I have a bit of an unusual application for a controllable switch. I have a small accent lamp on my bedside stand that runs on mains power and uses an inline switch on the cord to control a 25W bulb. The lamp is one of those salt lamps that throws a warm, candlelight-like light which is great for nighttime lighting. I use it in the middle of the night as a night light since it doesn’t disturb my sleeping spouse, or wake me up so much i can’t get back to sleep.
I would like to make control of this light available through Home Assistant so I can include it in automatons and scenes. Adding it to my Z-wave or ZigBee network would be ideal. I have a spare Zigbee receptacle switch that could do the job, but it’s not the best solution. With the power control relocated to the receptacle, I would need to leave the lamp switched on full time at the cord switch, and toggle it exclusively through HA. I would forego the convenience of switching the lamp from bedside without my phone where, frankly, I don’t need those distractions at night.
Looks like a company named Swiidinter made a product in 2015 that fit my needs. I found a blog post about a drop-in replacement cord switch with onboard Z-wave and a manual switch, and which would integrate into HA natively. It looks ideal, except it’s not for sale anymore. At least, I can’t find it for sale anywhere. Not a new problem, hey?
https://www.vesternet.com/blogs/smart-home/swiidinter-cord-switch-at-vesternet
Is anyone aware of a similar product still currently on the market, or any projects out there that could fit the bill? I’m considering just adapting a mini smart receptacle to an inline form, but I don’t like messing with mains powered DIY when I can avoid it.
Thanks for any leads! If I do end up making a project of this, I’ll try to take some notes on it to share here.
Now that I’ve slept on it, I realize there’s no reason I couldn’t bodge a mini relay like a Sonoff ZBMINI together with a rocker style, mains rated mini switch to mount in a project box and put inline on the lamp cord.
It’s still less dodgy than some of the rotary inline switches I’ve replaced.
Still sounds complicated, but if you like that kind of thing, go for it.
If I understand your setup right, I would get a little $5 zigbee button and make an automation to activate the plug receptacle. You can plop that button anywhere for ultimate lazy.