Looking for a low consumption way to automate my lights and devices

[Ecthelion]

Hi, 

 

I'm fairly new to home automation and I've been using connected lightbulb and amazon alexa to switch on and off my lights, it works but it is no ideal. Connected lightbulb are energy hungry due to the wifi it requires, plus the wifi causes a lot of issues/bug of disconnection. 

 

Do you know any way or tech that would enable me to connect my lights and devices without using connected ligthbulb and/or without wifi ? I would think that it be possible to have something connected to my electric board that could switch off an on my plugs and light but I don't know any.. I don't even need it to work with alexa or voice, an app on phone or a remote would be fine.

 

Thanks for your help!

[Charlieee]

I use shelly relays however they still use wifi but from my experience they don't draw too much power and I never had issues with them disconnecting. They also make some with wired ethernet connection and mountings for electrical panels but they are pretty pricey.

 

Most new devices use either wifi or some kind of a strictly "smart home" protocol like zigbee or zwave. Maybe something like a zigbee switch would be a great option for you. Sonoff makes some very cheap switches and relays, they aren't the best quality but i've used some and they seem to work fine. They have options for wifi or zigbee. I believe they also make ones that use 433hz RF instead so you can pair those straight to a remote. I'm sure you can also find some alternatives from other manufacturers. If you go with zigbee or RF433 don't forget to check for compatibility they usually list which remotes/hubs work with which devices.