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[Solved] How to detect the position of a dumb wall switch?
(sh.itjust.works)
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this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2026
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What?
As I read through that Goldbergian stream of connectedness, I'm left wondering:
Whatever you really trying to accomplish that brought this on
Won't that wall switch always be a manual interrupt for the automation
Basically, don't you want to automate the wall switch or lock it to being always on? (There are wall plates for this).
Kinda sounds like the setup is
And they want to turn the light on while the wall switch is off, which sounds like it won't work because the power would be off, also turning power off to the ZigBee switch and the light.
The goal is correct, but the current setup is incorrect. Right now, I have:
AC mains -> dumb switch -> zigbee smart plug
AND
AC mains -> zigbee smart plug -> surge strip with two lights on it
Just replace the wall switch with a zigbee.
Your idea works in theory, but in practice, using a ZigBee plug as a power sensor -even if you managed to program a way of detecting its online/offline status, will probably have too many issues.
The protocol is designed for low power and so has to be robust to temporary connectivity issues from interference. You would either have too much latency between the switch and the light turning on/off, or you would have phantom switching of the light whenever some other device in your house desides to do its thing.
It is a genuinely neat idea you had though.
Theory is all I have! I'm too new at this. That's part of what makes it fun!
Yeah, it sounds like I want a relay behind the switch.
I want the dumb switch to turn the lights on and off as usual, but I ALSO want to be able to turn them on and off with Home Assistant, irrespective of the dumb switch position.
The dumb switch is an interruption to the one outlet on the wall, sure. That's why I'm trying to do this "Rube Goldberg" setup.
A smart switch makes all this complexity go away
I didn't think so, not on the physical interface side. The switch in question is in the middle of a 4 gang, so having one be a different shape than the others would be slightly annoying. We can swipe down on the whole row to turn all lights off at the same time, and the switches I see appear to have a form that doesn't visually (physically, not an LED) indicate the switch position.
True, whatever form a smartswitch is in, they usually are self-centering. The user is protected from appearance of a false state. They can match your other switches closely enough in the same room, but that will stand out in the same switch plate.
Admittedly I was never concerned about that either: even before home automation I installed dimmers and programmable switches that were already visibly different. I’m actually just now getting back to that consistency, after replacing most switches. That’s an expensive way to do it though