If you ever need lights outside need the braai, or anywhere else for that matter, where there are no light switches and you don’t have the capacity to run cables, RF lights are your best option.
RF (Radio Frequency) switches send a unique code once pressed. This code is intercepted by an RF bridge that can then activate a scene or an event once it has programmed. In this scenario, we are going to setup an RF switch near the braai to turn on and off the lights around the area, without having to go inside.
Things you will need
Hopefully you already have Home Assistant up and running, but if you don’t go ahead and get one here – https://www.milney.co.za/collections/the-milney/products/milney-hub
Then you will need a smart switch to control the lights, I would recommend the following. A Sonoff Wifi Touch Panel – https://www.milney.co.za/collections/smart-lighting-options/products/light-switch-1-gang-wifi-touch-panel or a Shelly 1 https://www.milney.co.za/collections/smart-lighting-options/products/smart-wall-light-module (These will need neutral lines)
If you don’t have the neutrals and not keen on getting them installed, you can simply replace your dumb bulbs with smart bulbs. Screw in options for lamps and wall mounted lights the Shelly E26 is perfect https://www.milney.co.za/collections/smart-lighting-options/products/smart-bulb-dimmable-and-colour-temperature-variable or if you have downlighting the Shelly GU10 is even better https://www.milney.co.za/collections/smart-lighting-options/products/smart-bulb-gu10-dimmable-and-colour-temperature-variable
Now all you need is an RF Bridge which has been flashed with Tasmota – you can get it pre flashed on checkout if you select configuration included option https://www.milney.co.za/collections/hubs-bridges/products/rf-bridge
And an RF button of your choice, here are a few options.
Now for the fun part, lets find out the codes of the buttons and configure the RF bridge to turn on and off the lights in Home Assistant, using a little Node Red Magic.
Configuring the RF Codes
To find the RF codes of the switches is pretty straight forward, once you have flashed the RF bridge with Tasmota you will need to jump into the console and press a switch and take note of the code that is transmitted.
Once the switch is pressed the following response will show up with a specific code.
11:07:32 MQT: tele/38CR_6596C1/RESULT = {“Time”:”2021-05-04T11:07:32″,”RfReceived”:{“Sync”:5710,”Low”:340,”High”:990,”Data”:”004792″,”RfKey”:”None”}}
The code here is under Data which = 004792
Now that we have that information we can head off to Node Red and draw up a nice little flow with some logic.
As you can see above we drop in the RF Bridge reciever
Then parse that info into JSON
Then add a switch to check the for the code and other codes
Then check the current status of the Braai lights, this is to make sure that if they are on, we want to switch them off and visa versa.
And finally turning the light on or off respectfully
And there you have it, your lights will now work with your RF switch without any cabling or too much DIY.
Total cost will depend on all the components you need, and how many lights you setup. However once complete you can perform this process over and over and even use this process to manage your garage door, front doorbell and much more.