What is Reddit's opinion of Lucasa White Switch Cover Plate Compatible with Hue Dimmer (x2 Magnets), Injection Moulded (Dimmer not Included)?

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Lucasa White Switch Cover Plate compatible with Hue Dimmer (x2 Magnets), Injection Moulded (Dimmer not included) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07H8LF1RM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabc_P73FN28ZQMCPVMEHFT98

Think this is what you are after? Few different types available

>Connecting the strips to the controller is what's throwing me. How do they speak to the light switch? Do I even need a controller for the led with the smart switch?

Too lazy to look up the switches, but this might help.

Are you looking at (for the purposes of this discussion) 'Smart Switches' or 'Smart Buttons (maybe labelled as switches)'.

The former (smart switch) would be wired into the mains lighting system, with an integrated relay/dimmer - it directly and manually controls the light by physically switching the power, just as you would do with an old fashioned 'dumb' dimmer/switch.

The latter (buttons) rely on the devices they're controlling always having power, and using the devices integrated circuitry to turn on/off/change colour - for example, the hue buttons (which I think they label as a switch) controlling hue lights. The control is done in exactly the same way as using them via a hub and your phone, with whatever protocol those specific devices are using (zigbee in the case of Hue I believe).

So 'smart switches' are generally used with 'dumb' lights on the other end, smart buttons need the lights to be smart too (unless they're controlling a smart switch if that's even possible, i.e. using it as a secondary control at the top of the stairs or something - but the button is still controlling a 'smart' thing).

As for the controller, that partly depends on the above. If you're using smart switches, then they are the controller^(1). If you're using buttons, then the LED strips will need something to tell them what to do, so they'll be connected to a controller of some form.

Now, for what you're looking for...

>Turnable white preferred
Scenes I'd like: *LEDs turning on in morning to cool temp *LEDs turning to warm temp in evening *Turning off when I leave.

Off the top of my head, I don't know of any (and can't think of how they'd even work with a normally wired house) smart switches that are temperature tunable/colour controllable, so you'd be looking the smart device with buttons route.

That leaves you with the classic problem of what to do with the old dumb switches. Some smart switches may be able to work in a 'button only mode', leaving power on all the time unless explicitly told otherwise, but someone else would have to chime in on that - if it's possible, that would be the ideal (but pricey) way to go. Other options would be covering the switches^(2) (possibly with a mount for the new button), replacing them with blanking plates^(2) and wiring the fixture to be permanently live (not sure this would be legal in a lot places - for some reason electrical standards like you to be able to turn off high voltage supplies to fixtures that you might be touching when exposed, such as light fittings while replacing bulbs - even if they don't I certainly would!), or replacing them with a 'key' operated switch^(2) so it isn't accidentally turned off (probably my go to choice for the balance of sleek look and functional)

^(1): Because LEDs don't operate at mains voltages, you will almost certainly need some form of transformer/control box to go from mains to whatever voltage is required, but it might not necessarily be 'smart'.

^(2): Links are for reference of the general concept only, not recommendations for products or stores!

They come with a mount. We have removed the old "dumb" switches and only have these everywhere, we very rarely actually remove one from the wall. I only removed them because as I said I'm moving our setup off the Hue hub.

You can also get adapters that go onto normal back boxes. When we renovated we just had them entirely remove the switches and wire all of the lights in to be on a permanent feed. And for the rest of the house we just took off the old "dumb" switched, bridged the wires inside so they're also always on, and replaced the light switch with something similar to this, although the ones we bought don't have a hole in the middle like that one (and we wouldn't want it, as I directly removed all the switches and just replaced them with an inline fuse).

I think it's much better, as it has pretty much let us entirely decouple the wiring from the switches and lights.