As many smart home enthusiasts, while in the process of upgrading to smart switches, I found one of the worst roadblocks: no neutral wire. Bummer.
So looking for some options, the ThirdReality Zero-Wiring Zigbee Smart Switch popped up as a great solution (not the best looking one, I agree) to solve that problem. The reason being I really wanted to use the Samsung Smartthings Hub I got as part of their Home Monitoring Kit to schedule my driveway lights based on sunset and sunrise times. Nothing too fancy but still sweet.
As I kept doing some research, I realized there two really cool things about this little, not very good looking smart switch:
- ThirdReality offered a Device Handler code to make it work with the Samsung Smartthings hub, even though is it not officially supported.
- I could also use the regular Zigbee switch device handler if I wanted to, modifying to my liking. Without being an expert on device handlers coding, this looked like a good opportunity to learn and practice.
So, what is this smart switch?
Very straightforward really.
It’s a box that goes on top of you regular switch (paddle or toggle). You need 2 AA batteries to provide Zigbee connectivity to your hub (any Zigbee hub, including the Echo Plus).
With a very smart “spiral” mechanism it toggles your switch or pushes the paddle depending on what type of switch you have. It also provides a button in the front for manual operation if needed.
The whole thing rests in a plastic frame that you attach to the switch plate with the screws that you already have (they also provide an extra pair in case you need them).
That’s it. Like I said, a very simple concept for a smart switch.
The ThirdReality Zigbee Smart Switch setup with toggle and paddle regular switches
Setup was not easy without knowing what to look for
To be honest, I couldn’t get this switch working right away. Good proof of that is this thread I started in the Samsung Smartthings community. I was basically asking how to set the smart switch with Samsung hub since it was not officially supported. The community is awesome and I got some pointers within hours. It turns out with Zigbee “distance is everything” so I literally had to put the switch on top of the hub. Then go to the Smartthings app and add the thing, in this case, the smart switch. I posted back these instructions to the thread:
- Create the device handler with the DTH and instructions in the Third Reality FAQ
- Make sure the switch is on pairing mode (very straightforward since the led is blinking and there’s only 1 led. If not in pairing mode, push the button for 20 seconds until it does blink. More details in the user manual.
- Place the switch on top of the hub or as close as you can
- Add as a thing in the app (more like “search for things”)
- Wait, Wait, Wait, Wait
- When detected, rename if you want and click ok.
- If the handler was not used (you will notice right away because of the default device join name for the switch in the code (RealitySwitch) go back to the developer portal and edit the device to use the handler.
- Voila
Final thoughts
Even though I had some issues setting this up, there was nothing really hard about it. It can easily be solved with posts like this, community threads like the one I started or third reality getting their stuff together and improving documentation a little bit. I definitely recommend this switch if you hit the issue of not having a neutral wire. Since I have only had this little guy for 4 months or so, I cannot speak to the battery life but ThirdReality says that batteries can go over a year with “normal” use. I’m only using the smart switch twice a day so we’ll see.
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