Switch with illumination paddles

Hoping someone can help me on this site. I have a switch right now for my garage lights that is located inside the house. Since this switch get left on constantly I have a switch with an illuminated toggle so I can clearly see if the switch is on. Check it every night before I go to bed or leave the house in the morning. I want to make this a z-wave light but cannot find anything that will have the same effect as the lighted switch. I know the paddles have a blue indicator light that you can change based on status but this is not bright enough or sticks out enough for my liking. Anyone have any ideas if there is a switch like the one I have now? Or another way to tell me that light is left on. I have done a ton of searching today but have not found anything that will work.

Why not just have SmartThings turn off the light in the garage when you leave, or each night at bedtime?

You could also have another interior smart light that could “refuse to turn off” if the garage light was still on… Pretty easy rule to create.

I have thought about both of these. I do have a sensor in the garage where if there is no motion for a certain amount of time the light would just turn off. I am stuck on the light in the switch or paddles because I have young kids in the house that leave those on during the day as well. Just has been an easy way to know day or night if the light is on. Hoping someone knows of a light switch in zwave with that function.

I have never seen an illuminated z-wave switch, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist! :slight_smile:

You could also set up a custom notification to send you a notification if a light has been on for too long???

My garage overhead light is configured as follows:

If any door to the garage opens (garage doors, door to house, etc…) or if their is motion in the garage, turn on the lights.

If all doors are closed, and there is no motion for at least 10 minutes, turn off the lights.

BTW - the small blue LED on the GE Z-Wave lights is actually pretty noticeable from a distance.

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I know the blue led is noticeable but one of the problems is I have a zwave switch right next to it in the same box. I don’t want to confuse the two. Do you know if one of the aeotec modules would work and would the light still illuminate?

Thanks for all your input by the way. Much appreciated.

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My understanding is the Aeotec little relays that fit behind the existing switch would probably not work. I believe they use the old switch as a simple change of state input. If the Aeotec is OFF, and the Switch is in the OFF position, then the two states match. Flipping the old switch causes the Aeotec module to see a ‘change’ and it then toggles the current state of its relay output. This sounds reasonable… however, as soon as ST changes the state of the Aeotec relay, the physical switch will be out of synch with the smart relay.

So, I don’t think it will get you to your desired end-state (even if the illumination still worked.)

You could have a Color Smart Bulb that changes color whenever the garage light is on. That would be a clear indicator. You could also use it to know if a garage door was left open.

I have a weird lamp in a corner in the kitchen, it holds 3 bulbs, one is a color changing, and 2 white smart ones. One is on when the garage is ON, one for the door open, Color changes for various issues.

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There are several options.

Some Z wave switches have a blue LED and some have a green LED. You could just get one of a different brand so you could tell which is on from a distance.

Another option would be to create a tiny indicator light like people used to tell if the alarm system is armed or not. You don’t connect this directly to your switch, you just have it turn on when the switch is turned on.

There are also a number of different color changing light options. Both the tiny light and color changing light alternatives are discussed in the family thread

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Isn’t the whole point of getting a Z wave switch so that it will turn off automatically? Why bother with a Z wave switch if you’re not going to turn it off automatically when it shouldn’t be on. You shouldn’t have to check it every night. You could also add to turn it off as part of your goodnight routine as well, then you don’t have to think about it. I think you’re stuck on this light thing cause that’s what you’ve done in the past but why not let SmartThings check it for you. :slight_smile:

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Different things work for different households. :sunglasses:

At our house we have three housemates, all with very different schedules, one works in retail so his schedule changes all the time. We can’t put the Kitchen light on automatic turn off, because literally 24 hours a day somebody might be in there. So we have a light that automatically comes on in the living room 15 minutes before sunset but one of the people will turn it off, usually with Alexa, later that night.

We also have the issue, as I’ve mentioned before, that the motion sensor options, even with complex code, tend not to work for us for a couple of reasons. First, my service dog is big and will trigger many motion sensors. We don’t want the light going on and off if everybody else is gone to sleep. And second, as a medically fragile person, if I pass out and therefore am not moving for a little while I don’t want to come to in the dark. (Actually, the kitchen light still being on can be an indicator to my housemates that there might be something wrong.)

I’m not saying that very many people share these use cases, just that there are some people who do use zwave switches as a way of automating turning things on, but only turn it off with intention. Sometimes it’s just a matter of people not wanting to spend the money for the additional devices that might be required to address all the various different alternatives.

I think it’s very good to ask people if they’ve considered just using some kind of automation to turn the lights off again, but I do understand if somebody might not want to do that. Choice is good.

FWIW

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All of those things are completely valid…for you. However, I would be interested to hear the OP’s answer to the question.

I also think that we sometimes get into grooves. We, as a species, fear change in almost any form. And sometimes you have to have someone else challenge your preconceptions. That can help us look at things from new perspectives.

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