Using a 'smart' lightswitch from the US

flogen

I've been looking at getting some smart/connected lighting in the house but rather than buying expensive bulbs like the Philips Hue I thought it would make more sense to get a connected light switch instead and then use whatever bulbs I like.

The only problem is the ones I've found (like this one and this one) are not officially available in Europe at the moment.

Would it be a waste of time to try to ship a US one here as a result? As in will it not be possible to get it wired it up due to connection or voltage differences?

Thanks for any help!

brightspark

Not suitable for here due to voltage rating. Also few switches installed here would have a neutral connection anyway even if they had supported a higher voltage.

flogen

Thanks - will have to bide my time until they make a compatible version for over here

Stoner

You have lots of options. He'd over to the home automation forum

coylemj

brightspark wrote: »

Not suitable for here due to voltage rating.

The lower voltage in the US means the current is higher over there (more amps for a given wattage) so why would a US light switch not work fine over here?

A 100W bulb in the US will draw roughly 1A, over here it will draw 0.4A - where's the problem?

brightspark wrote: »

Also few switches installed here would have a neutral connection anyway even if they had supported a higher voltage.

Doesn't every AC circuit involves a live and neutral connection - in the US and here?

Stoner

coylemj wrote:

Doesn't every AC circuit involves a live and neutral connection - in the US and here?

No.

Lights can have the neutral connected directly at the fitting, switching decides if the live is presented at the fitting or not

Stoner

I looked at the eve stuff and it has 240v options including UK plug units

brightspark

coylemj wrote: »

The lower voltage in the US means the current is higher over there (more amps for a given wattage) so why would a US light switch not work fine over here?

A 100W bulb in the US will draw roughly 1A, over here it will draw 0.4A - where's the problem?

While the switch would be able to switch the currents involved some of the components may not be rated for the higher voltage.

coylemj wrote: »

Doesn't every AC circuit involves a live and neutral connection - in the US and here?

A circuit does, but there is very rarely a neutral wire present at the switch.

BlinkingLights

No!
This will definitely not work on 230V and will likely burn out the electronics / could even be a fire hazard.

You should be able to find something that's either to UK or continental spec that will work here perfectly though.

Continental switches however usually will not fit Irish/UK boxes, which can be a little awkward as you'll have to replace the back box too.

It's fairly normal in Ireland (and a lot of Europe) to only have a live in the switch box as the switch is only interrupting the live, the neutral remains connected constantly. So the neutrals go directly to the fitting, skipping the wall switch and avoiding a lot of unnecessary copper. So, any electronic switch system that requires live and neutral may need a complicated rewire, bringing the neutral back to the box.

flogen

Stoner wrote: »

You have lots of options. He'd over to the home automation forum

I'm trying to find one that's compatible with Apple's HomeKit (we're all iPhone users in the house so would be the most useful... HomeKit-compatible stuff also tend to work with everything else so it would still be useful even if we did change devices).

Will check in with home automation, though, in case I've missed a brand that's available over here.

Thanks.

Stoner

Just to post again, there are UK compliant products in your link. The eve ones

flogen

Stoner wrote: »

Just to post again, there are UK compliant products in your link. The eve ones

Not the light switch, though (at least as far as I can see)