In summary, if you have an older-style house, you might still be able to turn it into a Smart Home without having to rewire the whole house. We recommend the Lutron Caseta Wireless dimmer ( read our detailed review here)Ĭan you make a smart home without a neutral wire? The Caseta switch works with Wink and the Caseta Smart Bridge (the Caseta Smart Bridge allows the switch to interface with Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and Google Home). The Cooper Aspire has Z-Wave technology, so it should work with several hubs. However, you must confirm that your dimmable smart switch will work with the type of light bulbs you plan to use – many will only work with incandescent bulbs. This power flow is not enough to make the light bulb glow, but it provides enough power to keep the switch communicating with your smart hub. The key is the dimming feature, which controls the flow of power between the light and the switch up and down to adjust the bulb brightness. There are dimmable smart switches on the market that can be installed without a neutral wire. Option 2 – Smart Switches That Don’t Require a Neutral Wire However, If the house is being completely renovated and the wall linings are being replaced, this option would not be very expensive in the scheme of things. If you want to use smart switches but don’t have neutral wires going to the switch housings, you could have an electrician run neutral wires, which will be more expensive due to the labor required.Īlso, running new wires inside the walls and ceilings of your home will often require removing the actual wall material itself and then replacing it afterwards for you, this may be too much trouble and too expensive.
#SMART SWITCH NO NEUTRAL HACK INSTALL#
Alternatively, you can buy a smart switch with no neutral and install it. The process is somewhat complex and time-consuming, but possibly the best way to go about it. For starters, you can consider calling in a trained electrician to run a new wire through the wiring system.
Several options are open to you if you don’t have a neutral wire. What do you do if you don’t have a neutral wire? Here is a diagram of a standard switch with the mains cable (with the white neutral wire) going into the switch housing: A switch housing that shows the neutral wire (white) going to the light socketĪ smart switch can simply tie into the white neutral wires to complete the circuit and get a source of power to keep the radios in the switch working at all times. The switch still breaks the circuit, but in this case, the smart switch can tap into the neutral wire to keep power flowing through the switch – the electronics in the switch still break the circuit to the light, but the switch maintains a circuit, so it is constantly receiving power. In this case, the neutral (white) wires are connected inside the switch box. The second option is to have the power enter the switch box and then proceed to the light fixture. If the power is cut (because the switch is off), the smart switch will not be able to receive instructions from the hub. Smart switches require a constant power source because they constantly communicate with a hub. Some smart switches won’t work in this configuration because they break the circuit when it is off, so power is not flowing through the switch. In this case, you will not have a neutral wire, and your existing configuration will look like this. One way to wire a light switch is to have the power source wiring enter the light fixture directly, and the switch is used to complete a circuit. In this case, you will not have a neutral wire, and your existing configuration will look like this: Switch without neutral wire What is a Neutral Wire, and Do I Have One? There are a few options for installing a smart switch without a neutral wire, but first, let’s check to see if you have a neutral wire. One common problem for new smart home users is that they want to install some smart switches to control lighting, but their existing light switches don’t include a neutral wire.
In this article, we will talk about smart switch no neutral. However, houses built during the mid-1980s and onwards may not have a neutral wire going to the switch housings. Generally, homes built after the 1980s will have a neutral wire going to the switch housings therefore, no problem exists. Non-licensed people are limited as to what electrical work they can legally perform also, some work may be legal if under the direction of a suitably qualified electrician. Notice: Always consult a licensed electrician for questions regarding your home’s circuitry, and be sure to refer to relevant building codes before doing any electrical work, which varies by location.
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