Smart Wifi Switch Compare and Control Humidity With Nest Thermostat

In this post, I will cover two topics:

1. Comparison of TP-LINK HS200 smart wifi switch and GOSUND SWS5 smart wifi switch
2. How to control humidity with nest thermostat and smart wifi swtich

1. Comparison of TP-LINK HS200 smart wifi switch and GOSUND SWS5 smart wifi switch

Recently I've purchased both a TP-LINK Kasa smart switch HS200 and a GOSUND SWS5 smart swtich. Both switches have similar outlooks, features, and specifications, yet slight differences if you pay attention to.

In Common

• 1800W max
• neutrual wire required
• single pole
• 4 wires: hot, load, neutrual, and ground
• LED indicator
• smart phone app support
• Google Home, Alexa etc.

TP-LINK HS200 specific

• Quieter clicking sound when pressing
• Native local mode support in Home Assistant (via the TPLINK kasa integration)
• LED can be disabled via app or home assistant
• LED light leaks from edge of switch
• LED off when swich is off, LED red when switch is on

GOSUND SWS5 specific

• Louder clicking sound
• Local mode via localtuya integration in home assistant (requires obtaining localkey by tuya-cli)
• NOT able to flash tasmota firmware by tuya-convert
• White LED when switch is off, LED off when switch is off
• Brand is printed on wall plate

My personal preference goes to the TP-LINK HS200 for its easy integration with home assistant in local mode and more premium feeling. The GOSUND is not a bad device but just feels a bit cheap. GOSUND devices used to have good reputations of being able to flash with tasmota using tuya-convert, but apprently it's no longer the case after the manufacturer changed its chip. For similiar prices, I'd just go with TP-LINK with slighly more features and easy configuration.

2. How to control humidity with nest thermostat and smart wifi swtich

I've installed the two wifi switch in two bathrooms to ventilate my entire house to control humidity level. Leviton humidity sensor & fan control were used before but they don't really work well, and not SMART enough.

Nest thermostat is a premium device with humidity level reporting capability. I haven't utilized the humidity feature a lot before, and now it's the time. My two ventilation fans are now SMART and can be controlled remotely using home assistant. It's very straightforward to create an automation to achieve this goal. Below is the automation YAML.

 1alias: Turn on upstairs ventilation fan
 2trigger:
 3  - platform: numeric_state
 4    entity_id: sensor.upstairs_humidity
 5    above: '57'
 6condition: []
 7action:
 8  - service: notify.notify
 9    data:
10      message: Upstairs humidity is {{ trigger.to_state.state }}, turning on FAN
11  - service: switch.turn_on
12    data: {}
13    target:
14      entity_id: switch.ventilation_fan
15  - wait_for_trigger:
16      - platform: numeric_state
17        entity_id: sensor.upstairs_humidity
18        below: '56'
19    continue_on_timeout: false
20  - service: switch.turn_off
21    data: {}
22    target:
23      entity_id: switch.ventilation_fan
24mode: single

Basically, this tells home assistant to turn on the ventilation fan when nest humidity reports above 57, i.e. >=58, and turn off the fan when humidity level drops to <=55. The humidity range and be adjusted based on personal preference.

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