Shelly vs Sonoff

paulgrogan.eu

Hi folks,


Doing some research at moment on smart lighting controls, as I'm about to do some external lighting upgrades ahead of the winter.


I had been set to go with various Sonoff devices, but then stumbled across Shelly. Some of my issue is that my internal light switches are dropped without a neutral wire unfortunately, but luckily, any switches for my external lights do have the Neutral, so at the very least I have options there. However, from some basic research, it seems the shelly option supports traditional switches, if you install their units at the light fitting level.


So, I'm a bit stuck now on which way to go, so I'm curious if any of you good folk on here have gone either way, and your experiences regarding same.


Many thanks in advance.


Paul.

emaherx

paulgrogan.eu wrote: »

Hi folks,


Doing some research at moment on smart lighting controls, as I'm about to do some external lighting upgrades ahead of the winter.


I had been set to go with various Sonoff devices, but then stumbled across Shelly. Some of my issue is that my internal light switches are dropped without a neutral wire unfortunately, but luckily, any switches for my external lights do have the Neutral, so at the very least I have options there. However, from some basic research, it seems the shelly option supports traditional switches, if you install their units at the light fitting level.


So, I'm a bit stuck now on which way to go, so I'm curious if any of you good folk on here have gone either way, and your experiences regarding same.


Many thanks in advance.


Paul.

I'd go with Shelly devices myself.
They can be configured and operated from their own webserver, or through the app and support MQTT out of the box so can easily be integrated to most home automation controllers.

I have Shelly, Tuya and Sonoff switches all integrated with home assistant but the Shelly's are by far the easiest to configure.

paulgrogan.eu

emaherx wrote: »

I'd go with Shelly devices myself.
They can be configured and operated from their own webserver, or through the app and support MQTT out of the box so can easily be integrated to most home automation controllers.

I have Shelly, Tuya and Sonoff switches all integrated with home assistant but the Shelly's are by far the easiest to configure.

Thanks very much for that, nice to hear others using Shelly as I hadn't come across that brand until the last few days.


So the big question I have on the Shelly is when it comes to multiple light fittings and 1 switch. So say for example I have 2 lights in the hall, and 1 switch to turn them on/off, do I need 2 Shellys installed within the light fittings? That's where I see the benefit of the Sonoff switch (obviously in an environment where you'd have a neutral wire at the switch of course).


Cheers

emaherx

paulgrogan.eu wrote: »

Thanks very much for that, nice to hear others using Shelly as I hadn't come across that brand until the last few days.


So the big question I have on the Shelly is when it comes to multiple light fittings and 1 switch. So say for example I have 2 lights in the hall, and 1 switch to turn them on/off, do I need 2 Shellys installed within the light fittings? That's where I see the benefit of the Sonoff switch (obviously in an environment where you'd have a neutral wire at the switch of course).


Cheers

you shouldn't require 2 devices, but placing the shelly switch at the ceiling rose might make wiring easier, depending on what wiring is available at your switches.

Euphoriasean

emaherx wrote: »

you shouldn't require 2 devices, but placing the shelly switch at the ceiling rose might make wiring easier, depending on what wiring is available at your switches.

Interested in Shelly devises too. Have no neutral switches in place which work fine on way switches.

How would a 2 ways switch work if fitted in the ceiling rose. My landing light has is two way and also has an intermediate switch. Hall light is 2 way also.

The other issue i have is spotlights. Is it possible to use shelly devices on these with no neutral at the switch. Have these in the kitchen and utility.

emaherx

Euphoriasean wrote: »

Interested in Shelly devises too. Have no neutral switches in place which work fine on way switches.

How would a 2 ways switch work if fitted in the ceiling rose. My landing light has is two way and also has an intermediate switch. Hall light is 2 way also.

The other issue i have is spotlights. Is it possible to use shelly devices on these with no neutral at the switch. Have these in the kitchen and utility.

https://youtu.be/WPq-Lf6HGqU

Euphoriasean

emaherx wrote: »

https://youtu.be/WPq-Lf6HGqU

Cheers seen that last night after i had asked. Any idea re a fix for spotlights.

emaherx

Euphoriasean wrote: »

Cheers seen that last night after i had asked. Any idea re a fix for spotlights.

If you have dimmable bulbs or are willing to get them the Shelly dimmer requires no neutral.

Euphoriasean

emaherx wrote: »

If you have dimmable bulbs or are willing to get them the Shelly dimmer requires no neutral.

Cheers for that,any experience with the Shelly dimmer. Would it be prone to flicker like some of the dimmable no neutral switches.

emaherx

Euphoriasean wrote: »

Cheers for that,any experience with the Shelly dimmer. Would it be prone to flicker like some of the dimmable no neutral switches.

No, I have neutral at any of the switches I've installed so far.

Euphoriasean

emaherx wrote: »

No, I have neutral at any of the switches I've installed so far.

No need to boast

I've a mix of neutral & no neutral. Wouldn't mind but in a new build for just over a year but the walls were plastered before I got to the electrician. Only one of these is any use to me and the rest are two way with only one switch having a neutral.

paulgrogan.eu

Just as a follow up to this, I went ahead and bought a Shelly 1PM & a Shelly 2.5 to try out and run some tests. Very impressed overall. Feel very nice but more so, the fact I can use regular switches and enable edgemode, meaning that no matter what anyone does, my lights are still controllable via my smart controller.

Just as an FYI, they've got a few hours left on their Cyber Monday offer if anyone fancies getting a few to try. https://shop.shelly.cloud

emaherx

Just seen there is a Shelly 1L which may interest anyone without neutral wires at the switch.

paulgrogan.eu

emaherx wrote: »

Just seen there is a Shelly 1L which may interest anyone without neutral wires at the switch.

Yep they do indeed, only just released in the last week or so along with their bypass for some extra safety. The Shelly Dimmer also works without the neutral.


In addition, the Shelly 1PM is great to 'smart' a regular extension lead which I did over the weekend. So my dumb 6 plug is now a smart 6 plug which is ideal for the Christmas lights etc.


Just an idea if someone fancies a play.

Samuel T. Cogley

Being thick here but the 1L is a widget that goes in behind the existing switch? Would it support a 3 gang switch? Does it require a capacitor to be installed anywhere?

emaherx

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Being thick here but the 1L is a widget that goes in behind the existing switch? Would it support a 3 gang switch? Does it require a capacitor to be installed anywhere?

You'd need 3 of them if you want to automate 3 circuits.

Shelly bypass needed if you have loads less then 10w otherwise no capacitor required.
Not entirely sure what's in the bypass, I've seen a claim that it is more than just a capacitor or a resistor. Possibly ba mosfet plus some capacitors/resistors.

paulgrogan.eu

emaherx wrote: »

You'd need 3 of them if you want to automate 3 circuits.

Shelly bypass needed if you have loads less then 10w otherwise no capacitor required.
Not entirely sure what's in the bypass, I've seen a claim that it is more than just a capacitor or a resistor. Possibly ba mosfet plus some capacitors/resistors.

Yep or you could run 1 Shelly Dimmer and 1 Shelly 1L, which would give you a 2+1 configuration basically.


I've got a few bypass coming soon as I felt it was just safer overall, but will add some feedback here once they land.