Yeah in the beginning my experience with it wasn’t too good (about 2 years ago) but it’s been nearly rock solid with RF signals - the IR piece is all dependent on line of site but works for most part.
For motion and lux and humidy I’m using the following.
Motion
+
That’s not the cheapest prices, just ones I found quickly. There is a 12VDC sensor version and the ESP card has a 12VDC input, so they work together hooked to 12V. In a 8’ ceiling the sensor can pick me up about 9’ away. I was surprised how sensitive and well they work. Instantaneous reporting back to HA too. I 3-D printed some rings to fit in the same hole a Aeotec sensor would fit in, just because they can be swapped then.
If I need more measurements then I use an Aeotec Multisensor 6 with their Recessor ceiling mount. Much pricier but they also work well. Motion reporting is slower than with the one above though. I power them with a converter something like this using their supplied USB cable.
FYI, the similar converter with the 90 degree mini-USB looks like it would plug directly into the sensor, but the plug doesn’t fit under the back cover of the sensor.
I just ran some brown jacketed 2-wire doorbell or thermostat type wire to each location I might want a sensor, all going back to a single location in the basement.
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I really think this 100% comes down to personal preference. For me, the extra money spent on additional LZW-31SN’s is worth it purely for the aesthetics of having every switch match in my 2/3/4 gang boxes.
Do I really need three dimmers in the same room for the same circuit? Absolutely not, but it makes me happy to have everything match perfectly even when I rarely actually physically interact with those devices.
I think this is good advice. There are definitely areas in my home that are just such complete overkill when it come to 3 and 4 way circuits. For example, the overhead lights in my dining room have a four way circuit with switches on three different walls that are within 15ft of each other.I completely understand why it was done this way in the past, but with modern lighting controls (scene controllers, voice control, etc) it’s become completely unnecessary.
If I were ever to build a new house, I’d actually follow the approach of having many small zones of lighting within the ‘main’ living areas (kitchen, dining, living, etc), but then locate the actual dimmers themselves in a central utility closet. I’d then simply use scene controllers in all the key areas to handle all the ‘touch points’ where physical controls are desirable.
This is good stuff. One of the things (of all the many things) that pushed me from ST to HA is being able to integrate custom hardware centered around esp8266/esp32 like this.
I experimented with AUX switches in the past and found that my family found the user experience very confusing.
When we bought our house last year, I replaced all regular and dimmer switches with the Red Series dimmers (and some on/off switches). This included a number of 3-way and 4-way setups. While the Red series dimmers are obviously more expensive than AUX switches, it gives you both the same look and feel on all switches, incl. the LED bar, as well as the ability to use the “multi click” functionality on all switches. I’m using Home Assistant for automation and have it setup so that “double click up”, for example turns on the lights at 100%, whereas “double click down” turns them on at minimum level. I found that useful in the morning (full on) or at night (minimum on) and can do that from all switches. I also see the actual level synchronized on the LED strips. Also, with the LED strips on all switches you’ll be able to show notifications, which you could not do on AUX switches.
Now, wrt. linking multiple switches in an N-way configuration and Home Assistant: I ended up picking one switch as “the master switch” (e.g. the one with the load connected) and only showing that in Home Assistant views. The others are obviously around as devices / entities, but I completely ignore them.
One thing to note as far as the multi-click functionality is that it should be doable on the Blue series (Zigbee) switches based on what Eric shared here - ZigBee 2-1 Switch (On/Off & Dimmer) | Project New Horizon (Blue Series) - #202 by Eric_Inovelli
It’s not a option quite yet, but per that thread the current release target is March, and they won’t be dealing with the same supply issues as the red series with sourcing the Zwave chips. Still won’t have the LED bar for notifications if you go the Aux (or dumb switch) route, but if cost is a factor, then the Aux option will end up still giving you more than a dumb switch and should help with the user experience.
Say what again?
The first floor of my 1000sqft house has 40 wall switches, the lower level (finished basement) has 21. Each and every switch is useful and has a purpose. A lot of 3ways, accent lighting, ceiling fans. The beautiful thing with automation though is I rarely have to physically any of them.
To be fair, I did have to label some of them for my wife. 
I meant what I posted. If the switches need labels or people visiting the house can’t find the right switch the first try then there are too many. If you have a different opinion that’s just fine and you can post it if you want, but there’s no need to tell everyone that my opinion is wrong.
My parents house has a number of 4-6 gangs of switches and they are simply ridiculous to try and use. The house came that way.
And I meant what I posted? You have your opinions and I have mine. I did not say you were “wrong”. I offered a different point of view. and I also tried to do it in a light hearted manner, acknowledging there may be some validity to what you said. Guess I missed the mark there, huh? It really feels like you’re taking things a little personal. Whatcha got yer panties all in a bunch for? We’re all just here to talk about light switches aren’t we?
Your parents having a poorly laid out switch plan doesn’t mean everyone with a lot of switches suffers the same fate. I know I probably have few more switches than the normal home but there’s nothing “wrong” with that. The magic pixies aren’t going to jump from the wires to the devices in the rooms without them. The switches are all placed logically and consistently and anything that would normally be used by someone is exactly where you would expect it.
Every bedroom has 4 switches. Main light, pot lights, ceiling fan, and closet. The master bathroom has 5 switches. Vanity light, shower light, over tub light, vent fan, and the water heater circ start. That’s 10 switches just in my master bedroom! (2 closets) Tell me - which one is unnecessary? I also have no gang boxes bigger than 4 and my guests don’t really need to touch my switches - it’s 2022. If it isn’t fully automated, it’s voice controlled.
Finally - it’s probably a little silly to use a support forum for a company that sells light switches to tell people to buy less light switches. Just sayin and all that.
Who’s panties are in a knot?
Forums are awesome how you get quoted pointing out how your opinion is wrong even though the person doing it is “just sharing their opinion”, which wouldn’t actually require quoting anyone else at all.
Quoting just provides context for the reply.
Lighten up my man - you’re seeing things that just aren’t there. Over and out.
