Outdoor floodlight and smart systems

iharding

We have a conventional PIR halogen flood above the back door, hard-wired to the mains (no switch). I want to replace this with a remote control light, so my wife can switch it on when she leaves her garden office, which is out of range of the sensor.

Also looking at smartphone app controlled systems such as Philips Hue for internal lights, and would like to automate the front outside light so we can switch it on to see our way up the garden path and to unlock the door. If this could be done automatically by an app based on GPS, or detecting our wifi network as we approach the house, so much the better.

I know from Internet searches that there are systems which can do each of these individual elements. What I can't work out is if there is one system which can do all of this. Please can anyone help?

TheCyclingProgrammer

You could use LightwaveRF components. The outdoor light could be wired up with an inline relay paired up to a remote control or wall mounted remote switch.

Using GPS to trigger your front light will be far too unreliable as you'd be relying on an accurate fix for it to be useful. A PIR would be a better choice.

EssexExile

You need a torch.:D

stator

I was thinking of starting a thread on exactly this subject.
I've got lots of security lights to hook up for winter and want to be able to turn them on and off from upstairs and downstairs and when coming home from shops in the dark etc.
I've been looking at Lightwave RF and it does look like you can get the sort of switches you need, but they are expensive.
£90 for the 'base station/internet gateway' and then £30+ for each of the inline switches.
If you buy the RF devices you could potentially control them with something like the Raspberry Pi and then you could program them to trigger on and off whenever you like, but would require lots of technical setting up / configuring and coding

skintandfat

Or you could buy a microwave activated sensor light, better than PIR ones as they don't get affected by heating flues


Much cheaper as they come in 10, 20, 30 and 50 watt versions.

DavidF

This solution is cheaper than Lightwave relays. Can be bought in UK too https://www.aliexpress.com/item/DIY-Wi-Fi-Wireless-Switch-for-Smart-Home-with-ABS-Shell/32546960095.html

TheCyclingProgrammer

FWIW I have a lot of LightwaveRF stuff in my house and IMO it's worth the money.

I don't use the official base station, I use an RFXCOM transceiver hooked up to a home automation server (Domoticz running on a Mac Mini but it can be run on a RaspPi too). This gives me a lot more flexibility and means I'm not limited to just Lightwave kit - I can use anything that can be controlled over the same 433Mhz frequency as well as Bluetooth and Wifi.

Domoticz isn't the most user friendly software in the world but a lot can be done with triggers and events without needing to write any code.

I also have extra software running that makes my devices show up on the network as Apple HomeKit devices so I can control them from my iDevices easily.

Of course the biggest benefit is how easy it is to retrofit the sockets and switches inside the house and they look good too.

stator

DavidF wrote: »

This solution is cheaper than Lightwave relays. Can be bought in UK too https://www.aliexpress.com/item/DIY-Wi-Fi-Wireless-Switch-for-Smart-Home-with-ABS-Shell/32546960095.html

Looks good, but how do you know if it's safe?
Is it CE approved or similar?