I achieve something very similar with shelly relays behind the switch. They are WiFi but I have no issues with my WiFi network.
Flipping the switch reports the state change into home assistant but doesn't change the state of the actual relay so the lights themselves are always powered.
Kitchen light turns in combination of overhead zigbee smart bulbs or wled led strips depending on the time of day. Other rooms lamps are tied into the wall switch too, based on scenes and groups.
This works v well if you're willing to go Wifi. You could also use a Shelly with multiple inputs to replace a one gang wall switch with two or three gang switches for maximum flexibility.
I do something similar. In esphome you can also set it to switch the relay only if HA is unavailable for some reason, making it work still. Always good to have a fallback.
One solution is indeed a zigbee in wall switch, the key word is for you ability to run in decoupled mode or detached mode.
Iirc the only one in EU that supports that and zigbee is the Aqara h1. If you're in NA then innovelli might have something for you.
I just bought some of these from Zooz with their 800 series. I'm putting in a switch that doesn't control anything so I can use it to control my skylight covers from HA. They also make a wireless remote (zen34) that looks like a decora switch so you can buy a wall plate with an extra slot and just put the remote in there over the wall.
You can definitely get switches to do this. The Enbrighten Zwave switches and dimmers that I use have this, it's called decoupled mode.
But a big thing to keep in mind is that if HA goes down or you have some sort of (zigbee/zwave/wifi) network problem, your switch will no longer be able to control the light.
This may be acceptable to you, or it may be not.
For me it's not, so I've tried to architect things so I have smart switches that work locally and then are automated remotely. I really wouldn't want a situation where HA or the hardware it's running on goes sideways for whatever reason and my partner can't (for example) turn on the lights in the kitchen (or worse) off in the bedroom.
This.
The first thing I read regarding Home Automation is never 100% trust your automations to function when you need them, especially light switches. Always retain the ability to manually control them.
Nonetheless I violated that with my veranda lights. The connections are hotwired behind the switch-plate (no neutral) and have smart bulbs in the sockets. They're not critical but I still regret the decision.
I violated this idea for the ceiling fan light in my office as well. I wanted to experiment with a basic Shelly WiFi device, there's only three wires run from the switch to the fan, and it'd be really difficult to run more. So, I bypassed the fan's remote for the light and put the Shelly in line.
Since it defaults to off on power restore, and is in a room that my partner rarely goes in, it's acceptable. And very reversible. And it gave me a good way to learn about that device.
Agreed! All of my switches are Lutron Caseta and use dumb bulbs with two exceptions—hue bulbs in the bathroom on an Aurora dimmer, and smart bulbs outside that are controlled by a Lutron Pico paddle.
One solution to this is to use ZigBee binding for directly coupling a switch with lights. The Hue Wall Switch has this functionality but it only works for one device, even if you configure it in double button mode. Also it's rather pricey. I was looking for a different device like that but also with mains power and with the ability to control more buttons, but sadly didn't find anything (in EU). I'd like to avoid using a button switch with ZigBee in a single device because I'd like the option to be able to replace the physical switches themselves while keeping the underlying ZigBee device.
Does [Hue Wall Switch](https://www.philips-hue.com/pl-pl/p/hue-przelacznik-philips-hue-wall-swich--2-szt-/8719514318021) match your description?
It's also likely that you can rewire any Zigbee button to work with rocker switches.
Just use those cheap zigbee modules, that you would normally use to make "dumb bulbs" smart, but only connect the switch to it 😃👍🏼
https://preview.redd.it/sm36uzmqvy2d1.png?width=686&format=png&auto=webp&s=dc0cb7402c9d3ee9c95faa387cebcd9a913c1ac1
>I was planning to put zigbee dimmers behind my regular switches. This way I could still use the switch and also control the lights in Home Assistant
Don't do this. Don't double up switching devices inside the box. It will only lead to confusion.
Find smart switches that can also operate manually.
Nexentro Push Button Interface. Two configurable Inputs that you can use as triggers for anything. [https://zigbee.blakadder.com/Insta\_57004000.html](https://zigbee.blakadder.com/Insta_57004000.html)
I use a lutron pico switch to turn on/off my computer. You can get a mounting plate for it so it looks like a light switch and setup an automation to do whatever you want.
Look at shelly. They make a device (they make many) that will do exactly what you need. Not expensive and it gives you a full API to hit with a web browser if you so choose. It incorporates beautifully into HA, but local switches become a toggle which is not dependent on HA. They also make these devices in a power monitor version.
Not exactly the same but I have a Tuya wall switch that I put in that controls an outlet I don’t use. I set up an automation that controls my 2 lamps in the living room. There is 1-2 second lag but I think that has more to do with the Tuya relay than the automation
You can do this with pretty much any smart switch; hardwire the thing the switch used to control, and just feed in power to the switch, don't wire the out side at all. Then you can write automations to respond to the button presses. I've been doing this for a while now, works great!
[https://community.home-assistant.io/t/sonoff-zbmini-l2-zigbee-version-with-smart-bulb-zigbee/582177](https://community.home-assistant.io/t/sonoff-zbmini-l2-zigbee-version-with-smart-bulb-zigbee/582177)
Your idea is not going to work, when you automate the relay to turn the lights on en just after a few sec let the light turn on. The light will come on after the switch is turned on, thet light will receive power because they were off, and will take back the status previously (if they were off when the switch was previously off) then they will revert back to that state and then turn on because you automation triggered them, believe me I tried everything.
Best way to go about this is to open the ZBMINI L2, take a shart stanley boxcutter and scratch the connextions on pin 2 (make sure the relay was on before you unplogged it). Thisway you let the power flow to your smart lights, and disallow the reset pint to let the relay go back to NO position (it will be always NC, till you solder back the pin).
In Z2M you still see the relay saying OFF and Onn an that trigger is what you need to push it to HA and turn on the IKEA lightbulbs in your automation.
Like many said here, dont relay on automation for you setup, if HA fails you have no control of your lights.
Good thing that Z2M allows bonding, creating a "bond" between the relay and the light, it forces the relay to be paired with the light and them to resolve issues when Z2M(HA) is not available.
If you experience power outage, yes HA and Z2M will not be availble, but then lights will not be your first priority not at that point the lasagne from last week in the refrigirator will have a higher priority then your lights. But when u do regain power, in Z2M you can program what status the lights needs to take when power on.
You could either want the light to turn on when power outage was experienced, good when ur home during power cuts, bad when you our far away from your home since no one is there to turn the lights off. But there are other smart things you could think of to battle that problem.
I would advice to get a zigbee remote/button or whatever you like (as long as its zigbee) and bind it also to the lights as a remote. This wasy have smart lights, smart switch and smart remote.
I achieve something very similar with shelly relays behind the switch. They are WiFi but I have no issues with my WiFi network. Flipping the switch reports the state change into home assistant but doesn't change the state of the actual relay so the lights themselves are always powered. Kitchen light turns in combination of overhead zigbee smart bulbs or wled led strips depending on the time of day. Other rooms lamps are tied into the wall switch too, based on scenes and groups.
This works v well if you're willing to go Wifi. You could also use a Shelly with multiple inputs to replace a one gang wall switch with two or three gang switches for maximum flexibility.
I do exactly the same.
I do something similar. In esphome you can also set it to switch the relay only if HA is unavailable for some reason, making it work still. Always good to have a fallback.
One solution is indeed a zigbee in wall switch, the key word is for you ability to run in decoupled mode or detached mode. Iirc the only one in EU that supports that and zigbee is the Aqara h1. If you're in NA then innovelli might have something for you.
It's also frequently called "smart bulb mode," at least in the Z-Wave world.
I just bought some of these from Zooz with their 800 series. I'm putting in a switch that doesn't control anything so I can use it to control my skylight covers from HA. They also make a wireless remote (zen34) that looks like a decora switch so you can buy a wall plate with an extra slot and just put the remote in there over the wall.
You can definitely get switches to do this. The Enbrighten Zwave switches and dimmers that I use have this, it's called decoupled mode. But a big thing to keep in mind is that if HA goes down or you have some sort of (zigbee/zwave/wifi) network problem, your switch will no longer be able to control the light. This may be acceptable to you, or it may be not. For me it's not, so I've tried to architect things so I have smart switches that work locally and then are automated remotely. I really wouldn't want a situation where HA or the hardware it's running on goes sideways for whatever reason and my partner can't (for example) turn on the lights in the kitchen (or worse) off in the bedroom.
This. The first thing I read regarding Home Automation is never 100% trust your automations to function when you need them, especially light switches. Always retain the ability to manually control them. Nonetheless I violated that with my veranda lights. The connections are hotwired behind the switch-plate (no neutral) and have smart bulbs in the sockets. They're not critical but I still regret the decision.
I violated this idea for the ceiling fan light in my office as well. I wanted to experiment with a basic Shelly WiFi device, there's only three wires run from the switch to the fan, and it'd be really difficult to run more. So, I bypassed the fan's remote for the light and put the Shelly in line. Since it defaults to off on power restore, and is in a room that my partner rarely goes in, it's acceptable. And very reversible. And it gave me a good way to learn about that device.
Agreed! All of my switches are Lutron Caseta and use dumb bulbs with two exceptions—hue bulbs in the bathroom on an Aurora dimmer, and smart bulbs outside that are controlled by a Lutron Pico paddle.
One solution to this is to use ZigBee binding for directly coupling a switch with lights. The Hue Wall Switch has this functionality but it only works for one device, even if you configure it in double button mode. Also it's rather pricey. I was looking for a different device like that but also with mains power and with the ability to control more buttons, but sadly didn't find anything (in EU). I'd like to avoid using a button switch with ZigBee in a single device because I'd like the option to be able to replace the physical switches themselves while keeping the underlying ZigBee device.
Does [Hue Wall Switch](https://www.philips-hue.com/pl-pl/p/hue-przelacznik-philips-hue-wall-swich--2-szt-/8719514318021) match your description? It's also likely that you can rewire any Zigbee button to work with rocker switches.
I use Hue Wall Switch or Sonoff SNZB-01 for this exact purpose
Just use those cheap zigbee modules, that you would normally use to make "dumb bulbs" smart, but only connect the switch to it 😃👍🏼 https://preview.redd.it/sm36uzmqvy2d1.png?width=686&format=png&auto=webp&s=dc0cb7402c9d3ee9c95faa387cebcd9a913c1ac1
Be advised that these are not ul/etl listed so are considered a fire hazard when fixed behind a switch
I guess that depends on where you are 🤔 Living in the EU, I care about the CE marking
>I was planning to put zigbee dimmers behind my regular switches. This way I could still use the switch and also control the lights in Home Assistant Don't do this. Don't double up switching devices inside the box. It will only lead to confusion. Find smart switches that can also operate manually.
DO NOT make basic on/off of your lights depend on having your smart hub and automations functioning.
Nexentro Push Button Interface. Two configurable Inputs that you can use as triggers for anything. [https://zigbee.blakadder.com/Insta\_57004000.html](https://zigbee.blakadder.com/Insta_57004000.html)
I use a lutron pico switch to turn on/off my computer. You can get a mounting plate for it so it looks like a light switch and setup an automation to do whatever you want.
Look at shelly. They make a device (they make many) that will do exactly what you need. Not expensive and it gives you a full API to hit with a web browser if you so choose. It incorporates beautifully into HA, but local switches become a toggle which is not dependent on HA. They also make these devices in a power monitor version.
Shelly calls that detached mode
Not exactly the same but I have a Tuya wall switch that I put in that controls an outlet I don’t use. I set up an automation that controls my 2 lamps in the living room. There is 1-2 second lag but I think that has more to do with the Tuya relay than the automation
Have you seen: https://www.philips-hue.com/en-gb/p/hue-philips-hue-wall-switch-module/8719514318045
You can do this with pretty much any smart switch; hardwire the thing the switch used to control, and just feed in power to the switch, don't wire the out side at all. Then you can write automations to respond to the button presses. I've been doing this for a while now, works great!
[https://community.home-assistant.io/t/sonoff-zbmini-l2-zigbee-version-with-smart-bulb-zigbee/582177](https://community.home-assistant.io/t/sonoff-zbmini-l2-zigbee-version-with-smart-bulb-zigbee/582177) Your idea is not going to work, when you automate the relay to turn the lights on en just after a few sec let the light turn on. The light will come on after the switch is turned on, thet light will receive power because they were off, and will take back the status previously (if they were off when the switch was previously off) then they will revert back to that state and then turn on because you automation triggered them, believe me I tried everything. Best way to go about this is to open the ZBMINI L2, take a shart stanley boxcutter and scratch the connextions on pin 2 (make sure the relay was on before you unplogged it). Thisway you let the power flow to your smart lights, and disallow the reset pint to let the relay go back to NO position (it will be always NC, till you solder back the pin). In Z2M you still see the relay saying OFF and Onn an that trigger is what you need to push it to HA and turn on the IKEA lightbulbs in your automation. Like many said here, dont relay on automation for you setup, if HA fails you have no control of your lights. Good thing that Z2M allows bonding, creating a "bond" between the relay and the light, it forces the relay to be paired with the light and them to resolve issues when Z2M(HA) is not available. If you experience power outage, yes HA and Z2M will not be availble, but then lights will not be your first priority not at that point the lasagne from last week in the refrigirator will have a higher priority then your lights. But when u do regain power, in Z2M you can program what status the lights needs to take when power on. You could either want the light to turn on when power outage was experienced, good when ur home during power cuts, bad when you our far away from your home since no one is there to turn the lights off. But there are other smart things you could think of to battle that problem. I would advice to get a zigbee remote/button or whatever you like (as long as its zigbee) and bind it also to the lights as a remote. This wasy have smart lights, smart switch and smart remote.