My wife is making me install sconce lamps next to our headboard, but the ones she bought have a switch on them and she won’t let me install real switches nearby (she doesn’t want to see them). I thought about hiding a micro switch in the box and leaving the switch on the lamp on, but I need a good way to trigger the microswitch (through the hub). Is anyone aware of a discreet (small) battery powered switch that I could hide on the back of the headboard to act as the trigger?
I was hoping to hack the built-in switch and attach it to the micro switch, but no dice. The lamps swing out on an arm and the switch wiring is buried in the soldered arm piece.
All the ones I know of are about the size of a real light switch or a remote (like the minimote). Do you know of a smaller button controller? That’s all I’m really looking for…
There are quite a few options depending on your own aesthetics. The buttons and remotes FAQ includes both handheld and wallmount devices, and should give you some ideas.
I have several Flic Buttons and use them for my bedroom lamps without IFTTT but it took a lot of work. I have installed HASS on a Raspberry Pi3 along with the Flic device drivers so I don’t need a mobile phone and so I don’t need IFTTT. But that’s a lot of cost and effort to make it all work.
I also like the Fibaro Buttons, not as small as my flics but quite stylish. I have two of them now. They work great but are a little pricy.
Aeon Mini Mote would work… button 1 for direct control of the lamp… buttons 2-4 for any routine you would like to assign… It’s a great wireless solution to velcro to the back of the headboard. http://a.co/1kV3cUp We have ours hooked up to the lamp, white noise machine, good morning, and goodnight routines… Come to think of it though, ever since we put our echo-dot on the bedside table, we use voice control for the lamp just as often.
Thanks all for the suggestions so far. My wife is very anti-clutter so the mood cube won’t work. And we have small children, so the minimote would disappear. (I actually have one right now that I use to go to nighttime mode and I can’t find it 30% of the time.)
The Fibaro button might work. Does anyone have an idea of the dimensions of it? I can’t tell how big it is from the photos.
Is there a way to mount a motion sensor like the Lowe’s Iris. Say on back of headboard, hidden on nightstand? Someplace where you would have to intentionally trigger it with motion? Then you could wave you hand over it as a trigger. Maybe use a smart app to control say if light on then off. If off then on?
Do you have android phone? You could use tasker, sharptools to trigger events from your phone. I have my phone set up so when it’s placed on the charger it turns off the bedroom lights. That’s typically the last thing I do every night is place in on a wireless charger. When I pick it up in the morning it runs Good-morning routine.
How did you make this work? I’ve tried Charging Wirelessly profiles but the problem I’ve run into is that when the phone reaches full charge in the middle of the night it actually stops charging for a few minutes which deactivates the profile.
If you’re going to use an Android phone and tasker, could you trigger with an NFC tag on the night stand instead of a charging profile? What about multiple NFC tags - move the phone from one spot to another to operate lights. Just throwing another idea out there.
So far all of the devices mentioned in this thread, including the mood cube, are also included in the buttons and remotes FAQ. It really is worth taking a look at it as there are also a number of other devices there that might work. (The following is a clickable link)
Then if you have any questions about any of those devices, you can come back here and ask them so you can get individualized responses.
Also be aware that a number of people have reported problems with it flaking out from time to time, meaning it may not be as reliable as you want for a light switch. The buttons FAQ has a link to the discussion thread for it.
