What does the Retrotouch IOTTY Smart Switch do?

The switch replaces your existing switch and makes it smart by connecting to your home WiFi. It connects directly to your WiFi without the need for a hub or controller.

Note: To install it you need a neutral wire in your switch.

Once installed you can control the switch via the app (Androdi and iOS). The app is packed with features:

• Energy monitoring – to keep an eye on consumption
• Geolocation – turn on or off the device when you leave or arrive home
• Sunrise and sunset – control the device based on the sunset and sunrise
• Rooms – controlling multiple switches in one room
• Scenes – set scenes with one button press
• Weather – control the device according to the local weather
• Notifications – receive alerts when used
• Sharing – share with members of your household
• Away mode – fake your presence but turning on and off randomly

How easy is it to setup?

Installation was easy, the only thing to be aware of is this is quite a deep switch due to the tech inside it. This means if you have a lot of wires in your switch or a shallow back box it can be tight!

It is also worth noting you require a neutral wire for the switch to work. If unsure check before you buy.

What’s the connectivity?

The Retrotouch IOTTY smart switch connects to Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple Siri allowing voice control:

“Alexa turn on living room light”

As well as IFTTT with 6 pre-made applets as well as being able to make you own and connect iotty to your smart home.

How much does it cost?

The switches start from £69.99 for a single gang switch.  It is also available in white or black finish.

What is it like living with it?

Simple and stylish! It’s great to be able to control the actual light switch not just the bulb like standard smart lighting. This means you can always control it, unlike smart bulbs where one flick of the switch and the bulb is dumb.

The other great main selling point is it works with all bulbs, even if not dimmable. This is why you need the neutral wire.

The switch itself really stands out due to the back lit glass, the only thing we found frustrating was the size of the switch as this prevented us putting it in a few rooms without changing the back box.  

Being able to control the brightness of the backlight is a nice touch especially if installed in the bedroom.

What are our final thoughts?

This is a stylish, feature packed switch!

A different approach to making your home lighting smart. The only one big consideration is the required wiring, neutral at switch, although we appreciate this is a limitation of the tech not this actual switch.

For more information and to buy the switch, visit their website:
https://www.retrotouch.co.uk/smart-wifi-light-switch.html

What does the Lightwave rf Lighting Starter Kit do?!

This starter kit contains everything you need to start automating your homes lights. The great thing about this solution is it retrofits your existing light switch and works with most existing lights and fittings.

Due to the way Lightwave works it has an impressive range, meaning the hub can be 15m away from the switch. Unlike ZWave, Zigbee or WiFi with shorter ranges.

How easy is it to setup?

Setup requires basic DIY, as you need to replace your existing switch – if you are unsure please seek professional help. The switch is installed like any ‘normal’ light switch – we did it easily.

You also need to setup the hub and app. Setting up the hub was easy and the app guides you through the setup in a few steps.

What’s the connectivity?

Lightwave rf works with an impressive list of integrations, including:

• Amazon Alexa
• Apple HomeKit
• Google Assistant

These then connect into the scenes and features allowing you to control via voice or the control app, for example Apple Home.

We tested it with Alexa and the command was instantly completed with zero lag.

Lightwave Lighting & Power Starter Kit (Smart Series)

How much does this the Lightwave starter kit cost?

£185 – the good thing is once you have the hub in the starter kit you can buy additional switches from only £59.99. This is reasonable when compared to other smart light solutions, for example Philips Hue.

The switch comes in stainless steel or white, it also includes a handy spacer for switches with a shallow back box.

What’s it like living with it?

Great – the app is full of features including:

• Automation – If you have additional lightwave products like sensors they can be used to automate. As well as a rules and timers.
• Scenes – Allowing you to easily set your favourite scene for TV or reading.
• Schedules – Great for security if you are away on holiday and want to simulate occupancy and make people think you are home.
• Wake Up – Creating gentle wake up routines

One slight frustration was checking if the switch is compatible with existing light fittings, they do have a feature on their website however its not very extensive.

The range is as impressive as advertised, with no issues having the hub quite a distance from the switch.

What are our final thoughts?

This is a different approach to smart lighting and prevents the problem most smart lights have, that when the switch is off the bulb becomes dumb.

Where this solution really comes into its own is it connects to the rest of the Lightwave range, allowing heating, power and presence automation.

This is a We Own it review of the RetroTouch Crystal PG Touch.

What does Crystal PG Touch do?!

It is a modern remote controlled touch light switch.

The one we tested is in black glass, but they also do it in white. The switch has concealed screws and the face plate covers them, giving a great look.

This version was not dimmable but they do have a dimmable model.

It fully comply with UK safety standards, a very important point as it’s being wired into your houses mains!

How easy is it to setup?

These have been designed to be retrofitted and easily connected into existing wiring.

We removed an existing 1-way switch and swapped it over in less than 5 minutes.

To setup turn off your electricity and follow the wiring diagram, in our installation the labels matched perfectly between the old and the new so straightforward quick switch.

The box is 35mm deep which is standard, we used the existing screws from the old switch, but it comes with screws.

Once setup and screwed in the glass face plate clicks on, this did take a little bit of practice and we had to press it quite hard till we heard the ‘click’ to know it was secure.

Once setup you need to pair the remote to the light switch, this is also easy and is done by pressing the light switch for 5 seconds till you hear a tone. Then press a button on the stylish remote. It’s now setup and working

Note: We are not electricians, if you are at all unsure seek professional advice.

How much does this remote controlled light switch cost?

£46.95 on Amazon, with a remote and battery.

Retrotouch Stunning Innovative Designer Range 1-Gang 1-Way Touch and Remote Light Switch

What’s it like living with it?

it’s a handy, stylish addition to our smart home. The switch gives out a subtle light from the circle, blue when off and red when on.
 As the remote works on the RF433 frequency band it works with most RF Hubs, for example Broadlink. This then adds smart phone control and rules.

The spec states the remote works 25 meters. We tested it at 11 meters and still works perfectly!

What are our final thoughts?

If you are looking for a modern, well designed remote controlled light switch this could be exactly what you are looking for!

This is a we own it review of IKEA Trådfri.

If you don’t know what IKEA Trådfri is it is the new range of IKEA smart lighting. They were released in the UK only this year. At present they are only white bulbs but colour bulbs are to be ‘released soon’.

In this review we tested:

• TRÅDFRI Dimming kit
• TRÅDFRI E27
• TRÅDFRI Hub

However the full range of smart bulbs includes:

• E27
• E14
• GU10

They also have a good selection of controllers or as they call them ‘Steering devices’:

• Remote control
• Dimmer
• Sensor

You can see their full range on their website.

The first noticeable thing about Trådfri is the mass market packaging. Normally with Smart Home tech the tech is packaged in a glossy box with a minimally designed manual, not Trådfri.

This is packaged in plastic with the standard IKEA style manual. However, this does fit with the product – this is affordable, dare we say cheap, smart lighting for the masses.

The bulbs themselves look like any LED lightbulb, the fitting is standard and we could easily put them into any matching fitting, we tested screw.

The bulbs are bright and compare to competitors being 1,000 lumens but also available in less bright options.

How easy is it to setup?

Setup is a little tricky and took a few attempts.

The first thing you do is remove the cover from the hub to reveal the Ethernet port. You then plug this into your router and power it on.

One nice design feature is you can wrap spare cables around the hub and cover the cables with the cover, leaving it with a clean tidy look.

You then install the app, scan a QR code to connect the app to the hub.

Next you setup a controller and this is where the tricky part came.

First you add it to the app. You need to press the multipurpose button (on the bottom of it) on and off 4 times in 5 seconds, then open the app and add it.

We found you must be careful with the speed of pressing and the 5 seconds or it does not work.

Next you must add it to the hub. Again you must use the multipurpose button this time holding it in for 10 seconds when it is touching the hub.

Watch for the light changes on the hub as holding for too long and again it does not work.

Next to setup the bulbs power them on, hold an already setup controller so its touching the bulb or at most 2cm away. Press the multifunction button, again for 10 seconds and no more. The bulb should flash and be paired.

This also took a few attempts for us, for best results we turned off other ZigBee lights and timed the 10 seconds.

Its not a hard setup just a little more fiddly than you would expect. However once you have got it adding more bulbs didn’t take as long.

What’s the connectivity?

At present there is none other than the app, however later this year they are releasing an update to integrate Amazon Alexa and Apple Home Kit.

How much does IKEA Smart Lighting cost?

This is where the big difference comes in when compared to market leading smart lighting.

IKEA sell one bulb with a controller for £15.
The hub is only £25 or they sell a pack with two bulbs and controller and hub for £65.

This price makes it a perfect step into smart lighting or making your home smart!

IKEA TRÅDFRI Dimming kit

What’s it like living with it?

Good and like other smart lights. Both controllers or ‘steering devices’ have a magnetic sheath and sticky pad. This is a nice touch as allows you to easily attach them to the wall and remove when you want to use them.

This is a nod to the known frustration with smart lighting where one switch of the actual light switch and the app and remotes are rendered useless. With the included sheath you can mount it on the wall and leave the main switch permanently on.

We especially liked the black disc dimmer, its very cool. You can put it on your sofa and turn like a volume dial. You don’t need to put it on a flat surface but when we didn’t we could not get a repeat result each time.

The app has some obviously competitor inspired features like Rise and Shine, Scenes and moods. This allows you to automate the lights coming on and easily enable your favourite settings you have saved as moods.

The app does however have an annoying bug where if you are multitasking and tap out the app, when it comes back it tells you it is unable to connect. To fix it you just need to close and reopen the app.

What are our final thoughts?

The big lacking feature is connectivity, at present they do not support Apple Home Kit, Alexa or IFTTT. This makes these smart lights well less smart – however as we said this should be fixed soon.

The thing to remember with these is this is mass market smart lighting. For the price point they work well, setup could be streamlined and the app does have a few glitches but it works.

We’re excited to see what the future brings for IKEA Smart Lighting as this is an impressive start and for the price it’s hard to argue!