How to keep people from manually turning off switches associated with smart devices?

I’ve got Decora switches… But that’s a pretty solid idea. Ugly, but solid…

I was looking for a more elegant solution, ugh… Oh well… I only need the switches blocked long enough to break the habits… Clear packing tape it is for now…

This is what I use. I just moved not too long ago and I have set up a couple of lights in the house with smart bulbs. I had to run neutrals to many switches in my house as it did not have them. But on some switches the smart bulbs worked well and were cheaper and easier than running new wire.

Even though I know not to turn off certain switches, I find myself reaching for them from time to time as I leave the room . These covers remind me not to.

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There are many different styles of switch locks. This one is almost invisible:

image

https://www.amazon.com/Decora-Switch-Child-Safe-Residential-Lighting/dp/B07BGSVQD2/

Your local Home Depot will probably have several choices.

Something like that would likely pass the “wife approved” test! Thanks!

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My wife turns off the switch that controls the Hue lights in the upstairs bathroom. Does this virtually every night.
Then she asks why the nice motion-based night light arrangement I did with them does not work. lol

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Like this: Turn on/off smart light bulb when physically off?

You’ll bearly find cheaper way :wink:

Sort of the same idea as the clear packing tape, but boy does that make me happy I have Decora switches!

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I put some clear cellotape over the switch button, and its 95% invisible to the eye. I like this solution because sometimes i need to reset some of my bulbs, so i need to be able to turn the switches off and on. Forget my wife, a few times I have tried to turn switches off, just did it about 30 mins back lol :slight_smile:

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It doesn’t have to be much just a little tiny bit of resistance where it should move freely usually should be enough of a mental cue to say whoops that’s not what I wanted to do.

Amazon sells switch covers for strict Jewish families (not supposed to operate machinery on the Sabbath). For some reason these keep popping up on my Facebook feed

Paintings. I have been using things like paintings, hanging planTs and even Floating shelves with ornaments that mark it. House looks much nicer and the lights are available when I need. It alp makes a person who is residing at the house remember not to switch them off

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You could set up an automation to turn on those that should be on with a smart switch even if someone turns it off. … IMHO, the best way is to re-wire the box to make the circuits live full time and repurpose the switches (or remove them if not needed).

I have that with a couple of my smart plugs. But it’s a great thought for any circuit that has dimmable smart bulbs: a smart non-dimming switch that turns back on if it’s been turned off, followed within a few seconds by a command to turn off any smart bulb on that circuit. In fact, I think that’s my next development cycle.

It would accomplish the goal of the person turning off the switch: turn off the lights.
It would sidestep the problem associated with this. It’s a ‘system’ approach to a behavioral issue that really should not be considered a behavioral issue.

Well folks, the low budget, almost completely invisible solution to the problem was a simple piece of clear 3M packing tape that I already had at home (I do some Ebay stuff on the side).

What I did was simply clean the switch, and the wallplate off of any contaminants that might be exaggerated by the tape, with some lens cleaner alcohol wipes (had those too) and then applied the tape with a rubber squeegee, making sure there were no air bubbles as I went, or at least as sure as I could be…

Working great so far!

Remember that most of the smart bulbs are not intended to be cut off power frequently. Your user guide will specify that if it’s true. It’s OK if it’s just an occasional power outage a couple of times a year. But because of the issue of inrush current, if you are regularly cutting power all together to the bulb, you are very likely to significantly reduce the life of the radio inside the bulb, typically by 25 to 30%.

So if you are using a smart switch to cut power to a smart bulb and then restore it on a regular basis, not only did you have to pay for an additional device, but your expensive smart bulb just got that much more expensive. :disappointed_relieved:

In addition, never use a dimmer which controls the current with a smart bulb whether it’s a smart dimmer or a dumb dimmer. The two devices will confuse each other and you are very likely to burn out the switch or the bulb or both. (That definitely will be in the user manual.)

So using a smart switch to restore power to a smart bulb just isn’t the recommended method.

A smart switch which doesn’t actually control the current to a smart bulb doesn’t have any of these issues, of course. :sunglasses:

I hear ya… but that might be a small price to pay compared to having a frustrated wife. lol

Anyway we’re using smartphones for that switching in most of these instances, so it’s less and less an issue.

But there are so many different switches available now which are specifically designed to work with smart bulbs that I think it’s just better to go that way. Family acceptance factor should be just the same and you reduce even the very small possibility of a fire hazard and the very high possibility of burning out the bulbs too soon. :sunglasses:

FWIW, the smart bulbs were a temporary solution, to try out smart lighting. My long term goal is to replace these with standard dimmable LEDs and smart switches.

There are certain items that long term will be getting smart bulb LEDs they are…

Surrounds for mirrors in both bathrooms.
Behind the headboard in the master suite.
Behind the TV in the living room.
Under the upper kitchen cabinets as downlighting.

Each of those locations will be getting smart dimmable RGBW LED light strips.

At some point, the smart bulbs I already have will be relegated to either the recycle bin, or repurposed to another family member to use…

Most people find the RGBW strips Just aren’t bright enough for bathrooms unless you are just looking for some kind of mood lighting.

Depending on what you intend to use it for, check the lumens as there is quite a bit of variation between brand and model.

Mood lighting only for the RGBW strips. I can’t see any good reason to have them aside from backlighting / mood lighting…

Planning on being my last items…

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