Elgato Launches First HomeKit-Enabled Light Switch

[konqerror]

Also because, Hue only makes so many types of bulbs. I have many types in my house that Hue doesn't offer.

Yeah the biggest problem is there's no 100 W equivalents, only 60.

Sorry, I'm not seeing how this works. Their site claims if you have an Apple TV that you can control it from outside your home. This would imply that it connects to the atv over bluetooth which means it would need to be paired to the atv. On top of that, Bluetooth is crap when it comes to walls and most people only have one atv so if the switch has one maybe two walls between it and the atv, I bet it won't be very dependable when trying to turn the lights off when not at home. Now try adding a switch on different floors or across the house, Bluetooth is dead in those scenarios.

This is how any HomeKit device works. It automatically pairs with your ATV over WiFi or Bluetooth LE, as long as they are signed into the same Apple ID you set the device up with. That is nothing specific to this product.

Second, there's no problem with BLE and walls at all. I use a BLE sniffer app on my phone and I can see the Apple TV's beacons clear across a 1500 sq ft house. BLE does use small packets and beaconing.

 

[macduke]

Sorry, I'm not seeing how this works. Their site claims if you have an Apple TV that you can control it from outside your home. This would imply that it connects to the atv over bluetooth which means it would need to be paired to the atv. On top of that, Bluetooth is crap when it comes to walls and most people only have one atv so if the switch has one maybe two walls between it and the atv, I bet it won't be very dependable when trying to turn the lights off when not at home. Now try adding a switch on different floors or across the house, Bluetooth is dead in those scenarios.

Bluetooth is great tech, but it's not great at distance. I'll take zigbee any day, small packets and daisy chaining make it a very suitable tech for situations like this.

I assure you that HomeKit and the Apple TV has no trouble working remotely with BT devices. I have a Schlage Sense deadbolt that is BT LE only and it works fine. Now sometimes Schlage puts out an update that borks everything but that's a different story entirely, lol. I've used it many times. It's easy to test: Just turn off WiFi and BT on your iPhone and try it on LTE in-person. There is a bit more of a delay (5-10 seconds) as things get translated through the Apple TV but it works. The only caveat is that your Apple TV needs to be within BT range of the device. Mine is about 25ft away, and they recommend about 40ft. But I'd try to keep things 5-10ft under what a manufacturer recommends to be more reliable, and probably even less if there are walls in the way. I didn't have to do any special setup on my Apple TV that I can recall, aside from being logged into my iCloud which is associated with HomeKit. I don't think I setup anything else, aside from doing something when I first got it, which required logging in and out of iCloud to clear out something and initialize HomeKit. It even worked on iOS 9, so IDK what that other guy was talking about iOS 10. The only thing I'm aware of that has changed with iOS 10 and BT HomeKit is that BT devices can now be triggered by events, similar to WiFi devices.

--

I'm seriously looking into buying this thing. I just need to figure out if it's possible to use this in a double or triple switch setup. I have a multi-switch by my front door that turns on a master switch for every light on the front of my house, which lights the whole thing up with super bright LED cans so it's almost like daylight, lol. I'd love to hook that up to a motion sensor trigger so that if anyone approaches the front door the whole house lights up, lol. I'd also like to control the fan and the three non-standard sized bulbs it has in my living room. It would also be nice to set schedules for that light when I'm on vacation, as well as set schedules for the front lights in the evening. We have a couple ground lights that shine up onto the house on a timer, but it would be neat to have them all come on for a while at dark. The LED bulbs don't use much power.

 

[Tinmania]

I have Hue, love it, but it's lineup of bulbs is shallow -- mostly in the 60w range. I have a lot of cans in my house that need 90-100w equivalent, so these lightswitches are more versitle. Hue's main allure I think is the mood setting. But for basic lighting it fails. As the Hue system is now I could never expand it outside my bedroom + one living room lamp that is geofenced to turn on a dark when I arrive home.

Love Hue as well, but wish they'd offer an actual switch. I think they mainly want to sell bulbs, and color bulbs at that.

For me Hue has been great for separating my front lights that, for some reason, were all placed on one switch. Without a lot of rewiring I can individually control the lantern, driveway left & right, and front door lights individually. I also have 4 pots over the kitchen breakfast bar top that I can control individually, such as having one come on at 10 pm at 20% as a night light.

But I would also like a switch that could control my kitchen fluorescents (still like them) and similar where there is simply no Hue alternative. The Elgato switch would presumable do that but I doubt it would be recognised by the Hue hub or its routines, since it seems to be Bluetooth based.



Mike

 

[coolfactor]

I wonder why they didn't make this a "smarter" light switch, supporting both single-pole and 3-way setups. The high cost of these gadgets should add value through simple, universal installations.

 

[trip1ex]

More ways to not burn calories

 

[doelcm82]

More ways to not burn calories

And gasoline. When you can't remember if you turned off the lights before leaving and you have to turn around and check.

 

[wlossw]

Dimmer switch please.

 

[tallyho]

Second, there's no problem with BLE and walls at all.

Well that depends. If your house was built in the 1880s in Scotland you might have a problem. I have two Elgato power sockets and my house has 2 foot thick solid
granite walls, with our kitchen a more recent addition out the back. Those walls mean a solely Bluetooth solution just doesn't work if you're in the kitchen. (My answer is that my ATV is within Bluetooth range of the sockets, and I have a second airport express router in the kitchen, connected to my main router by Ethernet).

 

[BrentD]

I came across this today when looking for a similar solution: https://www.myswitchmate.com/

Basically it's a magnetic 'smart' switch. Sticks right over an existing rocker or toggle switch using magnets and mechanically operates the switch. So you could use it on fixtures that have switches in multiple locations. Drawbacks are no HomeKit capability yet, battery operated, and ugly (IMO anyway...) due to the thickness and silver bezel. A positive would be for vacation use where you will be away and want to have something more than a lamp on a timer. Or even on vacation if you want to take it with you and operate lights wherever you're going.

 

[TurboPGT!]

The HomeKit compatible light switch is a big deal, and makes the first major inroad to HomeKit being universally distributable in any new home.

I have HomeKit-enabled lights all over my home...but all of these fixtures lack any sort of wired wall switch for operation...which makes HomeKit control infinitely better than pull chain or other controls.

Others I know recently purchased a brand new construction...that has no shortage of lights...and no shortage of light switches to control all of those lights. The said to me, "We want to do it like your house so we can control everything from the phone/pad/tv."

...to which I responded...Yeah, that's great, so as long as you never touch another light switch. The moment you turn a light off at the switch, the entire thing falls apart. Getting the switches themselves under Home Kit control and making them digital instead of hard analog toggles is critical to this kind of smart home control merging with the physical controls that are still great and still exist.

 

[Jakexb]

As frustrating as it's been to see how slowly Homekit devices have come out, largely due to Apple's security requirements, I feel like the massive DDOS attack last week that brought down half the internet with hacked Internet of Things devices really showed that they were right to be concerned about security.

That said, they need to figure out how to move faster.

 

[BrentD]

The biggest problem I can see with this is that they need to have multi-switch versions. In my house, most if not all of the lights I would want to automate are on 3-4 switch panels. If they do it, hopefully it also won't be linear priced. I would hate to pay $200 for a switch!

All of that said, I have been wanting to delve into HomeKit, particularly to be able to have the house look like someone is here when we are away. This seems like an inexpensive and simple way to stick a toe in the water.

It appears to me that the switch portion itself fits the same cutout as a standard rocker type switch. If you've got a 3 switch panel and only want to replace one of them, just find a panel that has a rocker switch cutout instead of a toggle cutout in the position you want to use the Eve switch. Their installation instructions say you can use your existing wall plate if you want, so I presume that means it fits rocker switch cutouts. Something like this, for example: https://www.amazon.com/Leviton-80421-W-2-Toggle-Combination-Wallplate/dp/B0015APNOC

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Why pay $50 for this light switch and still buy separate bulbs, when you can just buy something like the Philips Hue bulbs, which gets you a good LED bulb that has Homekit compatibility and full RGB control?

Local control. I don't want to lose the simplicity of just tapping the switch on the wall.

 

[nsfw]

Dimmer switch please.

Seriously. I'm about to get a recessed lighting install and have a bunch of GE Z-wave dimmer switches ready to go. I thought, "oh cool homekit" I just looked at the instruction manual and there is no mention of dimming except maybe in the app? Anyways, that’s a major fail.

 

[WilliamG]

IMO, this one is interesting because it natively speaks HomeKit (something that the Insteon and Lutron switches don't), so you don't need an additional hub (in addition to an AppleTV4 or iPad) to automate it.

The extra hub isn't even slightly a hassle. You just plug it into your router and be done. My whole house is Lutron'ed up with their HomeKit-compatible Caseta line. I have about 35 light switches/remotes and 8 shades. Works great with HomeKit and Siri, at home or abroad. So nice to be able to turn lights on and off via Siri, turn lights to different brightness levels, or even group lights together. For example, I say, "Hey Siri, turn on the Kitchen Area lights" and it will turn on my kitchen lights, bar lights, and under-cabinet lights.

It works flawlessly, really. This Eve light switch doesn't seem to have dimming capability on the switch, as it's just a switch. A little steeply priced if that's the case, and utterly pointless to a lot of people looking at the functionality. One would assume if you're looking for something like this you'd want dimming as well.

Now if only LiftMaster would release a HomeKit update for their MyQ garage doors...

 

[rdlink]

Why pay $50 for this light switch and still buy separate bulbs, when you can just buy something like the Philips Hue bulbs, which gets you a good LED bulb that has Homekit compatibility and full RGB control?

Hue has limited value compared to wall switches. First of all, it's not a wall switch. With switches like this one I can turn my lights on or off easily by pressing the switch. Second, as others have pointed out it doesn't require special bulbs, thereby making it much more flexible and inexpensive than Hue. I have 5 can light in my kitchen. That's $250 worth of Hue lights. With a wall switch like this one it's $50 for the switch, and about $25 for the lightbulbs and Costco.

Having said that, I still like Lutron better than this solution. This doesn't offer any solutions for three way switches.
[doublepost=1477515768][/doublepost]

The extra hub isn't even slightly a hassle. You just plug it into your router and be done. My whole house is Lutron'ed up with their HomeKit-compatible Caseta line. I have about 35 light switches/remotes and 8 shades. Works great with HomeKit and Siri, at home or abroad. So nice to be able to turn lights on and off via Siri, turn lights to different brightness levels, or even group lights together. For example, I say, "Hey Siri, turn on the Kitchen Area lights" and it will turn on my kitchen lights, bar lights, and under-cabinet lights.

It works flawlessly, really. This Eve light switch doesn't seem to have dimming capability on the switch, as it's just a switch. A little steeply priced if that's the case, and utterly pointless to a lot of people looking at the functionality. One would assume if you're looking for something like this you'd want dimming as well.

Now if only LiftMaster would release a HomeKit update for their MyQ garage doors...

What shades are you using?
[doublepost=1477515998][/doublepost]

As frustrating as it's been to see how slowly Homekit devices have come out, largely due to Apple's security requirements, I feel like the massive DDOS attack last week that brought down half the internet with hacked Internet of Things devices really showed that they were right to be concerned about security.

That said, they need to figure out how to move faster.

Apple is not the holdup here. It's the manufacturers. I have HomeKit devices from 6 different manufacturers in my house.

As far as the security requirements are concerned it's just a secure chip. It's the manufacturers who are trying to figure out how to make their stuff work with it. And I say as long as it takes to do it right is fine with me.

 

[techortreat]

Should be cheaper - then would be good value. You can get a Lutron at the same price with dimming capabilities. Yes - one time investment in a hub needed. But then you don't need an Apple TV or an extra iPad

 

[takasugi]

I've heard that hub is riddled with issues and doesn't support half of the devices the original hub does.

Not Lutron. The Insteon hub that is HomeKit compatible has some issues (I have both but haven't had issues). Plus both Lutron and Insteon work with Amazon Echos which is a must have for me. Elgato doesn't work with Alexa.

 

[WJKramer]

Unfortunately this is everything I don't need. My requirements are 3-way and WiFi Enabled with HomeKit. Will hold out for iDevices but I am glad to see this segment of the market expanding. FYI I chatted with iDevices today and they said there version is delayed until being of next year

 

[acctman]

as soon and it appears on amazon i'll purchase

 

[CarlJ]

Why pay $50 for this light switch and still buy separate bulbs, when you can just buy something like the Philips Hue bulbs, which gets you a good LED bulb that has Homekit compatibility and full RGB control?

You received a number of answers, but here's another in a slightly different direction - Hue lights are 800 lumens, which is good for basic and mood lighting, but not nearly bright enough for some uses. Switches give one the ability to run arbitrarily large lights. In my living room API have some Hue lights (three of the color bulbs and a LightStrip Plus behind the TV and it's great for a lot of situations, but I also have essentially an LED movie light hooked up to an iDevices Switch for the times when I want the room flooded with light.

 

[Tinmania]

Hue has limited value compared to wall switches. First of all, it's not a wall switch. With switches like this one I can turn my lights on or off easily by pressing the switch. Second, as others have pointed out it doesn't require special bulbs, thereby making it much more flexible and inexpensive than Hue. I have 5 can light in my kitchen. That's $250 worth of Hue lights. With a wall switch like this one it's $50 for the switch, and about $25 for the lightbulbs and Costco.

It is most certainly not $250 worth of Hue lights when compared to regular non-color LED light bulbs from Costco or elsewhere. HUE white lights are now $15, so five of them are $75 not $250. In the scenario you described there might be other benefits to the Elgato switch, but cost is not one of them.



Mike

 

[rdlink]

It is most certainly not $250 worth of Hue lights when compared to regular non-color LED light bulbs from Costco or elsewhere. HUE white lights are now $15, so five of them are $75 not $250. In the scenario you described there might be other benefits to the Elgato switch, but cost is not one of them.



Mike

Did you not read close enough? I said CAN lights. The $15 Hue lights would not work in those fixtures. Those require the $30 BR30 Hue bulbs. I can buy 8 BR30 LED bulbs at Costco for $25. So yes, cost is one of the benefits of the Elgato switch over Hue. There are many more...

But if you want to compare A19 white bulbs let's do it. I can buy 6 of those at Costco for $15, the price of one Hue bulb.

 

[berskyboy]

When I went hue, I removed all of my manual light switches, connected the hot and switch wire leads together (so the fixtures were always on, leaving the on/off ability to the bulb not a wall switch), and put blank covers over the gang boxes, and where I deemed a switch nessecary, I either put a tap or dimmer switch over the cover. In a lot of cases, you really don't need that many switches in a house because a lot of times when you turn on one switch, you likely turn on other lights with it (for example, my dinning and living room I always turn on at the same time) Hue solved that for me with either the tap turning on multiple rooms or having multiple setups on each button or for a single room the dimmer switch worked great.

And the beauty is if I don't like something, it's a simple software change in the Hue app if I don't like the switch configurations, not requiring me to change switches in gang boxes to achieve a different setup. I like the flexibility of that, which reduces work overall.

I was thinking the same thing... but I wonder is that up to code? Do you know? I should really ask an electrician, but I may have to pay for their opinion.

 

[knemonic]

I was thinking the same thing... but I wonder is that up to code? Do you know? I should really ask an electrician, but I may have to pay for their opinion.

It's just a wire connected with a wire nut which is what many do all the time in gang boxes, the only issue of code is using the correct gauge wire nut and such. All the wires come off the same circuit so if there is an issue the circuit breaker kicks. No issues I could ever see, but if you're concerned, it's worth checking.