Go easy, this chick just installed her first light switch (Kasa) today and still new.
I am using echo dot 3rd generation to control a light bulb and now the light switch in my walk in closet. I have a two gang light and exhaust fan in my bathroom. What would you recommend to use?
In my living room/kitchen I have a three gang that controls my kitchen pot lights, island lights and living room pot lights. One switch (the living room pot lights is dimmable). A second double gang switch is on another wall that controls the kitchen and island lights only. I would like change the three gang. What would you suggest?
Thank you for your suggestions in advance. I have done reading online, but seem to get mixed messages in the articles😀. I would be doing this myself, so KISS principal applies in terms of wiring.
KellBeth.
Welcome!
First, this forum is for people who are using the Samsung SmartThings ™ home automation platform, so all of the questions and answers are assumed to be in that context. It’s a very active forum, so it often comes up near the top in Google searches, but it is not a general home automation forum.
It sounds like you are not using the Samsung system, so you might want to take your question to the Reddit home automation subforum, which is brand agnostic, and you should get a lot of good suggestions there.
Also make sure you tell them what country you are in, because the device selection does vary. 
The selection of any given device depends on a whole bunch of individual factors, so it’s not that there’s any one “best.“ The country you live in, your budget, the devices you already have, whether you are willing to have one or more hubs, all that factors into it. And the switch that might be best for someone using the Samsung SmartThings platform Will likely be different than the best for someone who is using a different platform, including just echo.
Also, you should be aware that anytime you have two switches that control the same light fixture (called a three-way set up in the US, or a two-way set up in the UK), you will probably have to change both of the switches in order to get smart control over them. There are a few models where that’s not necessary, but in general the wiring for smart switches is a bit different than the wiring for dumb switches in this kind of set up because a smart switch has to always have some current so that the radio can hear the next “on“ command.
But the fact is, for any of these questions, the first rule of home automation applies: “the model number matters.“ Different devices will be able to do different things even in the same setup. That may explain some of the different advice you have seen in different articles.
Thank you JD for your advice. I thought SmartThings was a general term, not a platform. Told ya I’m new.
Cheers!
KellBeth
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