There are lots of good points here about preventing the annoyance to start with: better fixture/bulb/aiming, timer. Are you willing to cede control at a time when you may be expecting someone or put it on briefly so you can see?
I recommendcthese other approaches first. Why make your neighbor do something to remedy the problem?
Just about anything Google or Amazon is offering is at best using their local devices as a technology bridge and at worst, talking to both your Google/Amazon device and to individual IoT hubs and stuff usually through the cloud associated with that device. In both cases, the logic and cross-IoT interaction is happening in the cloud often with multiple cloud hosts involved.
Until you’re using Home Assistant, Homeseer, openHAB, or some software that can talk directly to an internal IP address and API of the device, through a power line interface, or to a local hub for proprietary protocols (e.g. to shades or whatever), it’s probably going to have the cloud as an intermediary.
Then, you’re back to being impacted by internet outages, mergers and acquisitions, introduction or increase in subscription costs, and the whims of company’s marketing departments to deprecate systems or re-insinuate control if someone managed to reverse engineer it for local access.
In addition, each of these devices can directly become a risk for vulnerabilities and potentially lateral infiltration of your network. Unless you’re running a firewall and care to review logs daily, it’s hard to know what they’re doing behind your back.
If I can’t talk to the device or at least the hub that controls them directly in-house, I try to avoid it to ensure independence, cost control, and to reduce the perimeter that has to be managed for security.
I used X10 in my apartment in 1986. I wasn’t aware you could even buy any of that stuff anymore. X10 sent data at the 0V crossover point of AC power and this made it slow and suseptible to noise, and therefore also unreliable.
I’d avoid, TBH. There are so many better alternatives at this point.
I think “too far” is a matter of how you feel about your cat.
We had an outside cat and my wife bought a heater for the cat bed. I put on a Z-Wave on/off module that turned on when it was below a certain temp. We didn’t bother to worry if the cat was actually in the bed.
At 11W 25% of the time, it’s like 2.75W all the time. I wish half the other gadgets I’ve got plugged in were that frugal.
I think you mean you CAN’T run electrical to that area (which is why you mention solar)?
There are some solar powered LED lights available, especially as stores begin stocking Christmas lights. I have some Philips brand warm white I use on a mailbox not near any power, but frankly they don’t work well - especially since winter days are short and often overcast. And the solar panel is pointing due south and is unobstructed.
I also have battery-powered dew-drop LEDs also from Philips that I put on a door and interior wreath. They’re maybe about 8’-10’ long with rich colors (or white available), and operate on a couple of AA batteries for the entire Christmas season (about a month and a half).
They even have some kind of internal clock so that when you turn them on manually, they not only turn themselves off after 5-6 hours, but they will automatically go on again the next day at the time you started them manually the day before. It’s perfect for going on every day when it first gets dark, and go off about bed time for most people.
There isn’t any timer or huge controller, they don’t know anything about bluetooth or wifi. Just a simple, but clever, self-contained circuit.
Yup, that’ll work. Wasn’t clear if you had a lot of experience with these strips before.
I’m just getting into ESP32 because, like you said, RaspPis are overkill. Like running a mini PC just to make some lights blink. I do some matrix stuff where the extra compute power and UI flexibility is helpful during development but it’s overkill even for that.
Got another question. Are you talking about neopixels because you want individual Pixel control to make chase lights or other fancy patterns, or do you just want to be able to select all pixels same color (like red or violet)?
There are RGB strips that just do solid colors and typically have a pretty small controller module that is nearly in-line on the cord.
On the other hand, Neopixels need something like a Pi Zero, ESP32, or Arduino on them to tell every LED what to do. I suspect you know this, so apologies if I’m telling you things you already know.
Besides the power from AC to DC to power these, if you’re running any significant length you’ll want to consider wiring every 5-10m. The distance depends on how dense the LED count is on the strip. Definitely bench test before installation to ensure they don’t malfunction from voltage drop over long runs.
Something like WS2812B pixel strips need a hefty 5V 10A supply to run both the LED and the device that controls them, in my case a RaspPi. These are bricks like you’d see for a laptop or other low voltage electronics. I’ve purchased some of the all-metal encased power supplies but found some that don’t actually meet the voltage spec when they get half way through their current rating.
You mention in-wall. How do you plan on mounting and servicing the power supplies if they’re not exposed and plugged into in a wall outlet? Will you be putting the power and controller in a junction box or in a convenient closet like under a stairs? The power supplies aren’t going to fit in anything less than maybe a 3-gang J-box and that may be tight. If you also are going to localize the controllers, whatever they are, you’ll need room for that, too.
You might consider a dropped crown moulding if it fits your decor to house those along a ceiling.
I run my Raspberry Pi headless and use Remote Desktop to access them with Insteon modules controlling the power, but all of mine are on top of cabinets where they are easy to service and hide the wiring.
You turn off the circuit breaker? Lol.
Disclaimer: You should turn off the circuit breaker. Do as I say, not as I do.
Venstar 7900 with local api was my choice.