I have 2 Wyze Cam Floodlights (v2) installed in my backyard. They are connected/controlled by a traditional toggle 3-way switch (1 upstairs and 1 in my kitchen_.
What is the best practice for installing them with a 3-way switch? Right now, when either switch is flipped, it either kills all power to the lights (and takes them offline) or restores power, but it doesn’t turn the lights on manually. I don’t want someone to flip a switch accidentally on the wall and kill all power.
Obviously, with traditional lights, you flip the switch and the lights turn on. Since these are motion sensors, is there any way to have them just turned on manually by flipping the switch (vs. using the app)?
It could be my switch wiring but I can get power to them so …
Is there a way to use a smart switch or is that overkill with smart lights? Would a smart switch always deliver power whether someone pushes the switch or not and thus solve the issue of killing all power and taking them offline?
In summary:
I’d like to have manual control of the lights going on/off but not have a wall switch cause all power to cut off and take the lights offline.
I hope this rambling post makes sense. Thank you for your time.
You can not manually control the lights on the Floodlight with a wall switch.
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You can add a switch guard to prevent from accidentally turning off the power.
I wonder if installing Wyze’s light switch will allow you to manually control the Floodlight V2 lights? There are some smart interactions you can do with the Wyze’s light switch (hold / double tap / triple tap), but it might too risky that you’ll turn off the power instead.
Depending on the wiring, I wonder if it is possible to change it to 1-way in your kitchen (add a switch guard) and then get a Wyze’s smart switch for upstairs for Wyze’s integration specifically to control your floodlights. Problem with this setup is that you can’t manually control your lights on your Floodlight V2 in the kitchen (without using the app). You might want to double check if this is possible first.
If only Wyze sell Smart buttons, then you can just leave everything as is (maybe add switch guards) and just use the smart button to turn on / off the lights on the Floodlight V2
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I kind of knew that but hoped there was something I was missing. The outside lights I control with a smart switch are single-pole, and the 3-way indoor lights I control with a smart switch are lights only, not cameras.
Thanks.
Yeah, I figured the guard would be the way to go but I was hoping there might be some other ideas out there for manual control.
Wyze doesn’t have a 3-way switch but I’ve used 3-way switches from TP-Link/Kasa/Tapo, Amazon, Wemo and others. They do work great for automation. I had installed a 3-way switch but same issue - killed power. I’m pretty handy but rewiring isn’t
I’ve concluded that a 3-way switch will always turn the power off given how it is wired. That is fine for just lights but the camera is the catch. I have smart switches on single-pole and 3-ways and both work fine. But I’m guessing the issue here is the camera and a 3-way will always kill power. On the indoor 3-way, it kills power but that is what it is supposed to. It does retain automation for the voice and app commands. With a camera, you don’t want to kill any power because, well, you have the camera.
Thanks for the ideas.