Clever options for room with two doors but only one light switch.

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Clever options for room with two doors but only one light switch.

dklong

167 posts

Master Geek

#284221 8-Apr-2021 10:43

Looking for some help coming up with a clever solution to a problem that doesn't involve wrecking the house! :-)

The scenario is that our downstairs rumpus room is accessed through a door off the entranceway of our house. Off the other side of the rumpus room is a hall with two bedrooms, a bathroom and a laundry. The light switch for the rumpus room is beside the door to the hall. There is no light switch on the entranceway side of the room so, at night, you are wandering around in the dark to get to the other hallway.

The two doors are relatively opposite each other so I had previously installed a unit from HPM (HPM DXL632) which was a light switch with a built in motion sensor so that the lights came on when you entered the room and then turned off after 30 seconds or so once you had passed through. You could also manually override this and just turn the lights on if you were in the room for a while. This worked well until a number of years later the unit failed. So I replaced it... and then after a number more years it failed again. (starting to sound like a Monty Python gag about castles built on a swamp!) This time, I couldn't replace it because HPM had stopped making these units and I couldn't easily find a similar unit from PDL or others.

The wall between the entranceway and the rumpus room is concrete block that has been lined with gib and would be a bugger to try and run cabling to which is why I expect there wasn't a switch installed there in the first place.

Other than hacking holes in the walls and ceilings and installing a proper two-way hard wired switch, are there any other clever options available these days that people know about that?

Thanks

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1806 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2688248 8-Apr-2021 10:51

Switch-mount PIRs are available from at least PDL, Vynco, and I'm sure Legrand. They've generally been miniaturised enough to fit in a single mech, so you'll need to do something like buy a double-switch and pop the second mech out, or an empty double plate (e.g. 682VH/382VH) and an auto/off/manual mech.

There's a handful of wireless 2-way switches that you can just screw to the wall without needing any cabling, then stick a receiver behind the first switch.

My preference would be to use a ceiling-mount PIR next to the light, though. Better range and more choice.

Blurtie

468 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2688250 8-Apr-2021 10:56

Depending on budget.. Philips Hue smart lights with either a motion sensor and/or two independent light switches would do the job.. but warning, it's not a cheap option if just for the one room...

wellygary

8345 posts

Uber Geek

#2688259 8-Apr-2021 11:16

PDL do have an indoor PIR sensor module that you could certainly fit into a 2 gang cover plate..to make a solution

https://www.pdl.co.nz/products/detail?CatNo=PDL100MPIR&tab-document-1=0#

dklong

167 posts

Master Geek

#2688261 8-Apr-2021 11:16

SomeoneSomewhere:

Switch-mount PIRs are available from at least PDL, Vynco, and I'm sure Legrand. They've generally been miniaturised enough to fit in a single mech, so you'll need to do something like buy a double-switch and pop the second mech out, or an empty double plate (e.g. 682VH/382VH) and an auto/off/manual mech.

There's a handful of wireless 2-way switches that you can just screw to the wall without needing any cabling, then stick a receiver behind the first switch.

My preference would be to use a ceiling-mount PIR next to the light, though. Better range and more choice.

Aaaah... So they've gone modular instead of a pre-built unit. I'm probably looking for the wrong thing then.

Re the 'wireless 2-way switches' : Are these the sort of thing that requires a Home Automation system or can you get simple switch to receiver units that just talk to each other?

jonb

1772 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2688264 8-Apr-2021 11:17

When I walk in the gym changing room it has a sensor switch in a normal light socket, it the same as the PIR mentioned above?

dklong

167 posts

Master Geek

#2688265 8-Apr-2021 11:18

wellygary:

PDL do have an indoor PIR sensor module that you could certainly fit into a 2 gang cover plate..to make a solution

https://www.pdl.co.nz/products/detail?CatNo=PDL100MPIR&tab-document-1=0#

Thanks. I suspect I've been looking for a whole unit and not realised that they've gone modular! :-) Definitely worth a look.

SomeoneSomewhere

1806 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#2688266 8-Apr-2021 11:18

There's simple switches; I've seen them on the counters of electrical merchants.

The ones I saw were just a box that go behind the switch; you bring your own switch and it uses it as an input.

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dklong

167 posts

Master Geek

#2688269 8-Apr-2021 11:25

SomeoneSomewhere:

There's simple switches; I've seen them on the counters of electrical merchants.

The ones I saw were just a box that go behind the switch; you bring your own switch and it uses it as an input.

Thanks :-)

frankv

5681 posts

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#2688274 8-Apr-2021 11:33

I have an LED light bulb which has a PIR sensor in it.

tieke

674 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#2688282 8-Apr-2021 11:53

Sounds like you are probably sorted, but as an alternative to the Philips Hue bulbs I think the Xiaomi Yeelight range work really well, with the drawback that you can't currently buy them locally. I've put them in quite a few rooms of my home, and although you could connect them to a hub so that you can control them via timers/sensors/voice etc, in your case a couple of the physical Yeelight Bluetooth Dimmer Switches would do the job.

The buttons are simply stick-on ones that are solid and well-made: push in to toggle on/off or turn to dim (or double-push to change to a night-time mode). In our lounge I've put one of these near the couch as well as near the door for easy light-control during movies, and similarly have one next to the bed to easily dim/control the main light.

The dimmers are about NZD$20 each from gear best/ali express-style sites, and I use them to control these style lights, although they can control any of the xiaomi yeelight bulbs/fittings.

dklong

167 posts

Master Geek

#2688285 8-Apr-2021 12:06

tieke:

Sounds like you are probably sorted, but as an alternative to the Philips Hue bulbs I think the Xiaomi Yeelight range work really well, with the drawback that you can't currently buy them locally. I've put them in quite a few rooms of my home, and although you could connect them to a hub so that you can control them via timers/sensors/voice etc, in your case a couple of the physical Yeelight Bluetooth Dimmer Switches would do the job.

The buttons are simply stick-on ones that are solid and well-made: push in to toggle on/off or turn to dim (or double-push to change to a night-time mode). In our lounge I've put one of these near the couch as well as near the door for easy light-control during movies, and similarly have one next to the bed to easily dim/control the main light.

The dimmers are about NZD$20 each from gear best/ali express-style sites, and I use them to control these style lights, although they can control any of the xiaomi yeelight bulbs/fittings.

Thanks for that. I suspect that the Philips option (as mentioned by @Blurtie earlier as well) and presumably the Xiaomi Yeelights work best as part of a wider ecosystem so if I was considering going full HA then this sort of thing would be ideal. I especially like the fact that the Yeelight range offer a dimmer on a wireless switch. That is pretty clever. :-)

I suspect that the issue with both would be in finding the right sort of 'bulbs' for the fittings we have in their respective ranges. For some reason, most of our light fittings don't use standard bayonet or edison bulbs. They are mainly weird linear halogens and the like. I suspect for this project that one of the options above might be the answer.

As a side note, while researching this again today ... I ran across 'Gem Lighting Wireless Switches'. They could also be an interesting alternative in the 2 switch category as opposed to the PIR approach. https://www.gemlighting.co.nz/

nickb800

2723 posts

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#2688288 8-Apr-2021 12:07

No experience with this particular product, but seems like your situation is the perfect application - can have a slave switch driven by batteries - ideally for the end of the room where you can't easily run wiring to

https://www.gemlighting.co.nz/

SomeoneSomewhere

1806 posts

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#2688290 8-Apr-2021 12:10

I think those are the ones I saw at a wholesaler.

But for hallways, I'm increasingly liking the idea of motion sensors. A cheap ceiling-mount PIR will set you back like $50.

neb

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#2688291 8-Apr-2021 12:12

dklong:
The scenario is that our downstairs rumpus room is accessed through a door off the entranceway of our house. Off the other side of the rumpus room

... you see a dimly-lit hallway, and can hear sounds of heavy breathing coming from it. To your right is a guardroom with the skeleton of an orc with a rusty scimitar in its hand, and to your left are three passages with the middle one lit by a flickering torch.

Just a general comment, a sketch of the layout is always useful with questions like this, even if just to forestall followup questions about "is the dead orc to the left or to the right?".

dklong

167 posts

Master Geek

#2688292 8-Apr-2021 12:13

nickb800:

No experience with this particular product, but seems like your situation is the perfect application - can have a slave switch driven by batteries - ideally for the end of the room where you can't easily run wiring to

https://www.gemlighting.co.nz/

Snap! :-)

I expect I'd replace the current switch with a base receiver and switch and then use one of the surface mount switches on the other wall. Could be a reasonable option for $150.

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