So we've just bought a home and the basement switch is 3 way: one switch at the top of the stairs and there's another switch downstairs as you enter from the garage.
The problem: the basement is finished and the living room downstairs only has 2 receptacles and one of them is on that switched circuit along with two ceiling lights.
We have the AV system down there, which is currently wired to said switched receptacle and right now every time I go downstairs and turn everything on to watch something, I unscrew the bulbs to get the lighting set up. When the GF gets to the top of the stairs, she toggles the switches because it's dark and shuts everything down. Argh!
So what I'm looking for is the ability to control the lights from both the upstairs and downstairs switches, but without switching the power at the receptacle. It seems like some kind of smart switch maybe the way forward but been flailing around looking for the right combination.
Seems like replacing the existing switches are the first step, but anyone have any thoughts on the next?
Thanks. I want to explore some smart solutions before the power tools come out. At this stage, I'm trying to keep scope creep to a minimum as this is part of a much larger fix up project.
Once I install the new flooring downstairs, replace all the receptacles that need replacing, swap out all the ceiling lights that are now dangling because they're going to be replaced, redo the trap under the kitchen sink because the PO made a mess of it and we've got a negative slope, etc etc...I'll likely come back to the idea of running a new circuit, but for now getting always-on power to the outlet for movie night is really my only concern.
Thanks very much of the specific suggestions of the ZigBee hub and bulbs. That was exactly what I was looking for,