Hi everyone. Been a bit out of touch recently but just starting to plan a new smart house project.
I want to put those little Zigbee micro switch thingumajigs inside the switch sockets and then I’m gonna use 8” android tablets over the top with custom dashboards. What are the latest and greatest, Zigbee, fully supported, cost effective micro switches? Sorry not sure if that’s the right name for them.
Thanks guys.
I’ve been happy with the Shelly Wifi devices. The few that I have been using have worked well. They are not Zigbee though…
In-wall Zigbee relays.
Not switch modules but lots of dimmer options here:
You want to put the switch behind the tablet so you can toggle the power on the tablet? Will you also be pitting a 5v power supply behind the tablet that is plugged into the outlet attached to the zigbee relay?
Thanks. I don’t intend to use dimmers because I’m going to use smart bulbs.
Tablets will be POE. So the micro relays will just be to provide overall control of the lighting if necessary to be honest, I could just bring the wires to the boxes and twist them together for now - the idea being that if someone wanted to revert the smart home in the future they could put traditional light switches back in again. But I do still want to be able to isolate the light circuits so I thought to put these relays in the boxes and then front them with the tablets. I’ve found an 8” Android tablet that is POE and fits a standard switch box.
Most wall switch locations aren't really located high enough on a wall to make them a great location for a tablet. You could add a old work box above the switch location for your POE and tablet.
Full renovation so I can put them wherever I want 
I've never used the Aqara T2 version, but I have the original and it works fine. One did die on me, but stuff happens. 
There's also the mirad of Tuya versions. Here's one...
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001593033528.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.19.3b9c79918Jdth6&algo_pvid=a12f597b-d1d0-42a4-b069-84a1a9b44e5a&aem_p4p_detail=202310310919519786869058835440000438844&algo_exp_id=a12f597b-d1d0-42a4-b069-84a1a9b44e5a-9&pdp_npi=4%40dis!CAD!29.05!17.43!!!20.52!!%402101c80216987691916911627e676c!12000030750239155!sea!CA!181113656!&curPageLogUid=27SFkLk1ONN6&search_p4p_id=202310310919519786869058835440000438844_2
There's been a lot of driver work done by @kkossev for Tuya devices and some Xiaomi devices. Don't know if that covers the in-wall relays though. For my money, HA and HA Device Bridge has been one of the best additions I've made. With a Conbee 2 Zigbee dongle and Z2M, I don't really have to think too hard about whether a device is going to be compatible. I just know there's really good chance it will work on the first try.
Hey, sorry if I misunderstood. It could be we may not have enough information to respond correctly. I think we are left wondering if the relay modules are what you really want and need or if there are perhaps other solutions.
I have some of the zigbee relays, but I really don't like them. I prefer smart switches because they end up having more features including controlling smart bulbs.
If you don't mind I have a question about what you are planning. Are you planning on putting tablets at every switch location to have the tablet act as the switch? That might be where we have a disconnect because if that's the intent it may be less common. Most people have a small subset of tablets to switches. So if you are more or less designing this renovation to not have switches let us know.
This is what I did in my old house. The someone that converted the lights back was me (Although many were actually converted to smart dimmers and some remained as Lutron Picos). I sold that house as a smart home to make the re-wiring I had to do much easier.
In my current house, I converted all the three-way switches so the sockets are always energized (and man, did they ever like three-way switches in this house! I guess that was the late 80's version of "smart"). I use Hue smart bulbs everywhere, except for a few key fixtures where I didn't want smart bulbs. In those cases, I use smart dimmers. Control of the smart bulbs for me is Lutron Pico throughout. Not sure what button options you have available in Singapore.
Hi again. Yes. The plan is to have an Android tablet at each light switch location running custom dashboards to control the lighting (I will have 7 or 8 in total around the house) and a larger main control display that will be wall mounted in the lounge.
The tablet I’ve found can be powered either using a 12v supply or POE so my thinking is to run RJ45 network cable to each light switch box to power the tablets, and use the micro relays so that I still have some control over the lighting circuits if necessary.
What driver did you use to get this to work?
Are you referring to the original Aqara dual relay I mentioned above?
If so, there was an older driver that worked, but I've no idea if it's working any longer. @kkossev might be able to help if that's what you're referring to. I run all my Aqara stuff on HA with Z2M and use Home Assistant Device Bridge to bring them into Hubitat.
I have used a few Sonoff ZBMINIs for a couple years now and have been very happy with them. Some folks shy away from them because they are not certified to meet US electrical standards. There is a newer version (the ZBMINI-L2) that is certified, but its a "no-neutral" device so there is some small amount of current that will "leak" through the attached load.
Just curious, how will you set this up to work? If the in-wall relay is off, the lights won't work at all.
Yes, I won’t use the micro relay unless I want to isolate the lighting circuit. But it’s also to allow the wiring to ‘terminate’ behind the tablets in a way that would be compatible with rewiring the house “dumb” if needed in the future.
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