Using the Evvr Smart Relay Switch

 This is the EVVR In Wall Relay Switch. They have different varieties and, not surprisingly, this is the Apple Home version.

This is a 2 part device, although you can just use the relay if you wish. One part goes in the ceiling, which is the relay, and one part goes in the wall switch.

EVVR advertises this as being very small and, I must admit, the part that goes inside the wall switch is very small and can control two lights, as long as they have a common live. I found it fit very well inside my backbone, as shown later.

The Relay, though, isn't particularly small, being larger than the Sonoff Mini relay, but it is hidden up in the ceiling where you tend to have more space.

There are many things I do like about this device and, so far, only one I don't.

What I do like is that it operates without a Neutral. For those of us that have older houses, that is brilliant. It is especially superb compared to other devices, such as the Sonoff, because of the way it is split up. The Sonoff needs to be positioned where you can access all the wires, essentially in the junction box, but when your house is over 170 years old with lathe and plaster ceilings and old wiring, who knows where that junction box is?

This device just requires the live wire at the switch, and Neutral at the light bulb.

Installation

The switch sub-assembly.

It's really very simple. The live wire goes in one connection. In my case, it is where you see 2 wires. This is because the Live wire also provides power to a switch on the other side of the wall. Then the wire that provides power up to the switch goes into one of the other 2 terminals. If you have 2 light circuits, then you connect that live wire to the terminal that is empty on my sub-assembly.

The thin red and black wires you can see are then connected to the actual switch, like normal. This is actually a set of wires provided by the kit, and you can see power is applied as there is a little blue light.

Installation in the back box is quite easy as it has a sticky pad on the back of the sub relay. You can see it in the top left hand corner. This is a 30mm back box. However, I could've laid it down in a different way,  but it just didn't suit how my back box was attached to the wall.

This picture shows the switch plate actually being installed and you can see it clearing the sub assembly.

So, what will happen now is that the sub-assembly will know if the switch is on or off, but live is constantly on. The sub-assembly will communicate with the relay, or multiple relays, to tell them what to do.

The in-ceiling Relay

There are multiple ways you can wire this up.

It is really designed to make a ceiling light, or multiple ceiling lights, smart.

On the relay there are two sets of terminals. On one side is a common set of Neutrals. These do not get switched, but provide a neutral connection for the relay. Then the live wire is then connected on the other side and then the bulb is connected into the terminal next to it. The live wire is switched.

Now you can add it to Apple Home. You do not need the EVVR app.

There is a HomeKit QR code on the back of the relay and also on the instruction manual that comes with the relay.  It is actually the relay that is HomeKit certified, and these can be installed with out a switch sub-assembly or many can be connected to a single switch sub-assembly.

The Relay isn't small. If you look on EVVR's web site, they have an instruction video with this working with in ceiling down lights, which have quite. big hole. I just had a hole with 2 wires sticking out of it between the Lathes, which meant I have to cut a bigger hole, being careful to make sure I left enough space for the screws to attach the bulb holder back to the ceiling.

You'll notice that my Ceiling Light is No Response, which isn't surprising as the Live feed to the bulb is switched by the relay.

Working in de-coupled mode.

However, I noticed that the relay switches even if it doesn't have anything connected.

So, I connected the live for the bulb into the live into the relay.

And, low and behold, the relay essentially works in what is often referred to as decoupled mode.

What this means is that I can install a Smart Bulb into the ceiling and use the light switch to turn it on/off.

Now why would I want to do this? This is often discussed but I have one use case, which is this is in my Guest bedroom. Guests to your house often do not understand Smart Homes and, specifically, how you have set up your Smart Home.

Doing this gives the Guest a familiar control over the house, or at least their room, in a way that they are comfortable with.

Do you get to change colours or brightness? Not at all, but it does provide basic on/off functionality.

So, how did I do that? Just by using Automations in Apple Home.

I'm just going to show how I did the "On", once you know how to do that, off it pretty obvious.

You create a new automation based on "An Accessory is Controlled":

Select the Light Switch, in my case "Ceiling Light Switch" and press "Next" to then select when it "Turns on" and Next.

Then select the accessory I wish to control, which is the "Ceiling Light" and the make sure that it turns on.

Press Done, and now you can turn the ceiling light on with the switch.

The EVVR App.

I did install the EVVR app. You really can't do anything with it, except turning the switch on and off.

If you touch the 3 dots in the top right hand corner for the device, you go into Device Details.

.You can turn it on/off again, and you can see a nice log of the most recent operations, which is nice.

However, if you press "Firmware Updates", you get:

And that's it. No explanation. Nothing. If there isn't a newer version of the firmware, then they should say so. Not an "Operation failed".

It's a shame, as it detracts from an otherwise excellent product.

Summary.

I'm going to install a few of these. I actually do have another one. I'm particularly looking forward to the ability to control a double rocker with the switch sub-assembly.

I'm particularly happy that I can set up the relay in decoupled mode, even if it isn't an official option.

It's such a shame about the error message. I've contacted EVVR and we'll see what they say.