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Home Assistant is open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first. Powered by a worldwide community of tinkerers and DIY enthusiasts. Perfect to run on a Raspberry Pi or a local server. Available for free at home-assistant.io

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A good zigbee repeater light switch? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I have been using the Kasa (TP-Link) branded smart switches around my house, but now that I have a few third reality zigbee sensors for my doors and so on, I am seeing the value of using more outlets/switches that act as zigbee repeaters. Do any of you have pretty reasonable (and cheapish) smart light switches or outlets I can invest in? The Amazon offerings are in the $50 each one which is pretty steep, though I guess I could just do one each room and do the rest with Kasa stuff.

I would like to expand the zigbee mesh network so I can use the devices where I actually want them without using smart outlet devices plugged into real outlets all over the place. If there was something that was $20 or less each item that would be super excellent. The wife and I plan to move in the not too distant future and I'd like to replace the "in the wall" stuff so that HA works throughout the house and I don't have plugs / dongles / wall warts all over the place.

Thanks in advance for any insight!

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

The problem with smart light switches is that they sit on the AC path. This means they're capable of starting fires. As a result you might want units that don't have questionable designs or the cheapest relays inside. A proxy for that is being certified by a western certification organization. Something like UL, CSA, ETL, MET, TUF, etc. Both the certification and the grade of components used increase the price of such units. There are some cheaper certified switches too, but personally I wouldn't install something that doesn't carry the name of a North American (I'm in Canada) manufacturer on it. Leviton, Eaton, etc. And those are $50+. 😔

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

You know, that's actually really sound advice. I hadn't considered that. Maybe I'll go with relays or something else.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

This is the reason I haven't gone down the smart light switches path yet.
Anything that I'd trust enough on 240v is out of budget!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Sucks because you know they don't cost nearly that much to make but it is what it is. 😅