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From: Pancho <Pancho.Jones@proton.me>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.raspberry-pi
Subject: Re: USB controlled mains switch
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:41:52 +0000
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
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On 2/10/25 14:42, Adrian wrote:
> In message <TjgqpoLGRDjnFwvW@ku.gro.lloiff>, Adrian 
> <bulleid@ku.gro.lioff> writes
>> I'm looking for a USB controlled mains switch (230V AC) that I can 
>> connect to a PI to turn a mains power supply on and off.
>>
>> I've done a bit of digging around on the net, and the options seem to 
>> fall into two categories, either a relay device which means having to 
>> rewire the device (which I'd rather avoid), priced around 30Euros or 
>> one that sits in line (between the device and the supply).  The latter 
>> appears to be in excess of 100Euros, which is considerably more than I 
>> want to pay.
>>
>> Any suggestions on where to look ?  I'm not interested in a wireless 
>> solution, as it is likely to be used in places where signals are not 
>> reliable.
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Adrian
> 
> OP here with a follow up.
> 
> After some ruminating, I decided to give the Local Bytes Smart plug a 
> try. I've got it happily working now, although I did have to install 
> (yet) another Pi to act as the control hub (Home Assistant if anyone is 
> interested).  I'm now waiting for a fresh delivery of a Pi3 to install 
> as a WiFi AP (the Pis in the locality are all Pi2).
> 
> One useful feature of the Local Bytes offering is that you can see to 
> power being consumed by the device it is controlling (although mine 
> suggests that I'm on 245V), but I've yet to work out how to access that 
> via a command line, rather than web interface.
> 
> Thanks again for the suggestions.
> 
> Adrian

Did you opt for ESPHome or Tasmota firmware?

I use Tasmota, but I use Domoticz rather than Home Assistant. From what 
I read ESPHome is tailored for Home Assistant and uses REST API rather 
than MMQT like Tasmota.

A Pi4 can handle a lot of different services on the same machine, 
installed in Docker Containers. So you don't necessarily need lots of 
Pis. If the Pi4 isn't enough, there are more powerful Pis.