Home automation with Shelly devices

• Lighting. A relay module behind the switch lets you turn a lighting circuit on and off and put it on a schedule, keeping the wall switch.
• Electric blinds. A dedicated module drives the blind motor: up, down, stop at a position, follow a timetable.
• Larger loads. Water heater, pool pump, irrigation: switched by schedule or by rule, directly or through a contactor in the switchboard.
• Energy metering. Some modules measure the energy of the circuit they are on. In the switchboard, dedicated meters follow the total consumption of the home or of one heavy circuit.
• Scenes. "Leaving home" switches off what should not stay on; "night" lowers the blinds and turns off the outside lights.

They are small electronic modules fitted in the wall box, behind the switch or socket, or on the rail in the switchboard. They connect to the home's Wi-Fi and are controlled from an app, by schedules or by rules. According to the manufacturer, they work on their own on the local network; access from outside the home depends on the router and the internet connection. We set the modules up so that the wall switch still controls the light when the network fails.

An automation module is a device connected at mains voltage. It takes up space in the box, has a current limit and is protected by the circuit breaker of the circuit it sits on. Before proposing anything, we check three things:

• whether the wall boxes have the space and the conductors needed. Many modules need both live and neutral, and in older installations the neutral does not always pass through the switch;
• whether the load on each circuit is within the rating of the module planned;
• whether the switchboard has room for the rail-mounted devices: energy meters, contactors, board modules.

When the box will not do, the module goes in the switchboard. When the switchboard has no room or is not in good condition, that is dealt with first, as switchboard work.

• It depends on the home's Wi-Fi. A weak signal in the garage or the garden has to be sorted out beforehand.
• Without internet you lose access from outside; local control carries on.
• It does not replace an electrical installation in poor condition. If the circuits or the switchboard have problems, those come first.
• In a new build or a deep refurbishment, a wired system decided at design stage may make more sense. We will tell you when that is the case.

• What you want to control: rooms, number of lighting points and blinds.
• What switches and blinds you have. Photographs help.
• A photograph of the switchboard.
• How good the Wi-Fi coverage is around the house.
• Whether you already use an app or a voice assistant.

As a rule, the work starts with a survey of what exists and what you want to control. The proposal names the modules, says where they go and what changes in the switchboard. After installation, each module is configured and tested with you.

At the end you have the modules installed and configured, the app working on your phone and a list of what was fitted and where. If the switchboard was altered, its diagram is updated. The consumption measured can become the basis for an efficiency analysis.