Done a search on here, and seems people have asked similar, but not exactly the same questions so I’ll ask here.
I have a set of smart blubs in my bedroom in nightstand lights. I also have a switch on the wall that currently controls an outlet but we don’t use it. What I’d like to do it remove that switch and replace it with the Blue Series 2-1. I don’t plan to wire in the load wire to the outlet. I assume that this will allow the switch to still power up and function as a smart switch to talk back to Home Assistant?
My next question is, assuming my above assumptions work, do I need the neutral wire? My box does have it, but I know what it looks like in there and if I can avoid tapping into it it would just make my life easier.
Thanks in advance.
The switch needs line and neutral to power up. Nothing gets connected to the load in the configuration.
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Thanks for the quick response. That’s all I really needed to know that it would work and whether neutral is a requirement. Thanks again.
I can confirm I did exactly this with one of my blues.
I had a switch controlling an outlet. I connected line and neutral to the switch and wired the outlet so it is permanently powered bypassing the switch. The switch then effectively becomes a scene controller. In my use case, I bound it to another Blue, so it became a 3-way switch for my overhead lights.
With only the line connected, you would have an “open” circuit. You have electrical potential on the line wire, but without the neutral there’s nowhere for it to go. The neutral wire completes (or “closes”) the circuit, allowing current to flow through the internal circuitry of the switch.
The switch can work without a neutral only if a load is connected, and that’s because in that configuration the switch never turns the load fully off. A small amount of current still flows though the load when the switch is “off” and that is what keeps the internal circuitry of the switch powered.
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Thank you all for your responses. I appreciate them.