsewhere) i have it but with a wire nut. So since the smart switches with neutral are more common and less expressive i thought maybe i can connect one more neutral cable in that nut.
You are correct that most smart devices require a neutral wire in the box... and won't work without one. There are some smart devices (switches, etc.) that are designed to work without a neutral (Lutron switches for one), but you are right that those devices are generally more expensive. Check both your box and the device itself for neutral wire requirements before you purchase and attempt to install. But if you do have a neutral, then yes... you can add the neutral from the smart switch to the existing neutral wire or neutral wire bundle.
In the relay setup, when you turn on the light with the regular switch and turn off with the app, the regular switch will turn on the light in the next switch? What happens if my zigbee or wifi hub is disconnected, the switch keeps working without smart functions?
Yes to both questions. When using the Shelly 1PM relay, flipping the physical switch will always toggle the on/off state. So, you can turn the light on or off with the app and then flipping the switch will still toggle the state. Now, this does mean that the physical position of the switch might not match a "normal" switch... e.g switch is 'down' when light is off and 'up' when light is on... but flipping the switch will always toggle the light from off to on or vice versa.
In addition, the flipping of the switch to toggle the relay (or on/off state of the light) is all done locally on the relay itself. So, if your wifi goes down, you won't be able to control the switch with the app, but you can always use the physical switch to turn the light off or on via the relay even with no wifi (or Zigbee if using a Zigbee-enabled relay similar to the Shelly 1).
I'm newer to the smart home game, and am interested in things like home assistant and/or hubitat for local control. You mentioned gosund switches are they plug and play with home assistant and allow for local control through an official integration?
Welcome to the deep rabbit hole that is home automation! As far as the Gosund switches, I believe I was referring to the fact that they were still flashable with custom firmware for local integration (at least when I published the video). They are NOT local directly out of the box and would require the Gosund app (Smart Life I think). As a general rule, if the device requires an app on your phone to setup and control, it is going to be cloud-based and not local. Many of these cloud services have Home Assistant integrations... but they aren't truly local. For true local control, you have to flash the device with custom firmware like Tasmota or ESPHome.. (these also have native integrations in Home Assistant). There are a few exceptions out there. Shelly devices, for one, have the ability for local control (MQTT) without use of the cloud or flashing custom firmware. Other companies, like Athom, sell devices with custom firmware, like Tasmota, flashed for you. I support your desire for local control, but in most cases, you will need to flash this custom firmware... and as I mentioned, flashable devices are become rare and hard to find. Best of luck on your home automation journey! Don't hesitate to reach out if you have additional questions. I can only speak about Home Assistant, but there is a great community out there to help you along your way if that's the route you choose.
@@ResinChemTech i appreciate your response. In my limited research that is what I have found. I may have to split the difference and use Hubitat and Zwave or zigbee devices. I don't have the patience or the coding know how to make HA the way I would want it.
You need to do video on 4way switches
I actually have that on my list for one of my next couple of videos! It might be a little more advanced due to the need to flash Tasmota to switches... and flashable switches/dimmers are getting much harder to come by these days. But keep an eye out for it soon!