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[Solved] How to detect the position of a dumb wall switch? (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/homeassistant@lemmy.world
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My nightstand lights are connected to a surge protector plugged into a Zigbee smart plug plugged into a dumb wall outlet controlled by a single dumb wall switch.

I have the smart plug set to default=On, so the wall switch works fine, and I can also turn the lights off from my phone or via an automation. All good so far.

What I WANT is to be able to turn the lights ON without getting out of bed, and irrespective of the position of the switch.

I tried putting a second smart plug in the switch-controlled outlet and making an automation to toggle the surge protector's smart plug when the switch's empty smart plug powers off/on via the wall switch, but it looks like it's not simple to detect a Zigbee device "disappearing". I found some integrations that detect zigbee devices disappearing, but those seemed more for running health checks to detect and repair moved devices than for live detection.

Any suggestions?

Edit:

Looks like a relay behind the switch will be my best bet. Thank you all!

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[–] [S] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

I didn't think so, not on the physical interface side. The switch in question is in the middle of a 4 gang, so having one be a different shape than the others would be slightly annoying. We can swipe down on the whole row to turn all lights off at the same time, and the switches I see appear to have a form that doesn't visually (physically, not an LED) indicate the switch position.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago*

    True, whatever form a smartswitch is in, they usually are self-centering. The user is protected from appearance of a false state. They can match your other switches closely enough in the same room, but that will stand out in the same switch plate.

    Admittedly I was never concerned about that either: even before home automation I installed dimmers and programmable switches that were already visibly different. I’m actually just now getting back to that consistency, after replacing most switches. That’s an expensive way to do it though

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