Need a Kasa remote control switch!
Need a Kasa remote control switch!
Last year I upgraded my older X-10 devices to Kasa smart switches and plugs, and am very happy with the results. But I miss not being able to control my lights and devices using a variety of key fob remote controls or surface-mounted 2-, 4- or 6-gang wall switches.
Now that Kasa supports smart actions, allowing a smart switch to control other smart switches, plugs or groups, I can install a new smart switch and have it control any light or device already controlled by a smart switch or plug. But that requires a new work box and hot/neutral wires for the switch.
It would be great if TP-Link sold a thin, decora switch-sized, battery powered remote control smart switch.
Lutron sells such a switch (called a pico switch) for their Caseta line of smart switches. It's the size of a standard decora wall switch, but is very thin, and can either be used standalone (handheld or sitting on a table or desk), or it can be surface-mounted on a wall (no junction box required) with a standard decora switch cover, providing all the capabilities of a smart switch, but with no wiring required.
Imagine you have an overhead light in a room that's controlled by a single Kasa smart switch. You'd like to add a second wall switch on the other side of the room to control the light (basically a 3-way switch application). You can do that today with a standard Kasa smart switch, but that would still require new wiring and a new work box. With a new Kasa remote control smart switch you would simply mount the new remote control switch on the wall, and assign a smart action to the new switch (to have it control the other smart switch).
This new remote control smart switch would be battery powered (user replaceable) and thin enough to surface mount it on a wall with a standard decora switch cover (Lutron sells a special backing plate for mounting their pico switch on a wall). It would connect to your WiFi network the same as a standard Kasa switch. It would probably have separate on and off buttons, instead of the rocker switch used with the existing smart switches.
The challenges would be: 1) Fit the electronics into such a thin case, and 2) Provide sufficient battery life so the user isn't changing batteries frequently.
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@MikeSun I used no ballast and the switch seems to works just fine.
MikeSun wrote
Well, you can use a switch and configure it in a group. That will do the job.
You can use any Kasa light switch to switch a Kasa plug or another Kasa Switch.
I use it as a "wireless 2 way switch" to switch a dimmer switch on the other side of the room.
BUT IMPORTANT!!! The key is that you need a ballast on the "empty" switch to make it work.
I got this one and it just works fine: https://amz.run/4xeH
MamaRita wrote
@Prl519 I completely agree there should be switches available for the plugs! Im in the dilemma now that my bedroom switch controls only the plug directly below it, but our light needs to be plugged on other side of room so we walk across a dark room to push the button on actual Kasa plug, or use the app to turn on (when we remember to have our phones with us)
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Yup. Works for me. Like I said, it did not work for me without a ballast, however that might be related that I got a 2way Kasa switch. One way might not need a ballast. You can try.
In either case you will be able to control the Kasa plug with the Kasa switch.
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YES!!!!! @Prl519
Kasa has been a leader for smart home lighting but this remote request is a MUST.
Voice control is nice however there are many scenarios where pulling out their phone is annoying or start talking to their preferred voice control system is going to be disruptive.
Also - a dedicated motion sensor. I know that they just made a light switch with motion.... that defeats the need for smart bulbs and I like going all in on bulbs vs hard wired switches.... I know the cameras have motion detection and you COULD use that motion detection to trigger the light bulbs on or off however there are many places where a camera might not be appropriate- for instance the bathroom.....
you get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and you don't want to blind yourself, you walk in, motion detects and turn on the lights to a very dim setting.
BTW - Phillips Hue had a dedicated motion sensor AND remote control.
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@Prl519 YES! I was wondering the same! I have Lutron all over my house, and I'm turned off by the price. I also like Kasa's simpler lightswitch design - I don't have to touch tiny little buttons like on Lutron. I'd really like to install a Kasa light switch in my kitchen and office, but I want to have a stick-on remote by the coffee bar and inside my desk drawer (so I can turn lights on without getting up from my desk). A remote with buttons that can trigger programmable events would be perfect.
Imagine this - stick a 4-button remote onto your coffee table by your TV.
One button you set to turn off the lights,
One button turns on the accent lights & turns off the main lights (for watching TV)
One button turns off the accent lights & turns on the main lights (for socializing)
One button turns all the lights on
I did something like this with a Pico remote with my Lutron.
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Prl519 wrote
One thing I discovered trying to use a Kasa wall switch as a "virtual" remote switch (it's not connected to any physical load) is that it doesn't always know the on/off state of the remote device it's controlling.
I have a wall switch configured to remotely control a table lamp that is plugged into a Kasa smart plug. The plug itself is under the table, so I can't use the on/off button on the plug itself to turn the lamp on or off. Instead, I use Alexa or the remote wall switch turn the lamp on or off. But if I use Alexa to turn the lamp on or off, the wall switch doesn't "know" about that change in the lamp's state. So the illuminated white circle on the rocker switch may not "agree" with the current state of the lamp. The result is that pressing the rocker switch may turn the lamp on when it's already on, or turn it off when it's already off. The "fix" is to simply press the switch again.
This is further complicated by the fact that there's a noticeable delay using the virtual remote feature, since the signal to turn on or off the controlled device(s) must get sent, over the internet, to your Kasa account, and then routed back down to the device(s). In my case that delay is about 1-2 seconds. So if I press my virtual wall switch to turn my table lamp on or off, it takes a second or two to see if the lamp changes state. If it doesn't (meaning the switch and smart plug are out of sync) I have to press the switch again, resulting in another 1-2 sec delay. Certainly not "instant" as would be the case if the wall switch were directly controlling the lamp.
A Kasa hub controller would solve this problem (the hub would know the state of every defined device, and could communicate that state with every smart switch or plug), and eliminate the delay described above, but not requiring a central hub is one of the best features of Kasa (keeps the cost down and the configuration much simpler), so...
Paul
@Prl519
Why not have Alexa control only the wall switch instead? Can you rename the wall switch linked to the lamp plug to "lamp" or something?
In google home you can set up routines with multiple voice triggers like "turn on the lamp" or "turn off the table lamp" etc and have it activate the wall switch rather than the plug. This would ensure the switch is always in sync with the plug. Same with any other automations. Just have it control the switch rather than the plug.
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