I thought I’d post here for anyone else wanting to do 2-Way or 3-Way switching with Aqara H1 EU No Neutral switches.
I recently brought a number of Aqara H1 EU No Neutral single/double switches with the plan for replacing a lot of dumb switches in my home. Some of these will be replacing exiting 2 and 3 way circuits.
After purchasing I read a lot of information online suggesting this is not possible, and that I would need to use the H1 Wireless switch.
Well… I have successfully managed to wire them up on both 2 way and 3 way configurations, and after some initial issues I have found a way to get this working…
For my home this is what I have done. (further references to H1 are always the H1 No Neutral switch and I’m using the Single Switch here, but have also done this using Double switches)
2-Way Switching:
Find the switch that has the Live wire and the Switch Live wire to the actual Light fitting/bulb. ( I will call this the Primary Switch)
Connect the Live wire to the L terminal on the Primary H1, and the Switch Live to the L1 terminal on the Primary H1.
In a 2 way UK circuit you will often find three wires going to the other switch (Com, L1, L2).
You will only need 2 of these .
Now with the Secondary Switch
Connect L of Secondary Switch to L of Primary Switch), also Connect L1 of Secondary Switch to L1 of Primary Switch. (Cap off the 3rd unused wire).
Secondary Switch will now have 1 wire connected to each L and L1 terminals.
Primary Switch will have 2 wires connected to the L Terminal (Live in and L connected to Secondary L), and 2 wires connected to the L1 Terminal (1 connected to Secondary Switch L1, and 1 to the light fitting).
My thought process on this is that Each switch effectively has a LIVE In, and also a Switch Live out which allows the current to flow via the Bulb to the Neutral.
Which is basically how No-Neutral Switches work.
Now I tried this using automations to keep switches in Sync.
For both Switches:
If single press AND Switch is ON THEN switch ON other Switch.
If single press AND Switch is OFF THEN switch OFF other Switch.
(Remember the switch is not decoupled, so when pressed the Switch is Actually ON/OFF before the automation runs)
This did not work. Issues with automations not running etc. (the reason for this I will explain in soon)
This also mean (especially when I did a 3-Way circuit) that the Light might stay on.
I then thought I’d use the Primary Switch as the actual switch, and the Secondary as Wireless/Decoupled.
Makes sense to me since I only need the primary switch to supply power to the light anyway, and the Secondary switch will still have it’s circuit due to the wiring.
So I decoupled the Secondary Switch, and setup up a toggle
Secondary Switch:
IF single press THEN Toggle Primary Switch. (no need to automation on Primary Switch here)
So far so good… and working… however I noticed the Secondary switch would drop it’s connection and then take a while to reconnect again (showed up as a blue light briefly on the switch). This would leave it in a state where I could turn OFF the light but not turn it back ON via the Secondary switch.
Couldn’t wok out why, since the circuit is still active for the small current from the Decoupled Switch.
I worked out that when the Primary Switch turns OFF, it momentarily breaks the circuit, OR the Secondary switch is unable to keep the circuit due to the fluctuation in current, which then breaks all the automations and even stops the Secondary switch for working for a while.
SO… How did I get this working?
Now this is where the ,oh so simple, magic happens
Set the PRIMARY Switch to be DECOUPLED, set the SECONDARY Switch to Normal (switch power).
set Automation on PRIMARY Switch:
If single press THEN Toggle Secondary Switch.
All working as expected and intended. 2-Way switching done with the H1 No Neutral switches.
Why does it work this way and not the other?
The Primary Switch never actually Turns ON/OFF and so never breaks the circuit or causes the fluctuation… The Secondary Switch becomes the one that Actually Switches the Circuit, and since the Primary ALWAYS has it’s connection to the light fitting and therefore the Neutral, It’s circuit is always Active.
I’ve also done this with a 3-Way Circuit too. The thing to remember is this:
Always use one of the Secondary switches to the be actual Power Switch, and Decouple the PRIMARY switch. Then setup the Automation for the Secondary Switches 1 Automation will do the entire circuit, no matter how may Switches.
Remember the Primary Switch is the one actually wired to the Light Fitting via L1) and must be DECOUPLED.
(2-WAY LIGHTS Automation)
- Primary Switch (DECOUPLED) “Primary”
- Secondary Switch (Designated to supply power) “LiveSwitch”
(if all Condition is met)
IF
single press (Primary)
THEN
Toggle “LiveSwitch” Switch.
(3-WAY LIGHTS Automation)
Wire as above 3rd Switch to Primary (Ensuring L → L and L1 → L1)
- Primary Switch (DECOUPLED) “Primary”
- Secondary Switch (Designated to supply power) “LiveSwitch”
- Secondary Switch (DECOUPLED) “Seconadary2”
(if any Condition is met)
IF
single press (Primary)
single press (Secondary2)
THEN
Toggle “LiveSwitch” Switch.
Of course you can then also add in a H1 Wireless as well if you wish and just add it to the Automation
I hope this helps anyone else trying to figure this out.
If you are not competent and confident enough with electrical circuits, please always consult an electrician before doing any of this, of pay one to do it for you.