No neutral need a switch

[Rupp]

Guys,
I want to replace my last X10 switch in our pantry. Currently when I walk in the light comes on using a motions sensor. The problem is this is one of two switches in my house that do not have a neutral in the back of the box. Any suggestions. I'm running Z-Wave, and the Cps_Tuya plugins so I'd prefer to stick with Z-Wave or compatible WIFI if possible. If not I may just get one of the switches that has a built in motion sensors build in which will do the same thing.

[sparkman]

You could use an Aeotec nano switch in the box for the light and then use a regular switch to allow manual control. I do that in a few places in my basement where they did not run neutral wires to the switch boxes.

[simplextech]

As sparkman said you could use the embedded relay. If you don't care about running an incandescent bulb you can get a no-neutral z-wave dimmer switch (GE/Jasco). This is a clean simple install and I ran this for a while.

Ultimately I would have a neutral wire ran to avoid future issues and open the options. The cost of running it shouldn't be very much.

[Rupp]

Thanks guys for the info. I'd have run a neutral but there's an upstairs above the pantry and it would be cost/time prohibitive to accomplish. I do not need to ability to dim either.

[Black Cat]

WiFi would be the cheaper option, many of the Switches that use the TUYA App are Neutral optional.

[Rupp]

WiFi would be the cheaper option, many of the Switches that use the TUYA App are Neutral optional.

WiFi would be the cheaper option, many of the Switches that use the TUYA App are Neutral optional.

I've looked at several of these on Amazon and can't find any that work without a neutral.

[simplextech]

I still stand by the z-wave no-neutral dimmer being the easiest most assured/supported device. Yes it's a dimmer no you don't need dimming.. it still has ON/OFF you just get the un-used dim levels and a easy install without a neutral. But whatever.

[Black Cat]

WiFi would be the cheaper option, many of the Switches that use the TUYA App are Neutral optional.

This won't help you directly as you're not in OZ, but it will give you an idea of what to look for.

https://www.blackcatcontrolsystems.c...I-Smart-Switch

[RoChess]

Rupp, I had the same situation at my old location's office, so what I did was take out the switch, and short the two wires (used a Wago Lever nut), took the old single pole switch out and put a closed wall plate cover on it. At that point the light-bulb has Line + Neutral which connected straight to an Aeon Labs in-wall dimmer that ran then to the light-bulb on the load side. Activation was done via Z-Wave on motion controller or scenes/etc.

The fact manual control is missing did not bother me, because if power failed manual control wouldn't help either, and in the extreme rare event Z-Wave would have failed my thinking was that the light from the adjacent room would function or I'd grab a flashlight to unscrew the light-fixture and push a tiny momentum button I wired up to the trigger switch.

Aeon Labs nano dimmers can also be installed inside the switch without a neutral, but in worst case you might then have to rely on a bypass device that goes in parallel to the light-bulb to make things work by allowing a few milliamps of current to flow through the bypass device and corresponding switching wire to power the Z-Wave tech. Aeon Labs documents say that often it will work as-is on most light-bulbs, but if the power of the LED bulb is below 4Watt then it might not go fully off in those cases (but this can also happen when neutral does exist on the device).

Nano = https://aeotec.com/z-wave-light-dimmer-switch/
Bypass = https://aeotec.com/z-wave-low-voltage-dimmer/

[logman]

Guys,
I want to replace my last X10 switch in our pantry. Currently when I walk in the light comes on using a motions sensor. The problem is this is one of two switches in my house that do not have a neutral in the back of the box. Any suggestions. I'm running Z-Wave, and the Cps_Tuya plugins so I'd prefer to stick with Z-Wave or compatible WIFI if possible. If not I may just get one of the switches that has a built in motion sensors build in which will do the same thing.

Philips Hue Hub plus JowiHue plugin.... No wiring required! White ambiance bulbs are cheap ($19.99, plain soft white are even cheaper @ $14.99). Plus the bulbs act as Zigbee repeaters, which makes use of low cost Zigbee sensors possible.

A starter kit with 2 bulbs and a hub is $69.99... Not much more than a quality Z-Wave switch.

--Barry