Making smart bulbs dumber with Shelly
Smart bulbs are great. They allow an easy way into home automation, and can even change colours, or even cooler can change colour throughout the day to match the right colour to help you sleep better.
However the big disadvantages of smart bulbs are
- Having to keep the switch on, otherwise the bulb no longer works
- If you do this in the bathroom, well your extractor fan will always be on, not great
These are the, admittedly, first world problems that I've been putting up with over the past few years. I've finally found a solution!
Enter Shelly
Shellies are little devices created by Allterco Robotics, a Bulgarian company, that are smart relays. They basically connect to WiFi, and then I have mine set up to talk to my MQTT server, so I can use them within Home Assistant. The beauty of Shellies is that they are so versatile, and they fix all these issues. Best of all, they are pretty cheap! I've paid a little more for mine as I've bought the UL versions for a bit of added peace of mind.
How?
Problem: Having to keep the switch on, otherwise the bulb no longer works
This is easily solved with Shelly. In rooms that I have smart bulbs, I use shellies to read the dumb switch (as they are wired into the input on the shelly), and I set up the Shelly to not respond to the input directly, just to broadcast it to MQTT, which I can then respond to in Home Assistant / NodeRed - so toggling of my dumb switch, toggles my smart bulb. Brilliant! I'm not keen on smart switches, because they confuse visitors, the beauty of this setup is that visitors have no concept that the light is anything but a dumb light - and that to me is what home automation should be, it shouldn't break the way you communicate with devices, it should just enhance and automate it.
Problem: If you do this in the bathroom, well your extractor fan will always be on, not great
This is easily solved with Shelly too. I've used Shelly 2s which can control two relays, one wired into the light, and the other wired into the extractor fan. This enables smart control of my extractor fan, and more importantly, means it doesn't have to be on all the time. Brilliant.
How to install?
They are pretty easy to install. You do have to get into the electrics, and so make sure you do a lot of reading before you even attempt something like this, and it's a good idea to invest in some tools like a voltage tester, and a voltstick.
If in doubt, call an electrician, this is 240V and can kill you if you're not careful - always switch the light on, then kill the circuit at the circuit breaker, confirm the light is dead, and then test with a voltage tester just to make sure. Make sure everyone in your household knows what is going on, so no-one turns on the circuit while you are working on it.
I did a mixture of the two, in places where the wiring is simple, I wired the shellies myself, in places where the wiring is hidden (for example when controlling spotlights in the kitchen etc), or in a sensitive area (like the bathrooms) I hired an electrician to do the job, to make sure it was done correctly.
You might be asking, hang on, but the UK doesn't have neutrals in the light switches? Correct, this is one of the reasons I don't like smart switches. However this doesn't matter, you can install Shellies in the ceiling rose, where a neutral is available. These guides helped me:
I had to purchase this rose to replace my roses as the Shelly wouldn't fit https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GJNVT2K which worked well. And in one room where I had a neutral in the switch to control an extractor fan I used a riser so it would fit fine.
This all works perfectly, and I highly recommend this approach to people in the UK who want smart switches without all the issues no neutral smart switches bring.