this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2023
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What do you with physical light switches connected to automations? (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 years ago by xantoxis@lemmy.world to c/homeassistant@lemmy.world
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I'm setting up with HA and zigbee smart bulbs. I've got a few automations already set up, such as turning on a bunch of lights in the morning and turning most of them off again at night.

All these lights still have physical switches. I don't want to take those switches out for lots of reasons, and putting smart switches there seems like overkill when the bulbs are already smart. What are people doing with their physical light switches to ensure that they don't get flipped?

Ideas I've had:

  • some kind of physical plastic covering that fits snugly around it. I'd probably do this if I had a 3d printer, but I don't. Maybe someone sells a thing like this? More just a reminder not to touch them.
  • Carefully paint the switches a different color (perhaps the HA color scheme?). Again, basically just a reminder. This especially makes sense with a few multi-switch plates where some of the connected lights are automated and some are intentionally left manual.
  • Entirely replace the plate with a smart switch? Besides incurring a nontrivial cost and being a bunch of work to install, this won't even help me with the aforementioned multiswitch plates. I don't want all my lights automated.

Other ideas?

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[–] I_am_Ron_Swanson@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

Most of my switches are smart, bulbs are dumb. Any smart bulbs are on non switched lights and are controlled by automations.

That said, I do have a smart RGBW bulb in our master bathroom fan that's also on a smart switch. The switch doesn't actually control the power, rather it works more like a button (via a setting configuration on the switch). That allows me to control normal lighting with the on/off toggle, and I can also factor in other elements, like time of the day. For example, turn on the light at 6:00 AM and the bulb is set to 100% brightness and a cool white color temperature. At 10:00 PM, a warm white at 40% brightness. After 11:00 PM it sets to red and 10% brightness for overnight restroom needs. Definitely not the cheapest route, it definitely the most control. Might be worth considering for your highest traffic areas.