A Simple Remote On/Off Switch?

[JohnJ9 (John J)]

I’ve looked around for such a beast for a long time, but either it doesn’t exist, or I’m not searching the right way…

I would like a simple switch (battery powered by a 2016 or 2032?) that one can put on a table or such next to a light that is controlled by a Z-Wave plug-in outlet. It’s nice to control turning the lights on and off by the app, but doing so in a lot of plug-in situations becomes extremely inconvenient when you just want to turn the light on or off quickly without having to go track down your phone or your ipad. I live in an old house where all the lighting it via room lamps, so wall switches aren’t an option, and swapping out wall outlets doesn’t really work either (think pre-code, two walls with outlets instead of four, etc). A simple switch that could be dedicated to a single on/off switch would be very convenient for visitors and the like, and I figure I must be looking for the wrong thing if I can’t find it.

[JDRoberts]

There are many different options for this.

If you want one that looks like a switch, the Cooper 9500 accessory switch is battery-operated, but looks just like a wall switch. You can have that on the table.

I personally prefer the smartenIT 3 toggle switch. It’s also battery operated. Looks good on either a wall or lying flat on the table.

Many people like the Minimote handheld remote which has four buttons. That gives you a lot of options as long as it doesn’t get lost.

The following topic lists many of the buttons/remotes that people have used with SmartThings:

FAQ: Full list of buttons and remotes confirmed to work with SmartThings

I’d like to know which buttons and remotes are currently supported or might be supported in the future. Ideally, I’d like to find something similar to the following: http://www.evolvecontrols.com/devices/control-devices/glass-series Though alternatively just a simple nice-looking button which actually works unlike this Aeon according to Amazon reviews: There is an Aeon Key Fob as well, but it doesn’t seem to be very durable or stylish: What else is available?

Most of these don’t have to be right next to the device that you want to control. Instead, they send the message to the hub, the hub sends a message to the device. So you can also use them to change the mode, to turn off a group of lights, or to trigger a SmartApp. So just depends on exactly what you want for each use case.

I like the smartenIT 3 toggle in part because it’s very intuitive for guests to use ( it looks and feels like a switch) and it’s big enough to label.

[ero4444 (Eric)]

Verbal interface via Amazon Echo and “connected devices” groups, is getting to be pretty easy.