Thank you for the incredible video tutorial on installing 3-way switches. Your step-by-step guide was an absolute game-changer for me. I successfully upgraded to TP-Link smart motion sensor switches without breaking a sweat. I dont have to go for overpriced Lutron ones. I couldn't have done it without you!

Just what I needed! New house with 2 manual 3-way switches and just bought on a whim black Friday TP-Link pair of Kasa single pole motion detector wifi switches.

Thanks for posting this i am spending endless hours figuring out if there is a workaround to get the KASA KS200M work on a 3 way circuit So just to summarize I take a pair of 3 way switch In the first switch - 1. Connect the power wire, one travel wire (red or black) and one line/load wire from Kasa. 2. Connect neutral to neutral 3. connect ground to ground 4. Connect the remaining travel wire (black) to the other black wire of Kasa Switch 2 1. Take the previous switches travel wire which was connected in conjunction with power/hot wire and connect it to the Kasa live/load (black) wire 2. Take a traveller wire on switch 2 and connect it to another black wire 3. neutral to neutral 4. Ground to ground

Brilliant. Just what I'm looking for. Will give this a shot. Cheers

Thanks, I had a 3 way motion set up in my laundry room and the light was very dim and I couldn't figure out why. This video helped me rewire my switch and now it's working properly.

Super, thank you for the video!

Thank you very much for the video. I researched alot to find a way to put two motion sensors for 3-way switch and didn’t find many resources. Luckily found your video and it helped me alot. Also thank you for clear explanation with both diagrams n wire connections.

Thanks, Gavin! I had grand visions of making a pass-through in a wall, installing a motion switch at 90º and putting two mirrors at different angles in front of it to get motion detection on both sides of the wall. It's all working well now that I added an additional motion switch with the wiring you suggested. No more coming inside from grilling at night and not being able to get the light to go on :-)

@gavinpikachu

Жыл бұрын

Nice! I'm glad the setup worked for you! :)

Very well done video

I appreciate your appreciation of the Kasa switch. However, would this same technique work with 2 Lutron 2-way motion switches? Great video. Thank you for posting it.

So basically it's two single pole switches in parallel. Are these motion sensors rated to have power back feed into the load side?

@Samusear

2 ай бұрын

I was thinking the same thing

Do you know of a way to have 3 or 4 motion switches connected together for a multi-floor building?

Trying to do something similar. But what happens when the lights are on and the second motion sensor senses you? Does it turn the light off again or does something fry? This is obviously an unsupported setup. Thanks!

Hey! Awesome video, I have a quick question do you think this wiring setup would work with a motion dimmer switch, I am thinking that it would but when both switches are sending power to the lights would the light stay dim?

@gavinpikachu

3 ай бұрын

Great question! I haven't used dimmable motion switches before, but I believe both switches will contribute to the overall brightness of both are triggered. That means you'll need a dimmer switch on both ends to have any dimming while both motion sensors are active.

Is there a reason why you wired the neutral on the Lutron to the ground (keeping the green sleeve on) instead of to the neutral in the junction box? Looks like the neutral on the Kasa switch is wired to the neutral and the diagram shows both neutrals connected to the junction box neutral. Asking because I'm about to do this setup and was wondering if I should keep the green sleeve on the neutral wire on the Lutron and wire it to the ground like you have or if I should take off the green sleeve and wire it to the neutral.

@gavinpikachu

Жыл бұрын

Oh good catch! I didn't even realize my neutral and ground wires are connected to the same wire nut. This switch was preinstalled when I first moved into the home so I didn't even bother to touch those 2 wires 😂 I believe you should connect these to their respective wires.

This sounds great! I have the same set up like you did with a Lutron motion sensor already installed. While you showed how the Lutron was wired, was it wired that way before you installed the Kasa, or you had to rewire the Lutron for the set up to work? That is, do I need to rewire the connections to the Lutron? 11:35

I am trying to wire the first setup you have (one smart switch and one smart motion sensor switch). The way it’s currently wired, the motion sensor switch only has power if the other smart switch is turned on. Any idea how to fix this?

@gavinpikachu

Жыл бұрын

Hey, you're facing the fundamental problem with a single motion sensor on a 3 way switch like I describe in the video at 2:45. If the location of the second switch is somewhere you won't accidentally touch often, then you'll be better off with a non-smart switch. The benefit of a smart switch is that you can schedule it to turn on at certain times. Repeat the schedule however many number of times that fits your need and it'll effectively acts as if the power is on at all time. Note that each scheduled on would turn your lights on if the switch is in the off position. This could get annoying if your lights are in a highly visible area and the switch gets turned off frequently. One other problem I had with this setup was that the switch would turn off if I ask Google to "turn off all lights". I fixed this by creating a second home in Google Home and add the light to that dummy home so it wouldn't turn off along with other lights in my active current "home". Alternatively, you can also setup the wires using the 2 motion sensors wiring. This will allow the single smart switch to operate independently. However, the problem with this approach is that the lights won't turn off on its own. A quick workaround for this is to schedule a smart routine to turn off the smart switch after x number of minutes. You can match this to the timer you have on the motion sensor switch. Either way, you have to be a bit creative with the smart capabilities to work around the physical limitations.

can you please share where you found the double wall plate for the kasa motion sensor switch

@gavinpikachu

Жыл бұрын

Hi! Those are the original wall plate that came with my house. You can buy any double wall plate. Kasa switches fit into the standard wall plates.

*where did you get the extra wire. I only have 4 but I see you have 5 pre installed. thats why I cant make my motion sensor work on a 3 way switch*

@gavinpikachu

Жыл бұрын

Hi, I'm guessing you're missing the neutral wire (usually white). A 3 way switch should have a minimum of 1 line/load wire + 2 traveler wires + 1 ground wire. Check out this diagram: www.electrical101.com/3way-switch-wiring-using-nm-cable.html

@YourTechGuide.

Жыл бұрын

​@@gavinpikachu *My electric box wires consist of only 4 wires instead of 5 wires shown on this video. Neutral (white), ground (green), red (traveler), black (load). I don't see extra black wiring like yours.*

@gavinpikachu

Жыл бұрын

@@YourTechGuide. Your setup sounds like a single pole switch: ask-the-electrician.com/Pics_Diagrams/singlepoleswitchdiagram2_LG.JPG Excluding the ground and neutral wires, there must be 3 wires (1 line/load + 2 travelers) for a 3 way switch to function properly. Are both switches working properly with the original switches?

@YourTechGuide.

Жыл бұрын

@@gavinpikachu *with regular switches it works both ends. When i installed two motion sensors on both ends it flickers and sometimes the light is solid but dim when i flick the switch. So i guess i wont able to install motion sensor in my hallway then*

@gavinpikachu

Жыл бұрын

@@YourTechGuide. From my experience, flickering lights is usually the results of faulty wiring, often times with the neutral wire from Kasa smart switches. Make sure the connector ends of each wire do not touch each other. In terms of the wiring, I'm not sure how it's possible that you have a functional 3 way switch circuit with only 4 wires (and this is on both ends of the junction box?). Excluding the ground and neutral wires, there needs to be at least 3 wires connecting to each switch in order to complete the circuit either in series or in parallel. I would recommend using a voltage tester to double check what wires you have. electrouniversity.com/how-to-identify-neutral-wire-with-multimeter/#:~:text=Identifying%20Neutral%20Wires%20With%20An%20Voltage%20Tester&text=Place%20the%20metal%20tip%20of,have%20found%20your%20neutral%20wire. I suspect you're still missing the neutral wire if you had a functional 3 way switch. You can also check another junction box with a single pole switch. If it only has 3 wires (1 ground + 2 load/line), then it's very likely that your house doesn't have neutral wires set up, which is common in a lot of old houses.

Would it be the same wiring if you only need motion on one switch and the other is just a (smart, no motion) 3 way switch?

@lw9cc68

2 ай бұрын

I think he just removed the 3-way wiring and treated each switch as single pole here by jump the red wire. Key point here is since both motion sensor will auto power off, so there will not be any forever on switch/circuit thus when both motion sensor turns off, light will be off. So your case would work, you just have to remember turn off your smart no motion switch.

Thanks, Gavin, that's really great. I will try it with the Kasa motion plus dimmer switches. I have only one question here, what will happen when both get ON. It sounds like nothing happened badly since they are still working fine from your side; I'm just wondering and hope someone has an explanation. Thanks Again

@gavinpikachu

2 ай бұрын

When any switch is on, it just means the circuit is closed/complete, aka the electricity can find its way to the outlet. So when both switches are on, there are 2 active closed circuits. It's up to the light to decide how much electricity to pull in so it shouldn't matter if one or more switches are on. At least that's my understanding. I haven't had any issues with my setup for over a year. Both sensors get triggered daily as we enter and exit the house.

@muhandmaluki

2 ай бұрын

@@gavinpikachu Many thanks Man

@muhandmaluki

2 ай бұрын

Just an addition here: I just completed my setup of two Kasa smart motion sensors with dimmer. The setup is working perfectly, and as you say, Gavin, the dimmer control will go to the highest active switch. So if both are ON, the light intensity will go to the higher setting. I loved it. Many thanks for your video, Man. It did a lot of help for me.

Okay I am just done with mine and for the people who has the same color traveller wire, just connect them to the switch. If it is constantly on and cannot be turned off that means you have the wrong traveller just switch the traveller connection from one of the switches and you are all set.

I have a question. Is the same thing possible with KS200M at both sides with the same wiring?

@gavinpikachu

3 ай бұрын

Yes, it should. Whether it works or not depends on the wiring. You can imagine a similar setup using 2 non-motion sensor switches. The light will turn on when either switch is flipped on (also on when both flipped on). And the light will only turn off if both switches are flipped off. This will of course be a silly and annoying setup. The motion sensor part just makes it easier to turn on/off each switch.

Will this work on 3-way light switches (switch on 1st floor, 2nd floor and 3rd floor)?

@gavinpikachu

Жыл бұрын

Hi, if you have 3 switches controlling the same set of lights, then what you have is not a 3-way switch, but a 4-way switch. A 3-way switch means exactly 2 switches controlling the same set of lights. The wiring tutorial in this video only works with 3-way switch. A 4-way switch has a more complicated wiring structure. I believe it's technically possible by wiring them all in a parallel circuit, but you would need to rework the wires in the wall. I would also be cautious of the lights overheating because it can be turned on from 3 different sources.

@c.slater5974

Жыл бұрын

@@gavinpikachu Thank you for taking the time to respond!

could you use one motion sensor and one dimmer switch?

@gavinpikachu

Жыл бұрын

You could, but your lights will not always dim. If the lights are turned on via the non-dimmable motion sensor switch, then it will be at full brightness. Your lights will only dim if the dimmer switch is the only switch activating the lights. I believe there are also dimmable motion sensor switch that you use in place of a regular motion sensor switch. But again, the amount of dimming depends on which switch is on. If both switches are on, then the brightness would be the brighter of the two switches. You would need another mechanism to synchronize the dimming amount like with a smart routine.

✈

I don't have that 3rd traveler wire. Therefore, my motion sensor switch has the incoming power and overrides the other switch. Essentially the other switch is worthless.

@garrettp.5018

8 ай бұрын

I just noticed on my other light switch, I have what appears 2 travelers in addition to the hot traveler coming from the other switch. I am going to tie the 2 travelers to one.

IMPORTANT UPDATE - You forgot to mention that the Kasa Smart Switch must go first! As well they do make a Lutron 3 way Motion switch, however, this does not work it must be the 2 way motion switch which must be second followed by the light.

@DamienLee69

2 ай бұрын

What is the point of the 3 way if you need to use the 2 way? My scenario is I need a smart dimmer switch on one side and motion on the other.. But it's 3 way, both control the same lights, but only want motion on the one side. Both dimmable, smart, etc.

There is no way you have OCD because all of the screws on the switch plate are pointing in different directions. Got ya!

@darius_davis

5 ай бұрын

I had the exact same thought.

@gavinpikachu

3 ай бұрын

Lol! Tell that to my wife