Belkin ships three-way, HomeKit-ready Wemo Smart Light Switch

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• Reply 1 of 8

  eightzero Posts: 3,179member

  June 3, 2019 4:00PM

  Very interesting, and very welcome. I may put this to use. The problem I immediately see is this will not fit in the 3 way switch housings I have. As with all the smart home stuff, it makes the most sense in new construction. Much of it simply isn't suitable for retrofitting existing houses without professional help. 

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• Reply 2 of 8

  space2001 Posts: 44member

  June 3, 2019 4:32PM

  eightzero said:

  Very interesting, and very welcome. I may put this to use. The problem I immediately see is this will not fit in the 3 way switch housings I have. As with all the smart home stuff, it makes the most sense in new construction. Much of it simply isn't suitable for retrofitting existing houses without professional help. 

  Note that I thought it wouldn't fit my existing older home, but the large outer plate is removable/optional. So just the protruding inner section needs to fit. Having said that, there isn't much clearance for the wiring behind the box. I have the older 2 way switch, which appears identical in appearance to this one, so be sure you get the 3 way vs the 2 way if you decided to buy.

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• Reply 3 of 8

  sflocal Posts: 6,156member

  June 3, 2019 8:16PM

  eightzero said:

  Very interesting, and very welcome. I may put this to use. The problem I immediately see is this will not fit in the 3 way switch housings I have. As with all the smart home stuff, it makes the most sense in new construction. Much of it simply isn't suitable for retrofitting existing houses without professional help. 

  What do you mean a 3-way switch "housing"?  I grew up restoring (and living in) San Francisco Victorians.  I haven't seen Wemo's switch in person, but I would think it's not any bigger than say a dimmable switch which is pretty fat.  I've come across some original, iron wall-gangs from the early years of SF constructions that barely fit dimmable switches but they do fit.  

  
  

  Can you be a bit more specific?
  
  

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• Reply 4 of 8

  applezulu Posts: 2,346member

  June 3, 2019 8:44PM

  eightzero said:

  Very interesting, and very welcome. I may put this to use. The problem I immediately see is this will not fit in the 3 way switch housings I have. As with all the smart home stuff, it makes the most sense in new construction. Much of it simply isn't suitable for retrofitting existing houses without professional help. 

  I've installed a bunch of the previous versions of these things in my existing house. These fit in standard switch boxes just fine. You do need a neutral wire in there, however. Also, metal switch boxes and faceplates will block the WiFi signal. 
  
  P.S. In case there is confusion over what a "3-way switch" is, that's simply a wiring setup where two switches operate a single light, like you would have for a stairwell. One switch at the top, one switch at the bottom, and a light in the stairwell. A "three-way switch" is not three switches on the wall side-by-side that operate three different light circuits. Maybe you already knew that, but just in case, there you go.

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• Reply 5 of 8

  ivanh Posts: 597member

  June 3, 2019 9:15PM

  Is it 110V-240V compatible?
  Any surge protection?
  No dimmer for light and speed control?
  it seems that every time before I turn on the Philips Hue ambiance / color lightbulb, I’ll need to check if Belkin Wemo is turned on.

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• Reply 6 of 8

  joshuaheard Posts: 1unconfirmed, member

  June 4, 2019 2:46PM

  Now make your dimmer switch 3-way compatible.

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• Reply 7 of 8

  wendell547 Posts: 1member

  June 8, 2019 9:41AM

  I grew up restoring (and living in) San Francisco Victorians. I haven't seen Wemo's switch in person, but I would think it's not any bigger than say a dimmable switch which is pretty fat.

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• Reply 8 of 8

  normang Posts: 118member

  June 12, 2019 1:59AM

  If you're controlling a light, you can use this to turn it off/on with all the tools, apps, Siri, Alexa, etc. since its compatible with all of them. As noted multiple times, a 3-way light light is one that is controlled by 2 switches. Unlike other 3 ways switches before this, it was always recommended to replace both switches to control the light, not with this one, you need one Wemo 3 way switch. So your install would potentially cost twice as much if you were using someone else 3-way switch. Wemo will control a fan to reportedly, but you're still controlling the speed from the fan, slow, medium or fast, and the light will be on or off and you'd only need a single switch Wemo, not a 3 way. Now you could if the fan light kit uses standard bulb sizes, stick a Hue bulb in it and control it once is turned on by the switch to dim it.. Course if you turn it off from the Wemo, it goes to full brightness the next time you turn it on.. Course you could just leave the light kit switch as a standard switch, leave it on all the time and just control the Hue bulb.. Then there are just fans with their own remotes. and Hunter I think has some HomeKit fans, but they are not cheap. If your just controlling a ceiling lamp or dining room, and want dimming, though there maybe one, but you could use again Wifi bulbs, unless there are several lamps in the fixture that would make that more expensive. I am not aware of any 3-way Wifi dimmers, there maybe one, just not sure who makes it at the moment.

  edited June 2019

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