SonOff Low Cost Wifi Switches for Home Automation

b.gud

bluemachaveli wrote: »

The switches can also be flashed with Tasmota (little harder than flashing a basic but nothing major). GPIO isn't attached to the button so you need to manually pull it to ground. I switched all mine over and run them off hass.io with no issues. Much tidier solution IMO, but you need to have a neutral connection to each switch.

The above instructions are for the Sonoff Touch. If you get a T1,2 or 3 you can follow these.

Fantastic, definitely a better solution, thanks for letting me know will take a look at it

bluemachaveli

b.gud wrote: »

Fantastic, definitely a better solution, thanks for letting me know will take a look at it

No worries, just a heads up if you plan on putting these in a bedroom, the LED in standby mode is pretty bright in a dark room. I ended up sticking a few layers of electrical tape on the back of the front panel. Works like a charm.

Feel free to give me a shout if you need advice with anything. I've fallen down every possible pit along the way Once you have it working it's pretty solid!

b.gud

bluemachaveli wrote: »

No worries, just a heads up if you plan on putting these in a bedroom, the LED in standby mode is pretty bright in a dark room. I ended up sticking a few layers of electrical tape on the back of the front panel. Works like a charm.

Feel free to give me a shout if you need advice with anything. I've fallen down every possible pit along the way Once you have it working it's pretty solid!

Thanks, might do that. It could be a few months away before I actually get the chance to install them, solicitors love slowing up the buying process :rolleyes:, but will definitely give you a shout if I have any issues

Johnny7136

I just cut a lamp cord and installed one of these basic switches before the original switch. I've lost manual control of the lamp now. Is that just the norm or should I have put it after the switch? If I leave it on in the app I can control via normal switch.
Id like my emersion on one of these, are they safe, the higher amp version obviously
Thanks

durtybit

Johnny7136 wrote: »

I just cut a lamp cord and installed one of these basic switches before the original switch. I've lost manual control of the lamp now. Is that just the norm or should I have put it after the switch? If I leave it on in the app I can control via normal switch.
Id like my emersion on one of these, are they safe, the higher amp version obviously
Thanks

You can buy plugs now with this chip and software. No need for cutting (just plug in and configure)

Manual control shouldn't be lost. You have to leave the power on, then the on/off function is controlled by the button on the Sonoff (manual) or the app software.

I have been using these on lamps, electric blanket , lights, and my central heating oil burner with great success, next will be the immersion heating.

cletus

durtybit wrote: »

You can buy plugs now with this chip and software. No need for cutting (just plug in and configure)

Manual control shouldn't be lost. You have to leave the power on, then the on/off function is controlled by the button on the Sonoff (manual) or the app software.

I have been using these on lamps, electric blanket , lights, and my central heating oil burner with great success, next will be the immersion heating.

Have you a link for the plugs?

durtybit

cletus wrote: »

Have you a link for the plugs?

https://www.itead.cc/smart-socket.html

S20 are the UK version I believe.

cletus

durtybit wrote: »

https://www.itead.cc/smart-socket.html

S20 are the UK version I believe.

Cheers man, saves me hacking the shït out of everything flex cord in the house

JaCrispy

JaCrispy wrote: »

Any problems running CH pump and standard oil burner from the Sonoff 4CH Pro?
Some specs from it.

Anybody?

bootser

JaCrispy wrote:

Anybody?

You just need to check the current(amps) of your ch pump and oil burner, add them together and if it's less than the rated current for your switch your good to go. I had this issue with the netatmo I installed for my heating, when I replaced the time clock the burner and pump were run directly through it and were slightly over the reatef current of the netatmo and I had to route the power through another relay.

taytobreath

would u get away with putting an immersion thru a double son off, i.e. bath and sink. I dont think the bath side of the immersion draws more than 10 amps.

Stoner

taytobreath wrote:

would u get away with putting an immersion thru a double son off, i.e. bath and sink. I dont think the bath side of the immersion draws more than 10 amps.

Would you use the 16 amp version?

There's no way I'd use a 10 amp SONOFF on an immersion, I wouldn't use it on a continuous load, far too flimsy imo.

You couldn't use just two units either, there is no way to prevent each element being swiched on simultaneously.

You'd need to add in some sort of priority switch

air

I've done an immersion with a 4ch SonOff (it supports interlocking so either sink or bath is on).
However it takes up a lot of space in an enclosure and has more channels than is required for the application.
If I was doing it again I'd use a SonOff dual, connected to two 25A contactors.
The first contactor would be driven by CH1 and would provide on/off functionality.
The load output from that contactor would go to a second contactor with 1NO and 1NC output - driven by CH2.
The sink and bath elements would be connected to each of these outputs.

That way CH1 would turn on the immersion and CH2 would toggle between either sink or bath. No possibility of turning both on at the same time and no power through the SonOff.

taytobreath

taytobreath wrote: »

Hi,

I have 6 GU10 spots in my kitchen, if I were to put the cable going to these spots through these switches and then put the switches above the plaster board (in the attic) would they work, the router is in the kitchen.

Also, can you program them to come on at the same time? i.e hey google turn on all kitchen lights, and can you program them individually, i.e hey google turn on light 1 in kitchen.

If I had two lights on and wanted to turn on the rest of them could i ask google to turn on all lights, would the ones that were initially on remain on or would they turn off?

I have no need for those coloured hue lights in a kitchen and this sounds like a cheap alternative.

I finally got time to do this and I was expecting the worst but surprisingly it went very well. All 3 sonoffs are up above the ceiling and working perfectly. It only took me about 20 mins to connect them all.

The one thing I was afraid of is what happens when I loose wifi, so I checked this and there is a setting within the eWelink app that you can set the lights to be on in the event of no wifi. This means that when you hit your wall switch they will turn on without wifi.

I thought the response time would be slow as in when you tap the app to turn it on or when u ask google home to turn it on there would be a delay of a few seconds, but they are almost instantaneous, nothing wrong with it for €4.30 each. I ordered a few more.

paulbok

I hope I've read this right, but Home Assistant now looks to have a native dashboard for flashing and setting up these.

THE ALM

paulbok wrote: »

I hope I've read this right, but Home Assistant now looks to have a native dashboard for flashing and setting up these.

Like the look of that, will have to do some investigating.


Have a 4CH Pro 2 sitting in a box looking for a use although I don't see it specifically mentioned, will have to see if it is compatible.

xckjoo

paulbok wrote: »

I hope I've read this right, but Home Assistant now looks to have a native dashboard for flashing and setting up these.

Interesting. What are the advantages to using this approach instead of standard flashing approach with ArduinoIDE or whatever? I've some plugs I need to get around to flashing.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

vjmcdonnell

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Im getting the same, still work though

slayerking

vjmcdonnell wrote: »

Im getting the same, still work though

Same here. Weird!

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

vjmcdonnell

I installed the immersion 16a and I find that after an hour it turns itself off. And need more than an hour to fill a bath.

air

You've got an issue there then, check the log and see if there's any detail there on what is switching it off. It should stay on indefinitely until turned off.

vjmcdonnell

How do I pull the log, have been able to pull the history file but that only tells me when on or off

getoffthepot

new firmware update for these devices - anyone know what the changes are?

durtybit

getoffthepot wrote: »

new firmware update for these devices - anyone know what the changes are?

Do they not release a change log?

getoffthepot

Haven't seen it

vjmcdonnell

With the standard firmware how do I check the log to identify whats turn mine off after about an hour

slayerking

I'm having an annoying issue where the app works whenever I'm on my LAN but if I switch to mobile data the app immediately changes to 'network unavailable' . So I basically can't control them remotely. Tried clearing caches reinstalling etc. I can't even log in the the app on mobile data!
Anyone have similar issues?

Blanchy90

I want to have fans turn on automatically to cool my xbox and ps4 inside a unit.

My idea is to use this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B071988992/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AYM9YHWPPAA0I&psc=1 on an extension lead with usb ports and then power the fans off the usb.

Does this sound ok?

durtybit

Blanchy90 wrote: »

I want to have fans turn on automatically to cool my xbox and ps4 inside a unit.

My idea is to use this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B071988992/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AYM9YHWPPAA0I&psc=1 on an extension lead with usb ports and then power the fans off the usb.

Does this sound ok?

It's plausible. Make sure there is enough ventelation in the box for air in and air out.

Blanchy90

durtybit wrote: »

It's plausible. Make sure there is enough ventelation in the box for air in and air out.

Thanks it'll be inside a unit so I might put one fan in and one out so there would be airflow

durtybit

Blanchy90 wrote: »

Thanks it'll be inside a unit so I might put one fan in and one out so there would be airflow

Keep the sonoff relay on the outside and the thermometer portion on the inside. Relay may have associated heat.
.

Blanchy90

durtybit wrote: »

Keep the sonoff relay on the outside and the thermometer portion on the inside. Relay may have associated heat.
.

Good thinking

john_doe.

Was looking at sonoff to run in parallel to analaog time switches attached.

I think the switches would work for this. But I was also looking for a way to measure the hot water in the cylinder.
Anyone recommend where could get a wireless probe for a hot water cylinder that could display the hot water temp on my phone .

durtybit

john_doe. wrote: »

Was looking at sonoff to run in parallel to analaog time switches attached.

I think the switches would work for this. But I was also looking for a way to measure the hot water in the cylinder.
Anyone recommend where could get a wireless probe for a hot water cylinder that could display the hot water temp on my phone .

Is this for a solar installation?

air

john_doe. wrote: »

Was looking at sonoff to run in parallel to analaog time switches attached.

I think the switches would work for this. But I was also looking for a way to measure the hot water in the cylinder.
Anyone recommend where could get a wireless probe for a hot water cylinder that could display the hot water temp on my phone .

The SonOff TH will do that, you can view temp through the app.

john_doe.

air wrote: »

The SonOff TH will do that, you can view temp through the app.

Thanks for that, I thought this was a general temp sensor not a water probe. How does it attach to a water cylinder?

One other question - are these sonoff unites CE certified now. They have a CE marking on them but not sure is this EU certificate.

Stoner

john_doe. wrote:

One other question - are these sonoff unites CE certified now. They have a CE marking on them but not sure is this EU certificate.

They have a CE cert alright.

I'd use the 4 channel unit on you timer too if it's within the load limits, you can do more with interlocking etc.

However it's still 8 run timer for all.fkur channels to share.

xckjoo

Stoner wrote: »

They have a CE cert alright.

I'd use the 4 channel unit on you timer too if it's within the load limits, you can do more with interlocking etc.

However it's still 8 run timer for all.fkur channels to share.

There's a discussion on the CE cert stuff here.
Consensus seems to be that they are CE certified but that doesn't mean much.

“the scope evaluation relates to the submitted documents only”. What that means is BCTC simply reviewed the documents and felt it was worthy of a CE mark. In no way should people consider this equivalent to a UL, CSA, or TUV grade certification.

Personally I don't think I'd ever wire one of these to something with a high current demand like your immersion. They're too cheap to have high quality control procedures (IMO).
Anybody know how self-install of these devices could impact on your home insurance?

b.gud

So I've moved into a new house and I was planning on adding a few SonOff touch light switches. I read the earlier post about needing the neutral wire so I opened up one of the light switches and I'm happy to say I think I have the required wires, picture below. Just wondering is there anything else I need to consider before installing one?

air

Nope, looks like you're good to go.

b.gud

air wrote: »

Nope, looks like you're good to go.

Nice one, have you used them yourself? Planning on flashing mine with Tasmota and using them with Home assistant.

air

No, haven't used the switches or the bulb holders myself, Have tried most of the rest of the range though.

slayerking

b.gud wrote: »

So I've moved into a new house and I was planning on adding a few SonOff touch light switches. I read the earlier post about needing the neutral wire so I opened up one of the light switches and I'm happy to say I think I have the required wires, picture below. Just wondering is there anything else I need to consider before installing one?

The only other thing to consider is if you are installing a multi gang switch (controls more than 1 light on a single switch), all the lights must be on the same circuit otherwise you might start to get nuisance tripping due to different circuits joining up. You can confirm that they are on the same circuit by tripping the relevant specific trip switch and ensuring all switches on the desired switch do not work.

And one other thing also, if you have 2 way switches (i.e. a switch that controls a light a two different points in a room), I dont believe SonOff switches support this but you would probably still be able to install one as a single switch and loose one switch point (which could be replaced with an RF switch later).

b.gud

slayerking wrote: »

The only other thing to consider is if you are installing a multi gang switch (controls more than 1 light on a single switch), all the lights must be on the same circuit otherwise you might start to get nuisance tripping due to different circuits joining up. You can confirm that they are on the same circuit by tripping the relevant specific trip switch and ensuring all switches on the desired switch do not work.

And one other thing also, if you have 2 way switches (i.e. a switch that controls a light a two different points in a room), I dont believe SonOff switches support this but you would probably still be able to install one as a single switch and loose one switch point (which could be replaced with an RF switch later).

Thanks those are a few good points to be aware of

Stoner

xckjoo wrote:

Personally I don't think I'd ever wire one of these to something with a high current demand like your immersion. They're too cheap to have high quality control procedures (IMO). Anybody know how self-install of these devices could impact on your home insurance?

I'd agree, I've a 10 amp one on a 6watt lamp and another .5 amp supply.

I've advised on not overloading them here from . Have watched and linked to lads putting them on 10 amp loads for hours with no issues
But I'd fuse them at 5 amps max

I've one on a heating timer fussed at 3 amps

wheresmybeaver

Hey there experts, I've standard Sonoff switches (flashed with Tasmota) that have been working very reliably with my Home Assistant setup the last few months. They're just controlling desk lamps and basic things for now. Very reliable and great value.

My next project is to control my zoned gas heating system.

Currently I have battery powered thermostats in each zone that are wired back to the hot press (see photos below); these seem to operate as a relay (the thermostats themselves make a loud "click" on and off). So I was thinking the sonoff 4ch pro would work with this setup? If so I would get an electrician to wire it up, don't fancy touching this stuff myself.

Blanchy90

Am I right in thinking that I can wire in one of the basic wifi switches on an extension lead and then use alexa for voice control? I want to start off with something small before I try some elaborate project

clint_silver

Blanchy90 wrote: »

Am I right in thinking that I can wire in one of the basic wifi switches on an extension lead and then use alexa for voice control? I want to start off with something small before I try some elaborate project

yes, but the basic sonoff only has live and neutral. wiring an extension lead will require the earth to go round, its really messy, if youve got a basic sonoff just do a lamp first.

But once you do you'll realize how easy it is and how good it works.

My 5 year old turns her lamp on and off with with alexa. We named her lamp ""hername" lamp, and then registered it so you can issue commands like
"alexa turn off xxxx lamp"
or
"alexa turn xxxx lamp on"

But whatever way she was articulating her name, alexa wasnt picking it up so we played around with words til alexa recognised one so she named her lamp "chocolate" so nightly we get "alexa turn chocolate lamp on"