Was looking through the products, and think I see the switch I would want to try to go along with my Google Home. But only see Single switch options, and a 3 pack of it
Is there an option for a multiple switch. The main one I want to control currently is 3 switches on wall all on 1 plate Hall Light, Living Light, Living room fan.
So looking to get a switch like this if possibly, not sure if I could use a 3 pack and just maybe switch out the plate
Thanks for any information
Do you mean a triple gang switch box? Three regular size switches side-by-side with one plate that covers all of them, like this:
If that’s the case, no problem, most zwave switches can be put into a triple gang box, although read the instructions for any specific model that you were interested in. Most commonly there are tabs on the side of the switch that you have to break off in order to get it to fit. Note that if you do have to remove these tabs then the total current load supported by the shared circuit does go down, because the tabs act as a heat sink for the switches. But if you’re going to be using dumb LEDs with the switches, you’re not likely to be anywhere near the max load anyway. But do read the specs.
If you mean you have three toggles in a single gang box, like this:
Then there aren’t any standard off-the-shelf zwave products that do that. It’s not impossible if you use multiple in wall micros, but it’s just trickier and you usually end up with a switch design like this:
And you have to do some physical modification of the switch to get it to work.
The first is what I am thinking would work.
This is what we have now
Looking to replace at least one of the switches with a wifi one, and then others if it all works out.
Thanks
The switches you have now are three separate switches. They’re just behind one 3-gang faceplate. If you want to replace those with toggle switches (the type of switch you have now), GE makes z-wave toggle switches. If you’d rather change to rocker switches, there are several manufacturers that make either z-wave or zigbee switches.You’d also need to get a new faceplate that fits rocker switches.
You mentioned that you want to change to a “wifi” switch. That’s possible, there are switches that use wifi, like WeMo. But realize that “wifi” is not synonymous with “wireless” and that most connected devices that work with SmartThings and other home automation hubs use the z-wave and zigbee protocols, not wifi. Like I mentioned though, some switches do use wifi though, and some of those can be connected to SmartThings.
Thanks for all that information, will do some investigating.
Wifi is not really major, main overall goal is connection to Google Home, which Google Home lists Smart Things items as ones that are compatible.
Looking to be able to control Some lights and Ceiling fans with the Home as we currently do our nest.
Thanks
Depending on what you want to do, you may not need to add a SmartThings hub to your setup.
If you have google home and you’re primarily looking for voice control of your lights, then it actually might make more sense to get a wifi switch like wemo or tp-link. Since the switches have wifi in them, they connect directly to your router, and should be able to communicate directly with google home (I don’t have a google home but I know both of those switches work with Alexa). SmartThings would actually add nothing in this case.
But if you’re interested in actual automation of your lights, e.g. turn on when there’s motion or at sunset every day; or dim the lights when the tv turns on. Then SmartThings would actually be adding something.
Yes, it works just fine. I actual have a four gang box by my front door, all of them are GE zwave switches.
