Zigbee Smart Lights and how to switch them

[JDRoberts]

Sounds like an exciting project! Congratulations on the new house.

First things first: you do not want to use any smart switch which cuts the current to your smart bulb. If both are dimmers, you can burn out either the switch or the bulb. But even if the switch is just an on/off switch, each time the power is restored to the smart bulb there is an inrush current which overtime can significantly shorten the life of what are already expensive bulbs. Also, while the current is cut, the bulb cannot hear the next “on“ command.

So, if the switch is going to cut the current, then you want to use a smart switch with dumb bulbs.

So what do you use with smart bulbs? There are basically two choices.

1. You can either use a battery operated or battery free switch specifically designed for smart bulbs. These will either be switch covers that fit over the top of the existing dumb switch or a switch which can go anywhere on the wall.

2. Or you can use a smart switch which is connected to the mains but does not control the current branch to the bulbs themselves.

In both cases, the switch send a message to the hub and the hub sends a message to the Bulb, which adjusts the current for itself.

You can find all of these discussed in the short FAQ on switches and hue bulbs. Even though it says hue in the topIc title, it applies to all brands of smart bulbs. (The topic title is a clickable link)

FAQ: Looking at a good Wall Switch for my Hue Bulbs (2020 Short FAQ) ( also applies to other brands of smart bulbs)

Looking for a wall Switch to replace the one I have atm. What i need it to do is -Turn on Off -Be integrated with Smarthings and Alexa (No wifi if possible) -If it mathers be compatible with Hue Lights

However, most of those options just won’t work unless your smartthings hub is working. But as long as the hub is working, they can work even if your Internet is out as long as both the switch and the bulbs are using a local DTH. So just keep that in mind.

BTW, the Enbrighten add on switches are not actually smart. They are dumb switches that use a physical traveler wire to the smart master. That’s why the product description says “ NOT A STANDALONE SWITCH.” So you can’t use those at all for your use case unless they are just the auxiliary to a separate smart master. But take a look at that FAQ, it will give you a better idea of what you will be looking for.