i3Engineering | Universal light switch ENG

The ability to control lighting in the house provides not only comfort and safety, but also energy savings. To control the lighting in ordinary homes, are used traditional "On / Off" wall switches or "dimmers", that allow to change the brightness of the lighting.
Every electrician knows the simple connection scheme of a traditional key switch with a "neutral" wire connection to control the light source.

As can be seen from the diagram in option A), the "neutral" wire of the power supply from the junction box goes directly to the load (lamp), but the "phase" before reaching the load, opens with a switch. According to option B), the "zero" wire from the junction box goes to both the lamp and the switch. The "load" wire of the network is connected in the same way as in option A).

The Smart Home system from i3 Engineering allows you to use any switches regardless of their cost, principle of operation and design. Now a conventional light switch can control not only the lighting but also other systems.

Types of "smart" switches

In the development of the Smart Home system, i3 Engineering prefers wired management and data transmission technologies. Traditional light switches are a shining example of wired systems, so i3 Engineering has set out to turn them into "smart" ones.
With Atom series controllers, you can make any switch "smart". By connecting a conventional switch (without locking) to the input of the Atom controller, you can use program logic to assign several algorithms (scenarios) to the system after pressing this switch.
For example, in the i3 Home application, you can configure the functionality of the switch depending on when and how you click on it:
● One click - turn the lights ON or OFF 100% during the day and only 20% at night, for extra comfort;
● Double-click launches Movie Time scene. The lighting in the room goes out smoothly, the TV backlight turns on at the same time, and the motorized curtains close;
● Long hold - a signal to the controller to change the temperature in the room to a comfortable one at this time of day.
Also, with the help of the i3 Home application, any switch can be reconfigured into a master switch: switching off all lighting, groups of non-critical sockets and switching the heating system to ECO mode when leaving the house.

Important! All light switch settings can be easily configured in the i3 Home mobile application. A huge advantage of this approach is that you can change the settings of the switch from the mobile application at any time convenient for the user. This way, the system owner does not need to call service engineers to set up their own home.

The switches are connected to the Atom series controllers using the controller inputs. This means that the signal from the switch acts as a simple "dry contact" for the controller and is fed to the corresponding input of the controller. However, the appropriate lighting groups and other loads are connected to the outputs of the controller.
Special mention should be made of switches with backlit keys, which have gained popularity due to the ability to easily find them in the dark and original design. However, when connecting such switches to the Atom series controller, keep in mind that the lighting element of the switch requires a certain supply voltage, and therefore the involvement of additional outputs of the controller.

Important! The inputs of the 3U and 6U Atom series controllers have the ability to enable / disable the optocoupler mode by changing the position of the corresponding jumpers for each input. When connecting switches to these controllers, it is necessary to set / enable the optocoupler mode using the appropriate jumpers. For 9U series controllers, it is not possible to switch the optocoupler mode on / off, meaning the switches are connected directly to the controller.