Years ago, we would wire in 5 amp sockets for lighting, this is a lot of work, and with the availability of wireless options, seems like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
From kinetic switches, to full smart, they all use wireless, I am avoiding calling it Wi-Fi, as it is a wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed Internet access. A common misconception is that the term Wi-Fi is short for "wireless fidelity," however Wi-Fi is a trademarked phrase that refers to IEEE 802.11x standards. And to be frank, I have no idea what those are.
The big problem to my mind is to have something which looks normal. The kinetic switches
![1720771144187.png 1720771144187.png](https://cdn.diynot.com/data/attachments/348/348857-fa77d50adbfd8687cfe7a42dc22fff5c.jpg)
look like normal switches, they use the energy of your finger, so do not require batteries, but you are looking at £40 for the pair, switch and relay, so at that cost may as well have internet access as well.
A smart socket
is under £10, the question is how far to go? The signal to and from the router needs a lot of power, and if one is using anything battery powered, the battery life would be rather short, so most makes also have a hub, which reduces the power required, so means the items connected can be battery powered, or gain power to work, without causing flicker, or staying on dim.
Each make seems to have their own dedicated hub, so my aim was to select one which would do all, sorry to say it did not work, to date, 3 hubs, Energenie (first one I got) and like a lot of early units, as time as gone on, better units have come on the market, then I got Zigbee, this seems to work with many makes, I started with Lidi stuff. Then I had a problem, outside lights, it has a PIR, so power through the lamp is very low, there was no neutral at the switch, so I needed a switch which was battery powered. The only one I have found is Tapo (TP-Link) that has a pair of batteries in the switch, so will work like any mechanical light switch, power cuts don't cause it to change state, and it has the special functions like dusk and dawn, and timed on or off functions, plus connects to internet, and things like Nest Mini's or Alexa. This was my third hub. Now the same hub controls my TRV head, but when I bought them, it needed separate hubs, but the hubs also double as doorbell sounders.
The problem is the look of the remote switches,
it is round, as it can be both turned and pressed, the turning can be used to dim lights, if using Tapo bulbs, I use the version without the backplate as a door push, it records when pushed, so know when some one has been, but not who.
My Energenie stuff has started to have some failures, light switches as sockets, but it is the oldest, must be around 7 years old now. All the apps are a pain, however once set up, they can all be migrated to google home app. I do not walk around with phone glued to ear, so at home the apps on the phone are not convenient, but the google Nest Mini's around the house, means I can use voice commands, so hey google turn of living room lights works well.