I have a small arcade in my basement and the ability to control the lights from my phone would be way better than using the wall switch, mostly because of outlet placement and the fact the switch has to stay on.
My living room only has one switched outlet and it is the one closest to the switch. The lights across the room have to be manually controlled.
I've done some research into wifi controlled outlets and I have some very old radio controlled ones but I need more. Do you have any suggestions for hackable wifi plugs that do not connect to the internet? Maybe something that connects to a hub?
My dream would be something where I can make my own sensors and talk over wifi to outlets that are UL listed, without involving the internet. I'm happy to DIY anything that doesn't interact with mains voltage.
Zigbee/Zwave is controlled via Nortek USB interface connected to a rPI
Though I do have a couple of Shelly Devices, and some custom ESP8266 things
it should be automated, you have controls in the house that trigger actions, ie a door opens, or a light switch is triggers.
If I have to use my phone to control it, I have failed at automation