I’ve had a lot of requests for a video about the Sonoff Touch light switch. Of course I can’t just use it and do a review. I’ve gotta crack it open, flash it with Tasmota, and connect it to Home Assistant. So that’s what I did.
The Sonoff Touch comes in a US or EU version. They also have a multi-switch versions that includes 2 or 3 switches. I bought the US version and there’s a couple things to note. One is the faceplate is very different from the standard US faceplates that us Yankees use. I like the look, and I like that they use a capacitive touch button, but this switch probably won’t blend in with the look of your house, and it certainly won’t match any of the other switches you’ve got. You know I love iTead, they make good stuff, but they don’t know how we use switches in the US. For some reason they arranged the faceplate to be mounted in Landscape. Every switchbox in the US is oriented in Portrait. So it’s going to look a little funny sideways. Enough about cosmetics, let’s get the guts out.
Getting into it is easy. And the pins you need for flashing are easily accessible on the top board. The Touch uses the 8285 chip (like the Sonoff B1) instead of the more common 8266 (like the sonoff basic). So when you prep Tasmota in the Arduino IDE select the 8285 board. The other settings are here. Put your wifi SSID/PW and MQTT info in, then export the binary. That way you don’t have to wait for the sketch to recompile every time you fail to get the board flashed. Not that you would ever fail at it. I did, several times, but I’m sure you’ll get it on the first try.
The Serial pins are in the same order as they are on other sonoffs. Putting the Touch into programming mode requires grounding GPIO-0 and then powering up the board. The button on the Touch is not connected to GPIO-0. GPIO-0 is here. It’s easy enough to reach with a male jumper. I was able to just hold the jumper with one hand and plug the USB/Serial adapter into my computer and get it into programming mode. Now fire up Flash-Ez, select the .bin and pray.
Once you get it flashed. Find the IP address and open Tasmota. Under Configuration and Configure Module select Touch (or T1). You can also change the name under Configure Other so it’ll show up with that name on your router. Thanks Chris E for showing my that trick.
The Home Assistant setup is similar to other Tasmotized Sonoffs. Make a new switch entry in the config.yaml. With these MQTT topics. Restart and it should appear on your Overview page.
Now reassemble the switch and test it again. You have to push the top board in kinda hard. Now for the install. My fellow youtube guy Pete Stothers did a review on the Touch and pointed out some of the problems with installation. I’m not going to put this in my house, but I will put it in the Maker Faire wall.
That’s it. One really important thing to consider when you’re using this switch is that it’s only rated for 2 amps. If you’re using LED bulbs you probably won’t have a problem. Most LED bulbs are 6w, so at 120v you can have 40 bulbs connected to one switch (6w x 40 = 240w; 240w/120v = 2 amps). But if you’re using incandescent bulbs you can easily get into trouble. Since most incandescents are 60w you can only have 4 bulbs on this switch. (60w x 4 = 240w).
For $15 it’s not a bad bulb. If you’re still avoiding soldering or for some other reason you don’t want to build a Zzonoff the Touch is a decent alternative.
Links:
AliExpress.com Product – Sonoff Touch Wifi Light Switch Glass Panel Touch LED Light Switch EU US Plug Wall for Smart Home Wireless Remote Switch Control
https://www.banggood.com/SONOFF-AC90-To-250V-400W-Touch-Wifi-Switch-Module-Luxury-Glass-Panel-Wireless-Timing-Switch-p-1139688.html?p=68211320136544201803