Over the last several years, I’ve replaced most bulbs in my home with smart bulbs (the Costco Feit variety mostly, WiFi connected with no hubs). These are all primarily controlled through Google Home (via app or voice) or automation. I also use different color temperatures on a schedule. In the morning, I switch them to daylight. Warmer hues in the evening. At night, my kids lamps will go to an extremely dim warm candlelight color at night to serve as night lights. I also do this in my office sometimes while gaming at night.

Anyway, I want to maintain this functionality but also add a physical switch. It’s just annoying not having that convenience and having to “ask” Google to turn the lights on/off every time.

My house was built in 1984 and as far as I can tell has no neutral wire, which apparently limits my options. I know there are options that don’t require this, but where I get stuck is that everything I’ve looked up seems to indicate that smart switches are for dumb bulbs. Most of what I’ve found seems to indicate mixing smart switches with smart bulbs is a no-no.

Obviously, I want to avoid situations where a switch cuts power to a smart bulb, thus making all of my automation fail.

It sounds like my best option may be to install smart dimmer switches that don’t require a neutral wire, and replace all my smart bulbs with dumb bulbs (what a waste). But doing this, I’ll be losing all of the color temperature settings and just get stuck with a basic dimmer.

This seems like it would be such a common scenario, but for whatever reason every time I research this I just get stuck going down the same rabbit holes of confusion and end up nowhere. Can anybody clearly point me in the right direction?

    • VettedBot@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      Hi, I’m Vetted AI Bot! I researched the MOES WiFi Smart Light Switch No Neutral Wire No Capacitor No hub Required 2nd Generation Single Live Wire Push Button Tuya Smart Life App Remote Control Work with Alexa and Google Home Minimum 7W you mentioned in your comment along with its brand, Moes, and I thought you might find the following analysis helpful.

      Users liked:

      • Works without neutral wire (backed by 7 comments)
      • Easy to install and set up (backed by 6 comments)
      • Integrates with smart home systems (backed by 4 comments)

      Users disliked:

      • Difficulty connecting to wi-fi (backed by 5 comments)
      • Frequent loss of connectivity (backed by 4 comments)
      • Physical switch malfunctions (backed by 4 comments)

      According to Reddit, Moes is generally less popular than its competitors.
      Its most popular types of products are:

      • Thermostats (#20 of 24 brands on Reddit)

      If you’d like to summon me to ask about a product, just make a post with its link and tag me, like in this example.

      This message was generated by a (very smart) bot. If you found it helpful, let us know with an upvote and a “good bot!” reply and please feel free to provide feedback on how it can be improved.

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    • divik@alien.topOPB
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      10 months ago

      When the switch is turned off, it doesn’t interfere with the smart lights? For example, say a routine turns the light on. Then, somebody turns it off via the switch. Will the next routine be able to turn the light on, or will it fail because the switch is off and the bulb is getting no power?