Anyone into home automation/smart homes with integration to Alexa, Google Home, Siri, etc.?

**oj88** · January 14th, 2019 08:01 PM

Just added these puppies to control the lights in my children's bedrooms. These are the Broadlink TC2 RF switches. They're literally drop-in replacements for the old switch.

Wiring is simple. As mentioned earlier, these don't require a Neutral wire. It may say so on the labeling ("N") but if you look closely, there's actually no terminal behind the hole.

This is how it is wired... remove the old switch, connect the L terminal to the Live wire, and the L1, L2, or L3 to the wire(s) going to the bulb(s). I did all the swap myself (after turning off the breaker, of course). If you're not sure how to do it, please hire an electrician.

**WallyWest** · January 14th, 2019 08:06 PM

How about smart light bulb sockets - The one you screw onto conventional bulb sockets to make a "dumb" bulb smart? Would you say they're a good alternative to smart bulbs (assuming you don't need the dimmer, color change functions)?

And how much parasitic current do smart devices typically draw since they're powered up 24/7?

Sent from my ASUS_T00J using Tapatalk

**oj88** · January 15th, 2019 12:32 AM

Originally Posted by WallyWest

How about smart light bulb sockets - The one you screw onto conventional bulb sockets to make a "dumb" bulb smart? Would you say they're a good alternative to smart bulbs (assuming you don't need the dimmer, color change functions)?

And how much parasitic current do smart devices typically draw since they're powered up 24/7?

Sent from my ASUS_T00J using Tapatalk

Treat them like a smart bulb, as you also need to make sure that the light switch is left on so the smart socket will always have power.

Each device consumes around 0.3-0.8W each.

So, if you have 20 such devices and each averages 0.7W, all combined would've have consumed 10kWh in a month.... that's going to be around P120 added to your bill (assuming a rate of P12/kWh).

**jut703** · January 15th, 2019 01:27 AM

Originally Posted by oj88

Let me put a few things out of the way first.... pardon the rather long read.

There are several ways to make your lights, smart:

1. Replace standard bulbs with smart bulbs - This is the fastest and easiest option. Most smart bulbs can be turned on/off, dimmed, or change color and/or scenes (dancing lights, etc.), via the app or a digital assistant (Alexa or GH). The downside is cost. The cheapest quality smart bulbs are from Yeelight. "Cheap" is of course relative and they still cost around P1k a pop from online shops like Shopee. If money is no object, there's also the Philips HUE system.... can't go wrong with those. Another disadvantage is the bulb needs continuous power. Therefore, you will need to keep the physical light switch turned on for every smart bulb it's connected to. If somehow, a family member or visitor turned off the physical switch, the smart bulb will lose power and you will no longer be able to operate it remotely.

2. Keep your standard bulbs/light fixtures and use a smart switch - There are two sub-categories of smart switches:

a. WiFi Smart Switch - These switches can be controlled manually, through the app, or digital assistants. As these switches are active switches, you will be able to see the realtime status of the switch (whether it's on or off) in the app. You can even ask GH the status of the switch and it will tell you if it's on or off. The downside is, the switch will very likely require a Neutral wire to keep itself powered up. The Neutral wire is an electrician-speak for having 220V supply available on every smart switch location in your home. To put things into perspective, houses made in the last century does not have a Neutral wire available on light switches as they're not needed. So it stands to reason that some wiring modifications are required in your house electrical to use this type of smart switch.

b. Neutral-less RF Smart Switch - Similar capabilities as above but does not require a Neutral wire. It works off the residual electricity available on the light circuit for its own power. These are passive switches and are usually controlled via 315 or 433MHz RF (not WiFi) and requires a hub. The downside is, as these are passive, there's no way to remotely determine if the switch is on or off through the app or GH.

These smart switches are on/off only. They are not capable of dimming the light. But just to be complete, there are expensive ones available on Amazon or eBay that can dim. They also work via RF, but uses a different protocol such as Z-Wave or Zigbee. These too, requires a hub.

Now, on to your questions:

Any of the approach I mentioned above will work. Further, you can also set timers or schedules. I believe a random setting is available that will randomly turn on/off your lights while no one's around to give your home the effect that somebody's home. You can also use a 3rd party cloud service such as "If This Then That" (IFTTT) to create conditions and triggers to do things like turn on your lamp shades whenever your GH or Alexa alarm goes off or turn your colored bulbs purple when it's about to rain... things like that.

There are two ways you can do this; Create a Scene or a Routine (in GH or Alexa).

Same response as your #1 question. This can be done, and more, using the respective apps.

As always, I can only speak based on my own preference and experience. That said, I can never recommend enough Broadlink products for replacing the standard light switches and Yeelight Color v2 for smart bulbs.

My plan is to use Broadlink TC2 light switches for the MAIN lights in ALL rooms (the lights you typically turn on when entering the room). I then use smart colored bulbs for accent lighting, lamp shades or where a colored bulb is desirable (ie. corner lighting). Right now, I mostly only have the cheap Chinese knock-off smart bulbs but I might replace them with Yeelights in the future for reasons of safety.

To start you off, you only need the following:
1. GH or Echo (Alexa)
2. Smart bulbs of your choice (as many as required)
3. Broadlink TC2 switches (as many as required) and one (1) Broadlink RM Pro hub to control them
4. A mobile device to install, run, and configure the necessary apps
5. WiFi and internet

That's it.

Bro, thanks a lot for the primer. This really helps a lot.

Since I don't have neutral wires for my light switches, that leaves me with option B. My worry though is that you said that you won't know if the lights are on or off if you use an app. How do you know then whether the lights are on when you're not at home?

Also, unfortunately my lights are already installed and they're all pinlights that don't use the regular lightbulb socket that the Yeelight uses. So I'm really stuck with the smart light switch route.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

**oj88** · January 15th, 2019 08:13 AM

Originally Posted by jut703

Bro, thanks a lot for the primer. This really helps a lot.

Since I don't have neutral wires for my light switches, that leaves me with option B. My worry though is that you said that you won't know if the lights are on or off if you use an app. How do you know then whether the lights are on when you're not at home?

Also, unfortunately my lights are already installed and they're all pinlights that don't use the regular lightbulb socket that the Yeelight uses. So I'm really stuck with the smart light switch route.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

I have a rather unconventional solution to that. I use my Wyze Cam Pan (Pan-Tilt-Zoom). Particularly in the living room, I can pan it around to check if any lights, appliance or the A/C is left on. I bought it originally to check on our pet while we’re away. I also have legacy IP cams in other rooms that are accessible via VPN. Though I will soon be replacing those with Wyze Cam v2’s (non-panning) so I can manage everything in one app.

For me, the status reporting is something that is nice to have but not particularly a deal breaker, all things considered. If I need the devices to be off and I know nobody’s using them, I just blindly command them to turn off. I even have a single Routine called “Master Switch” that when summoned in Alexa, will turn off everything at home that is controllable. If I need confirmation that they’re off (or on), which is really very seldom, I fire up the camera.

**oj88** · January 17th, 2019 03:16 PM

More goodies.

Time to retire the old... or maybe re-task them for less important jobs. I've got three of these and they'll be 10 years old in just a couple of months. The plastic case have actually become brittle and started cracking under its own weight.

**oj88** · January 31st, 2019 11:57 AM

**jut703** · February 9th, 2019 11:39 PM

Originally Posted by oj88

I have a rather unconventional solution to that. I use my Wyze Cam Pan (Pan-Tilt-Zoom). Particularly in the living room, I can pan it around to check if any lights, appliance or the A/C is left on. I bought it originally to check on our pet while we’re away. I also have legacy IP cams in other rooms that are accessible via VPN. Though I will soon be replacing those with Wyze Cam v2’s (non-panning) so I can manage everything in one app.

For me, the status reporting is something that is nice to have but not particularly a deal breaker, all things considered. If I need the devices to be off and I know nobody’s using them, I just blindly command them to turn off. I even have a single Routine called “Master Switch” that when summoned in Alexa, will turn off everything at home that is controllable. If I need confirmation that they’re off (or on), which is really very seldom, I fire up the camera.

I won't be installing a CCTV system for now since the building already has that covered. So really no other way to confirm that all lights are off unless you set a command to turn all the lights off?

Not ideal for me, but if there's no other way, I guess I can live with it. My lights have already been installed so I guess I can start buying the smart switches already. Hopefully it works well.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

**fleas2016** · February 10th, 2019 11:56 PM

Got our bedroom voice-enabled with broadlink solutions and some different brands of smart home stuff, i.e. switches and lights. With broadlink IHC it's easier than expected.

I have both a GH and an Echo. I have to say, the Google Assistant is ahead on this one. I love the routines and of course, the timer options in GH which I'm surprised its not supported by Alexa.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

**oj88** · February 11th, 2019 06:34 AM

Originally Posted by fleas2016

Got our bedroom voice-enabled with broadlink solutions and some different brands of smart home stuff, i.e. switches and lights. With broadlink IHC it's easier than expected.

I have both a GH and an Echo. I have to say, the Google Assistant is ahead on this one. I love the routines and of course, the timer options in GH which I'm surprised its not supported by Alexa.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Can you elaborate on the timers? I've got my GHM boxed up at the moment. Alexa can also do routines and currently, only Alexa can integrate with the RM Plugin for really customized IR and RF codes.