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Home Assistant is open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first. Powered by a worldwide community of tinkerers and DIY enthusiasts. Perfect to run on a Raspberry Pi or a local server. Available for free at home-assistant.io

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What smart wall dimmers are you using? (waveform.social)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'm looking for some good zigbee or thread wall dimmers for some hall lights, and I'd rather not use wifi if I can avoid it. The only thing I've been able to find on Amazon has been the Embrighten switches. Any suggestions?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

The 'platform' for the FEIT ones at costco are really well built. They make the Insteon units look like they were a one off hobby project. That's the part that has the power circuitry, screw terminals, etc. The wifi module used to be ESP based but they switched about a year ago to a newer BK723 chip, these can be reflashed with a 'OpenBeken', which is a newer project that has similar functionality to Tasmota but for these newer chips.

The only downside I've seen with these is OpenBeken is not as mature and the units 'hang' now and then requiring a power cycle (like 2-4 weeks). I have some of the older ESP based units that are otherwise identical and they never hang, this has been getting better with upgrades so likely will eventually be fixed.

If you are OK with soldering you can buy the ESP controller modules on Amazon for about $1 each and just replace them and run stock Tasmota (you have to unsolder the module to reflash it either way, so its not a big deal to just put a different one on). The module pinout and electrical interface are identical.