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[Solved] How to detect the position of a dumb wall switch? (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) by clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works to c/homeassistant@lemmy.world
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My nightstand lights are connected to a surge protector plugged into a Zigbee smart plug plugged into a dumb wall outlet controlled by a single dumb wall switch.

I have the smart plug set to default=On, so the wall switch works fine, and I can also turn the lights off from my phone or via an automation. All good so far.

What I WANT is to be able to turn the lights ON without getting out of bed, and irrespective of the position of the switch.

I tried putting a second smart plug in the switch-controlled outlet and making an automation to toggle the surge protector's smart plug when the switch's empty smart plug powers off/on via the wall switch, but it looks like it's not simple to detect a Zigbee device "disappearing". I found some integrations that detect zigbee devices disappearing, but those seemed more for running health checks to detect and repair moved devices than for live detection.

Any suggestions?

Edit:

Looks like a relay behind the switch will be my best bet. Thank you all!

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[-] slazer2au@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago

Kinda sounds like the setup is

Ac mains -> dumb switch -> ZigBee switch -> power board -> light.

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.

[-] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 days ago

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

[-] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 5 points 4 days ago

Just replace the wall switch with a zigbee.

[-] Jason2357@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 days ago

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.

[-] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 days ago

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.

this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2026
19 points (100.0% liked)

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