DIY smart home — the affordable way
Today we are living in a world where everything is one button press away due to the increasing presence of smartphones in our daily lives. Our smartphones help us automate redundant tasks and enable us to control our TVs, lights, kitchen appliances and much more so that we have more time for things that matter in life.
In this article, I will show you how you can automate your bedroom lights or any household appliance in a very affordable way and control them remotely with Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa - so that for example next time when you get in your bed you can conveniently turn off or on your lights without leaving your comfy bed.
If you prefer more to see a video tutorial on how to do this, you can check it out on my YouTube channel.
Small disclaimer: I am not affiliated with any of the mentioned e-commerce websites or the device itself used in this DIY tutorial. I purchased the device with my own money.
Equipment needed
As said, I will show you how to do this the cheap way and how to upgrade your current light system without purchasing expensive WiFi connected smart bulbs. So to do this, you will need to purchase the following piece of hardware:
The SONOFF BASIC WiFi smart switch
What this device enables you to do is to automate and remotely control your existing lights and household appliances. You can buy the Sonoff on different websites like AliExpress, GearBest etc. I bought mine on GearBest for around $5 including shipping.
In terms of tools you will need 2 screwdrivers (slotted and phillips screwdriver) and wire cutters. And that’s it!
But, before we start our small DIY project let me first show you what the Sonoff Smart Switch is and what it is capable to do. In the box you will get:
- The Sonoff Smart Switch
- Wire covers & screws
- Instruction manual on English and Chinese
The device itself is made of plastic with a dimension of:
- 3 inches (8cm) long
- 1 inch (3cm) wide
- 0.8 inches (2cm) high
Keep the dimensions in mind if you are planning to install the smart switch in let’s say a ceiling light where you do not have a lot of space
It can connect with services like:
- Amazon Alexa
- Google Assistant
- IFTTT
- Nest
In terms of functionality, it enables you to:
- Remote control of your lights / appliances
- Set specific timing schedules
- Create scenes
- Share controls with other users
It operates on 90–250 V with a maximum current of 10A.
DISCLAIMER: Please take this into consideration when trying to connect the Sonoff Smart Switch on stronger household appliances because it can damage them or even potentially cause a fire.
Installing the Smart Switch
To demonstrate the installation process I will be using cheap IKEA standing lights. Installing the smart switch in them is quite easy because they have an easily accessible electricity cord. As already said, you can install the smart switch also on the ceiling or side wall lights but just make sure there is enough space to fit the smart switch.
First, make sure that everything is plugged out and switched off.
Now you need to cut the cable of the device that you want to turn “smart” in half and peel off the rubber cover.
Next, you need to peel off the rubber cover from the phase and ground wire. You can use as well a scalper knife for this if you do not have appropriate tools.
On the smart switch, first remove the cable covers and note the input and output connectors.
After that, loosen up the connector screws so that you can plug in the wires.
I will start with the input side — again make sure you are connecting the wires in the right side of the smart switch. In my case, the brown wire is phase and the blue one is ground. Give the wire ends a small twist so that they don’t spread when connecting them.
Connect the phase wire to the input connector indicted as (L) and screw in the connector to secure the cable in place and the ground connector indicated as (N).
Give the cables a small wiggle just to make sure that they are screwed in correctly.
Repeat the same for the output side.
Now, screw in the cable covers which will give additional support to the wires.
After everything is connected, test everything by plugging in the electricity cord to the power outlet and hit the switch. If everything is okay, the green LED indicator should start blinking.
Now, you can put back everything together and hide the smart switch.
Setting up the application
Okay, now let’s connect the smart switch to your smartphone. In order to do that take the following steps:
Download and install the “eWe Link” application from the GooglePlay Store or the Apple App Store.
After that you need to register and log in. On the home screen you will see all of your smart switch enabled devices. But in order to pair our new light you have to click on the app home screen the + button and the application will select the default WiFi pairing mode.
To trigger the pairing mode on the smart switch press and hold the pairing button until it starts flashing.
Then in the application press next and select your WiFi and type in your WiFi password. Please note here that in order to pair the smart switch with the app, your wireless network has to be set to 2.4 G. After pairing is done you can switch back the network to 5 G and it will work without any problems. It’s just during the setup phase that you need the network set to 2.4G.
After that press next and wait for the device to get recognised.
Now give the device a name. I named my “Bedroom light” but you can name yours however you want.
And there you have it. Your light is paired. I would also recommend you to do an OTA firmware update for the smart switch.
Setting up Google Assistant
Let’s now make this light really smart and convenient by pairing it with Google Assistant To do that you have to do the following:
Go to your Google Assistant settings and go into the “Home Control” options and look for the “Smart We Link” app and link it with Google Assistant. To do that, just log in to the application and authorise it.
Now our “Bedroom light” should appear on the list. Make sure to assign the light to a specific room where it is located. If you have more lights in the same room do this for all of them because then it will enable you to to control all of them at once.
And that’s it, our light is now connected to Google Assistant (for Amazon Alexa it will be a very similar setup procedure). Now go test it out it out!
Optional: Google Assistant routines
In the Google Assistant setting you can also set “Routines” for certain parts of the day and set a sequence of actions that get triggered when you say a specific keyword like for example “Good Morning”, “Good night” or “I’m home” etc.
For example when you go to sleep and say OK Google Good night, Google will tell you whats the weather forecast for tomorrow, your calendar events, it will ask you to set the alarm etc.
If you want to see this whole process in form of a video tutorial, you can find it out on my YouTube channel.
I have also a YouTube channel called “Digital Pulse” where I share my opinions, experiences and recommendations about the latest tech and digital trends in the form of reviews and tutorials.
