Cheap Zigbee Light Switches (Orvibo ZHA 1.2 model)

I know these have been discussed elsewhere in other threads but I thought I would start a new topic as these are really cheap and worth a punt from more people. I have just ordered one for my bathroom in Spain where, due to local regulations, there is a light switch and socket in the bathroom,

Ideally this combined with a Smartthings movement sensor will mean that I never need to touch the switch again.

edited to update

Since the first post in this thread has been updated with the model, that’s the same one that’s being discussed in the following thread:

Those folks already have it working and have determined what software customization is needed for it to work with SmartThings, so I suggest follow ons there.

I think it’s fine to leave this thread here as this is a good option for UK members and they might not look in the general devices category. :sunglasses:

@JDRoberts not sure what happened as I thought I had put a link in my posting to the switches. I have put it in now. I hadnt seen the post you have linked to so apologies to anyone who gets sidetracked. I have ordered a single switch to see if it works for me and also whether it fits in the hole in my bathroom wall.

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Hello

Does smartthing hub identify the Orvibo switch?

Does this require a neutral in the switch box. If so it’s not much use for the UK.

From what I understand all new builds have neutrals prepared in the switches as part of future proofing in the regs now. Yes, won’t help most houses but mine is 2 years old has neutrals and theres 5000 homes planned in my town alone over the next 10 years so growth potential nationwide.

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Any lights added in the last 10 years very likely to have neutrals in them. So definitely not useless in the UK.

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Apologies - I wan’t aware of that.
Our house is just over 10 years old, but unfortunately doesn’t have a neutral in the switches. :cry:

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There is no official requirement for neutrals at the switches as far as I’m aware.

Electricians may choose to have then there for ease of fault finding etc at a later date. Though it’s not guaranteed. If the layout of the room and lights leads to a ceiling rose type installation then you may find the neutrals are in this location.

To be honest I’d rather have an old fashioned toggle switch and coupled to a zwave relay type item. That way if the home automation goes down for whatever reason, it’s a two minute job to swap the wiring back to manual.

If the zwave switch also works as a standard switch in the event of a zeave failure then great, otherwise it’s too many eggs in a single basket for me.

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All of my zwave relay modules continue to allow local switching even when smartthings is down. It’s that what you’re asking?
I’ve got lots of different types of lighting controls and smart bulbs. In light of the recent problems with hue causing the smartthings hub to reboot, lag etc… I’m very happy to have been able to continue using the zwave switches. The smart bulbs are a different matter and useless in this scenario.

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Any zwave switch which directly controls the current load to the fitting should continue to perform that function even if the home automation system is not operating. I’m not aware of any models that don’t do this.

The “scene controller” or “button controller” functionality which operates by sending a message to the hub will not be available if the home automation system is not operating.

(There is another “scene controller” feature which operates by having the switch send its message directly to another Z wave device in the same room, and that would also work even if the hub or not functioning, but that modality is not normally used with SmartThings.)

So it just depends on the exact device that is being used and how it was set up. Many zwave 3 wire switches do control the load to that specific fitting and so that would work exactly as the In-wall relay does.

So is there a yes or no to this answer? I am looking at some really nice switches but i need to know if my smartthings hub will connect to them?