Europe use 220
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Any three-way switches I’m doing going forward are all going to be Lutron. Because they are so much easier to install. You put a regular switch at one end. At the other end of the three-way you wire nut the ground then you take the other wires you wire nut them all together and then you use a pico remote and mount it there and it looks just like a light switch but it’s a remote control with a 10 year battery life. And it’s much cheaper than putting a switch at each end. The switch is $55 and a pico remote is $20. The other advantage is if you have a home that has a switch and you would like to make it a three-way switch you can do that the same way you put the switch in and then they have a kit that you don’t even have to put a hole in the wall. You mount the pico remote to the wall and then put a cover plate over it and it looks just like a switch and then when you program it in the app you now have a three-way switch where before you did not. And they’re smart so you can run it from the app you can run them from the wall switch or you can get remote controls for them.
To show you how people adapt to and learn to like home automation my wife is a perfect example. She was totally against all my Lutron switches and Wyze sensors, bulbs all that stuff. This is the drawer next to the end of the couch that she sits on. What do you see? 4 Lutron remotes. Dining room ceiling fan, living room ceiling fan, living room lights and exterior lights. She can then also use the Wyze app to turn on the porch lights if she needs to. She can use the thermostat app to change the temperature. And she can use the Insteon remote or app in the theater to turn on her lamp so she doesn’t have to get up off of her couch while we’re watching a movie. Funny how people adapt. She’s even coming around to Alexa now. Which I never thought would ever happen.
I dealy, you wouldn’t. But when trying to use existing in wall wiring to rig up a 3 way, and having different poles at each switch point, or those feed wires are moved in the breaker box later. Ask me how I know… ;p But 220 to a light bulb actually works, only real problem is the actual switch tends to “flash” if flipped quickly… lol
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Thanks for being the test person for me. When I get home will being make house a smart house. The patio light are xmas clear lights strings. Control the light and get power for a camera. Also will try to stay with one manufacture too.
The story using xmas light is mine dad was work at Disneyland hotel years back. They was pulling off the lights off the trees. So he got a box and hung them on the back of patio to cover the whole patio.
That’s why I said go with Lutron for three ways going forward
My wife’s 4 Lutron remotes right next to her chair. She uses the Waze app to turn on the porch light. Uses the thermostat app to change the temperature, she uses the nest app to monitor our nest protect fire/CO detectors and she has a Lutron remote control in the laundry room to turn on the garage lights and she has a Lutron remote control in her car so she can turn on the garage lights before she pulls in. This isn’t counting all of the wise sensors that automatically turn on lights for us. We have five motion detectors and contact sensors that turn on lights for us automatically. So for a woman who hates smart homes and home automation she sure is coming around. She’s even thinking about allowing me to dabble more with Alexa than just my phone
For fun I made some measurements of a 2 camera daisy chain. The cable that ships with the camera has 0.54 Ohms of resistance. I made a measurement of the current drawn by 2 cameras in daisy chain and in night mode with the IR illumination turned on. In that case the total current of the 2 cameras together hovers around 0.76A
Here are voltages I measured:
5.12V at the adapter
4.71V at the 1st camera
4.50V at the 2nd camera
You can see why there is a recommendation to limit the daisy chain to 2 cameras and also to use the regular cables that ship with the camera instead of the 15 foot long version of the cable that Wyze sells.
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That is excellent info. To add to it, next time try putting some distance between the cam and it’s wifi AP, and have two or more devices streaming from it. Then add some constant movement in front of the cam to try and max everything out.
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Nice ideas. Thanks. I did see that there definitely were some peaks to the current and why I said “hovers around 0.76A”. I imagined those peaks had to do with WiFi data transfer.
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Here is mine test to see how long a 64gb card record in case I mount a camera up high.
I am not finish testing on this.
One hour used x 24 hours then div it to 64gb= days
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You might want to consider a hub. Instead of having multiple apps to use, integrate all your devices into one interface. Hubs also have the ability for much more advanced automation. Just a thought, I was more and more discontented with the amount of additional apps I had to use, but 1 year on with a Hubitat and I have never looked back. Lutron Integration with Hubitat is awesome. Unfortunately, Wyze does not integrate, but with a Pi you can integrate the bridge and sensors, but not the cams.
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Right now the only hubs I have our Lutron insteon for just two outlets and harmony hub in my Harmony hub runs basically everything I don’t really use the other apps at all. Because Lou Tron and insteon are all compatible with Logitech. But thank you I’ll look into hubitat
is Harmony hub is a wifi hub and not a z wave type?
more like alexa?
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Harmony Hub centralizes command of all your devices by controlling them with IR, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth ® wireless signals. You can hide away the cables and receivers and control everything from behind closed cabinets and doors. They sell a extender that works with zig bee and Z wave also. That you just plug-in to the hub.
I’ve got the Harmony elite. It is an awesome remote.
But I’d love to get this one. It’s more future proof. Not a lot different but just enough.
I looked up Hubitat and they don’t have enough brands that I use for it to be worth it for me to go with them. Thanks for bringing it up and leading me towards them but at this point they’re not ready for me yet
Gotcha, there are other dedicated Hubs out there. I chose Hubitat because it met my needs and allowed a lot more local control over a larger number of devices. I definitely recommend getting a hub that meets your needs and allows you to simplify things.
I have heard the Harmony devices are awesome, but I don’t have anything RF so I haven’t messed around with them. Another thing, those Pico remotes you have are awesome. It seems like everytime a place an Amazon order I add in a Pico just to have more. They are awesome 5 button remotes, with 10 function (each button can be pressed or held). Sorry, I got a bit off topic.
Regarding, power I typically run Cat5e, or now Cat6 to all my locations. You can use an adapter to USB to power the cable or just solder on a USB connection.
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Where on Picos did you learn that you could do a short dress or a long press. Because I’ve not ever seen or read that on Picos Thanks.
That is functionality you get when you integrate them. I don’t know what they can do with the native lutron app, but I would think you could do regular press and hold. I know the clear connect sends at least three signals back to the hub (pressed, released, and held).
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I thought I had read somewhere in the tech-specs that a single V2 drew less than 0.5A, and your data tends to prove that. I guess that is why, when I added my V2 cameras to my solar set-ups, I hardly noticed them drawing any power from the grid. My porch camera is powered by a small 35Ah battery (charged by 50W panel), and it rarely takes more than an hour to fully re-charge the battery each day, even on a rainy/cloudy day.
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