Can you install smart switches if your home doesn’t have neutral wires?

This week’s question from the IoT Podcast Hotline likely applies to many people, or at least, those that have older homes. On the podcast, our caller asks if he can make a 50-plus-year-old house a little smarter. The problem? The home’s electrical system doesn’t have neutral wires.

The good news is that yes, this problem can be solved. The bad news is that you really don’t have much choice here. Only a single, relatively expensive switch will do the trick. Plus it requires an add-on hub and only works with dimmable lights. Hopefully, our caller didn’t already spend a bundle on bulbs that aren’t dimmable.

The product is Lutron’s Caseta Wireless Switch PD-6WCL-WH, which costs around $55 from Amazon. It comes in several colors: black, white, ivory and light almond. This switch also works with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit. Lutron does provide a bulb compatibility tool showing which lights it has tested and found to work with this switch.

While this smart switch is a bit more expensive than others, it’s a lot cheaper to add these to an older home than it is to completely rewire the house. It would be nice if there were other competing options but sadly, we haven’t found any. If you know of one, let us know in the comments.

To hear the question in full and our discussion of the Lutron Caseta switch, just tap the play button below.