I am not an electrician, but is it easy to install the smart switches?
Thanks
1 Like
I’m not an electrician so this is just based on what I do personally. Always seek advice from a professional or hire the job out if uncomfortable.
I always turn the breaker off to the switch I want to replace. Then I use a tester to double check the wires are not live. I remove the neutral, line and load wires capping them back when removing from the existing switch. I then match the load, neutral and ground wires from the smart switch to the wires in the box capping them back as I go. I then turn the breaker on to test the switch. If all is well I shut the breaker off again and pack the wires/switch into the box Afterwards I start the breaker and double check the light.
I can’t stress enough that this is very dangerous if something goes wrong so it’s always best to consult/hire an electrician to replace switches.
8 Likes
Quite easy, took a picture when you uninstall the old one, and match the wire to right hole, you are good to go.
1 Like
Spot on! Using a voltage tester is an absolute must. Better safe than sorry when dealing with mains electricity.
Years ago, my father trusted an electrician who told him the power was off. He ended up in the hospital after a severe electric shock. Fortunately, he recovered, but that’s why I always double-check everything myself and never rely on others.
As for the difficulty: there is no one-size-fits-all answer. It depends entirely on the existing wiring and your experience. For example, I recently replaced a traditional blind rocker switch with an Aqara Roller Shade Controller H2 EU.
The old rocker switch had 5 wires connected, and the H2 also has 5 terminals. However, the old switch didn’t have a Neutral (N) connection, which the H2 requires. Simply moving the wires over would have been a big mistake. One of the live wires was being daisy-chained to a light switch through the old rocker. Since the H2 doesn’t support this internally, I had to use a wire connector (Wago) to bridge the phase. I was lucky that a Neutral wire was already present in the backbox (also bypassed via a connector), so I could just swap the connector and tap into the Neutral for the H2.
It’s these kinds of “surprises” that make a professional consultation so important if you aren’t 100% sure what you’re looking at!
5 Likes