The reason the neutral wire will sometimes be missing is that mechanical switches only need to be placed between the hot and the light.
SMART SWITCH NO NEUTRAL CODE
As a result of this rule being relatively recent, many older homes will be wired in a simpler way that does not include a neutral wire.Īs with the colour of the wire, the specific electrical code is different everywhere, so it is best to look up your local regulations or speak with a licensed electrician. The reason is a direct result of the increasing popularity of "control devices" which are also known as smart switches. While this will be vastly different depending on where you live, the electrical code in North America has generally been changed in recent history to require a neutral wire in light switch boxes. This is just a very simple one Why is my switch missing a neutral wire? All electrical circuits have a return path The neutral wire is as important as the hot wire, they function together as a pair to power things, and both are needed for the light to turn on. The colour is typically white or grey in North America, but there are a lot of different regulations depending on your region, so be sure to check what your local laws are. To power a lamp, two wires will come from the wall into the fixture that will connect these wires to the bulb via a socket. This is why plugs have two main prongs, the third being a safety mechanism called ground or earth, which is not the same as the neutral wire.
An electrical circuit will always have two wires going to and from equipment needing to be powered. The neutral wire is the electricity's return path after it has entered a load, which is a fancy way of saying any device that uses power. Do not attempt anything you are not trained to do and always consult with a licensed electrician before any work. has the automation features, price and alternative options and my final thoughts.Warning! Electrical work can be dangerous, and if done incorrectly, could have fatal consequences. Then remap the button press to whatever you want. Within the app, you can go into the switch settings and change to a wireless switch. I assume this will work if you only have one gang of lights wired but then use the double rocker switch with the unwired button automating something else. It is possible to disable the light switching capabilities of the buttons and remap them to something else. A temporary solution with a back box spacer.I have been quite impressed by how quickly things get detected and activated with Aqara. With set-up mode activated, the hub identified it extremely quickly. Select the accessory you want to add and follow the instructions, this includes holding down the switch for 5 seconds until the blue light starts flashing. With the physical installation done, the light switch will as a standalone unit, so I checked that the light was working for each gang before I screwed everything in and set up the system.įrom the Aqara app, you will follow the standard set-up.
Once screwed in, you can just clip on the front plate again. You will need to detach the front plate of the Aqara, so you expose the mounting holes for the screws. Just to be safe, I always take a photo of the existing wiring and also double-check the wiring colours online. With all the lights switched off at the mains, it is just a case of unscrewing your existing switch and swapping things over. I am certainly not an expert with DIY, and doing anything with electrical wiring is always a bit daunting, but it is quite easy.
It is not the most elegant of solutions, so I will likely need to get an electrician in to sort it out properly at some point. However, even with this I struggled to squeeze it in due to the two-way cables filling up some of the space so I had to use a gang spacer plate to add a bit more depth. When I had my kitchen renovated, I had deep back boxes put in for this exact reason. The Aqara switch has dimensions of 85.8mm × 86mm × 37.55 mm. The standard depth for a UK back box is 35mm. This is a problem that has plagued me every time I have tried out smart light switches. Aqara Smart Wall Switch H1 (No Neutral, Double Rocker).Īqara Smart Wall Switch H1 Light Switch DepthĮven though this should work in most UK homes, there is a good chance the back box of your light switch won’t be deep enough.
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