Hi.
I've been reading through a number of discussions on this site along with numerous internet searches to find an answer to a particular question that I have. I think I've now collated too much data and find myself in the position of being more confused than I was at the beginning, so I thought it was time to bite the bullet and ask for help. Hopefully this is the correct part of the forum, apologies if not.
I'm looking for a way to control lights around my house remotely and I want to know which is the best way for me to do so. Some background is I work from home and my office is in a converted loft accessed by a narrow staircase. When it's dark the staircase is fairly treacherous but the switch to turn on the lights is at its base. So when I'm working and I need the light on I have to feel my way down the stairs to get to the switch, or I have to get up and switch the lights on whilst there still in enough daylight to see. What I'd like to be able to do is to use my phone or my PC to turn the lights on for me. However, I need to deal with the sensibilities of a wife who thinks there's nothing wrong with a normal light switch and likes the simplicity of a switch which you can use without the need of a phone and an app.
So what I'm looking for is a way to keep a standard UK type light switch but have it also be able to be controlled by an app on a phone or an interface on a PC. I don't want to re-wire anything or run Cat5, I just want to unscrew the switch I have and replace it with a similar looking one.
I have played around with some X10 stuff and I have been able to use OpenHAB and Domoticz on a Raspberry Pi to control a CM15 interface and some plug in appliance modules. So I started off thinking that there may be an X10 solution. Indeed, there are some X10 dimmer switches available but they look horrible and will not be accepted into the house on aesthetic grounds. Unless there are some prettier X10 switches I don't know about it is out of the running.
I have some WeMo light bulbs and they sort of work but they're expensive, they tend to become invisible to the WeMo app and most importantly they annoy the wife because you need to leave the switch on all the time. Apparently it's exasperating to have to switch a switch off and then switch it back on again to turn on the light. This causes her consternation and to be honest she does have a point, demonstrated the other day when I was struggling with some bags of shopping and only had my nose available to switch on the light!
My current thinking is that perhaps Lightwave RF could meet my needs but I'm not sure and I don't particularly want to buy stuff only to find that it isn't quite right.
So is there anyone out there who has been able to do what I want to do? Any help would be much appreciated.
I've been reading through a number of discussions on this site along with numerous internet searches to find an answer to a particular question that I have. I think I've now collated too much data and find myself in the position of being more confused than I was at the beginning, so I thought it was time to bite the bullet and ask for help. Hopefully this is the correct part of the forum, apologies if not.
I'm looking for a way to control lights around my house remotely and I want to know which is the best way for me to do so. Some background is I work from home and my office is in a converted loft accessed by a narrow staircase. When it's dark the staircase is fairly treacherous but the switch to turn on the lights is at its base. So when I'm working and I need the light on I have to feel my way down the stairs to get to the switch, or I have to get up and switch the lights on whilst there still in enough daylight to see. What I'd like to be able to do is to use my phone or my PC to turn the lights on for me. However, I need to deal with the sensibilities of a wife who thinks there's nothing wrong with a normal light switch and likes the simplicity of a switch which you can use without the need of a phone and an app.
So what I'm looking for is a way to keep a standard UK type light switch but have it also be able to be controlled by an app on a phone or an interface on a PC. I don't want to re-wire anything or run Cat5, I just want to unscrew the switch I have and replace it with a similar looking one.
I have played around with some X10 stuff and I have been able to use OpenHAB and Domoticz on a Raspberry Pi to control a CM15 interface and some plug in appliance modules. So I started off thinking that there may be an X10 solution. Indeed, there are some X10 dimmer switches available but they look horrible and will not be accepted into the house on aesthetic grounds. Unless there are some prettier X10 switches I don't know about it is out of the running.
I have some WeMo light bulbs and they sort of work but they're expensive, they tend to become invisible to the WeMo app and most importantly they annoy the wife because you need to leave the switch on all the time. Apparently it's exasperating to have to switch a switch off and then switch it back on again to turn on the light. This causes her consternation and to be honest she does have a point, demonstrated the other day when I was struggling with some bags of shopping and only had my nose available to switch on the light!
My current thinking is that perhaps Lightwave RF could meet my needs but I'm not sure and I don't particularly want to buy stuff only to find that it isn't quite right.
So is there anyone out there who has been able to do what I want to do? Any help would be much appreciated.
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