Hello, I installed 4 WeMo switches yesterday but one of my old switches only had 2 wires plus the ground. I found online a solution that somebody else used and it worked for me too.
First black to the black wire from the wall, second black with the white wire from the wall and the green and white from WeMo, to the ground in the wall.
It works well with led dimmable bulb or with the old spiral economical bulbs.
I am still testing it and checking if it gets hot or there are any weird signs. Everything looks great after 24 hours, there is no flicker.
Please let me know if I should expect any issues from this setup.
I’m not an electrician but I’ve read enough to know that this is a bad idea. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable like @Navat604 can explain why exactly this is dangerous and you may be putting yourself (or your family) at risk.
On the WeMo forum it says that when the green and the white are connected to the ground, if the switch fails, the fuse will pop.
I think that you are right Mark, I will have to get one of those inline micro-switches that go directly in the light fixture box. I checked and I have a neutral there. Unfortunately the wire was not passed to the switch box. I can not understand why electricians do that.
Here is a good post on this forum about exchanging ground and neutral wire. It’s not safe to do so.
As for why electricians don’t bring neutral to the switch box. Well, it was not a requirement just like wire colors and sometime that’s the most feasible and cheapest way. Also there is no such thing as smart switch that required neutral back then. You can thank the many standards between not just states but cities as well.
I know it’s too late but do check your wiring first before the purchase. Hopefully you can still return the Wemo switch or use it somewhere else.
That’s another good option, just more effort to install than a wall switch. I live in an old apartment building and my unit was probably last renovated around 2000-2001, so no neutrals in the switch boxes. Much more complicated to find a good connected lighting solution. I did wire one three-way light with an aeon micro switch up in the fixture box. It was a tight fit in the fixture box but it works great for automations and I can still use both of the dumb switches on the circuit. I’m hoping aeon will finally release their nano switch and then I might install in a few more fixtures.
Glad to hear you decided against using the Wemo switch in this potentially unsafe manner.
Maybe? Aeon has a really bad habit of listing some upcoming devices on their website for–no joke–years before they actually get released. They even had a smart window film product on there for maybe two years that they eventually announced they couldn’t bring to market. That was a huge bummer.
Should fit I think. Mine was an especially tight fit because I had other wire bundles in that fixture box. If aeon hasn’t actually announced a release date yet (they didn’t last time I checked) then I’d prob just buy a micro switch if I were you.
Alternatively, enerwave has newer generation in-wall (or in-ceiling) relays that are smaller, I think.
Thank you for the link, I think that I will go with Aeon Labs.
Looking at my picture posted above, should I use the wires on the left and on the right? There is no ground on the micro switch from what I see on their site
Not really sure what you question is but the romex with the white wire to your bulb is your power from the circuit breaker and the romex with the black wire to your light bulb is from the light switch. You will need both connecting to the Aeon micro controller. You are right about ground wire. The Aeon doesn’t have one.
