I'm setting up with HA and zigbee smart bulbs. I've got a few automations already set up, such as turning on a bunch of lights in the morning and turning most of them off again at night.
All these lights still have physical switches. I don't want to take those switches out for lots of reasons, and putting smart switches there seems like overkill when the bulbs are already smart. What are people doing with their physical light switches to ensure that they don't get flipped?
Ideas I've had:
- some kind of physical plastic covering that fits snugly around it. I'd probably do this if I had a 3d printer, but I don't. Maybe someone sells a thing like this? More just a reminder not to touch them.
- Carefully paint the switches a different color (perhaps the HA color scheme?). Again, basically just a reminder. This especially makes sense with a few multi-switch plates where some of the connected lights are automated and some are intentionally left manual.
- Entirely replace the plate with a smart switch? Besides incurring a nontrivial cost and being a bunch of work to install, this won't even help me with the aforementioned multiswitch plates. I don't want all my lights automated.
Other ideas?
Personally I prefer using smart switches, or smart relay modules in between the switch and bulb. However that’s maybe not best for you if you are already invested in smart bulbs.
The “neatest” options would be to fit a switch cover over the switch, or remove the switch and replace with a blanking plate. A smart button can be fitted onto the cover or plate to provide the functionality of a switch, there are devices with multiple buttons and even rotary knobs.
Depending on the style of light switch used in your country there may be commercially made switch covers available if you can’t 3D print them. There are also several 3D printing services online that can be fairly affordable, I’ve had decent service from Treatstock.