Dear all,
Having been hunting on this subject for about 4 hours now and beginning to get a bit frazzled. There's a question here dating from 2009.
First points: the is about security, warding off potential burglars when I'm away. This is in the UK. It is an ordinary 1-gang lighting circuit switch (i.e. wall-mounted switch). It is not a high-power circuit. The current switch has no earth: there are only 2 wires coming into the back box, live and neutral. I'm not talking about timers which control floor-standing lights which plug into the mains: I have these already.
What I most definitely don't want:
1) something which fits *over* the existing switch and tries to flick the switch with a mechanical roller
2) something which is "smart" in the sense of connecting to the Wifi or any nonsense like that
What I would like, ideally:
To remove the existing ordinary switch.
To wire up the live and neutral to a new device, ideally electronic rather than mechanical. But it would have to have 2 wires to connect, not 3.
What I think I have understood:
That such an electronic device, with no earth wire, does not exist for some reason, so I may have to settle for a mechanical device.
That such mechanical devices will not be 7-day, only 24-hour.
If anyone has a recommendation or two for a specific device, based on the above, and a positive experience, I'd like to hear it.
Another possibility that occurred to me (unless I dreamt it, I'm pretty sure these used to exist): a device with a bayonet fitting so that it goes **between** the ceiling pendant bulb socket and the bulb itself, and is activated by dusk, turning off after a few hours after dusk. These no longer seem to exist at all. Except seemingly in my memory/imagination. Anyone know different? I don't even know what they might be called...
Having been hunting on this subject for about 4 hours now and beginning to get a bit frazzled. There's a question here dating from 2009.
First points: the is about security, warding off potential burglars when I'm away. This is in the UK. It is an ordinary 1-gang lighting circuit switch (i.e. wall-mounted switch). It is not a high-power circuit. The current switch has no earth: there are only 2 wires coming into the back box, live and neutral. I'm not talking about timers which control floor-standing lights which plug into the mains: I have these already.
What I most definitely don't want:
1) something which fits *over* the existing switch and tries to flick the switch with a mechanical roller
2) something which is "smart" in the sense of connecting to the Wifi or any nonsense like that
What I would like, ideally:
To remove the existing ordinary switch.
To wire up the live and neutral to a new device, ideally electronic rather than mechanical. But it would have to have 2 wires to connect, not 3.
What I think I have understood:
That such an electronic device, with no earth wire, does not exist for some reason, so I may have to settle for a mechanical device.
That such mechanical devices will not be 7-day, only 24-hour.
If anyone has a recommendation or two for a specific device, based on the above, and a positive experience, I'd like to hear it.
Another possibility that occurred to me (unless I dreamt it, I'm pretty sure these used to exist): a device with a bayonet fitting so that it goes **between** the ceiling pendant bulb socket and the bulb itself, and is activated by dusk, turning off after a few hours after dusk. These no longer seem to exist at all. Except seemingly in my memory/imagination. Anyone know different? I don't even know what they might be called...
