Smart light switch when there is only phase in the old switch

I warmly welcome.

I would like to replace my light switch with "intelligent", ie one that can be switched both manually and via Wifi.
More precisely, I chose Sonoff Touch due to the ease of reprogramming it (adapting it to my own home management application).

I have two light sources on the ceiling, I also mean a switch with 2 buttons:


The problem, however, is that only the phase is fed to the old switch, which it divides into two circuits to both light sources. Sonoff Touch, on the other hand, still needs a neutral wire, as it also includes a microcontroller and a WiFi module.

This is the current situation with the old switch:


From what I assume, the neutral cable goes along with the phase cable over the door frame on the right (on the other side of the wall, on the right, above the door frames I have a box and all fuses), then the phase goes down to the switch alone, hence 2 cables for 2 light sources return . And then, together with the neutral, they go to the ceiling and along it (suspended ceiling). I think it confirms this photo from renovation (after replacing the electrical system by an electrician .

As you can see, the apartment has already been renovated, the walls are freshly painted, there are also frames made of a material similar to a photo wallpaper, very close to the door. That is why I am looking for a solution that finally will not spoil the appearance of the wall and it does not require complete repainting (very problematic due to, among others, the above-mentioned frames from the photo wallpaper) or dusting (problem with securing all elements and frames).

For every forging, smoothing, laying cables in the wall I am going to hire a suitable specialist - unfortunately, I do not know a trusted man at the moment for plastering / masking cables.

The solutions I have considered:

1. Forge (not me personally, of course) from the switch to the neutral cable, connect the Sonoff Touch with the neutral, hide the furrow.
Advantages: The installation then works exactly as it was supposed to.
Disadvantages: problem with masking the resulting furrow - can it be done so that it does not stand out from the wall at all? I know the problem will be with the shade of the paint when it's been old for some time, but now I'm thinking more about the edge than the color.

2. As above, but lead the neutral from the wardrobe to the right next to it (this is the white surface on the right - there I can forge myself and cover everything with a board), from here to the door frame and from the door frame to the light source:

Advantages: Smaller wall forging area.
Cons: Still needs to be masked. Cable in the frame.

3. As in 1. , but run the cables up the wall through the grilles.
I do not include: I don't like it aesthetically.

4. Leaving the old switch, mounting in the light sources (of course I already have a phase and neutral output there) one Sonoff (no longer Touch, but an ordinary Wifi-controlled switch).
Pros: No hammering, no thought of how to leave a wall nice.
Cons: Installation doesn't quite work as I want. More precisely, there is 1 case: when I turn off the light manually, I can't turn it on via Wifi (and vice versa). It works, however, when I would like to e.g. turn off the light in the room while watching a movie. Worse with turning on.

5. Smart switches that do not require a neutral cable.
Pros: No hammering, no thought of how to leave a wall nice.
Disadvantages: none?
Honestly speaking, I do not understand how such a switch is able to function without a neutral when it cuts off the electricity to the light.
However, I found switches that supposedly work, e.g. SESOO SY3-02 to radio waves. Integrating it into my home management system would be to build an appropriate emitter.

What do you think? Maybe you have better ideas or comments on any of the solutions?
I really don't want to disfigure the wall. However, the difference in the cost of solutions is not that important anymore.

Added after 27 [minutes]:

I also found this version of the solution with the use of Sonoff Touch and Sonoff at each light source, with a change in the wiring at the light source, unfortunately I do not fully understand the mechanism of action by which I would use the phase as neutral in Sonoff Touch and how to convert it into 2 light sources:

PolGraphic wrote:

SESOO SY3-02

let a colleague not buy it, the Chinese do not even distinguish between power and voltage. Probably crap. As for the drawing at the bottom, its lower part, in front of the bulb, there is a Wi-Fi module paired with the one that acts as a key switch, but it also requires a neutral wire to be connected. If there is plaster on the wall, carving a groove and running the cable in it will not be a problem. The photo from the renovation shows the box under the ceiling above the switch, so adding just over a meter of one wire will not disfigure the walls - it can also be invisible. What's the color of the paint there?

Added after 1 [minutes]:

It's already better Sonoff from the 1st photo, touchscreen with Wi-Fi module.

Thanks for the answer. Hmm, since Chinese are not certain, I found other ones, for example: B-LINE on Allegro (also probably does not require neutral). Unfortunately, Sonoff Touch needs it.

But is it also better not to consider this?

As for the color you asked for, this is it Swan Beckers , but the painting was good 2 years ago, so re-applying the paint only at the furrow will probably be noticeable? And painting the whole thing would be very problematic, incl. due to the fragments of the photo wallpaper stuck on the wall. Anyway, I have access to that particular paint.

Overall, I am very pleased with how the previous worker has evened and painted the walls (unfortunately he is not accepting any new orders anymore). It is even, smooth and uniform. That's why I really care not to break it, especially if there was a solution without forging. And if it is, then the place on the wall would not be noticeable - only about 1m, but still with an evenly finished apartment, you can see this 1m.

My colleague remembers what plaster was applied (I know, absurd because years have passed), the wall is rough to the touch or smooth, as for the wallpaper it is probably smooth? Another question is what light sources are there or will be, because B-LINE will handle at most 100W, if LEDs or energy-saving bulbs are of less power.

I can only advise you to read a few articles so that you know what to expect from a real electrician before the next renovation. Because if you are right now "after", and you only have the phase under the switch, it was not an electrician who did your installation. It was a pseudo-electrician.
The canless electrical installation is the basis!
How should a boxless electrical installation be laid?
Plug-free socket installation, step-by-step

Tumiwisizm wrote:

My colleague remembers what plaster was applied (I know, absurd because years have passed), the wall is rough to the touch or smooth, as for the wallpaper it is probably smooth? Another question is what light sources are there or will be, because B-LINE will handle at most 100W, if LEDs or energy-saving bulbs are of less power.

It's not that absurd, because maybe I can still find the packaging in the basement, where I keep the remnants of building materials from the renovation. The wall is quite smooth, only slightly even rough, but it's probably the texture of the paint.

As for the light sources, there are two Hollywood plafonds from Castorama, each with space for 3x GU10.

PolGraphic wrote:

The wall is quite smooth, only slightly even rough, but it's probably the texture of the paint.

If the texture of the wall is responsible for the paint, then filling the place on the new cable should not be a problem, and by putting a fleece tape on it, you will be sure that the plaster in the place where the cable is placed will not fall off. More than once I have seen a "specialist" carve a groove for a cable, did not remove the dust and, additionally, with a greasy and dirty paw, he leaned on it, and then a piece of plaster fell out of place.

PolGraphic wrote:

As for the light sources, there are two Hollywood plafonds from Castorama, each with space for 3x GU10.

Okay, but what wattage are the bulbs there? Because if you want to connect Sonoff, you need to pay attention to the power consumed by the light source.

I deleted the redundant text. [retrofood]

Tumiwisizm - so you say not to be afraid of forging? Or maybe just go to this B-LINE?

As for the power, unfortunately I do not remember exactly now (maybe after 3W but I still have to check - they are hopelessly wriggling this luminaire from Castorama), but I think that I calmly close below the threshold, and if I can't change the light bulb to a slightly weaker - the room is bright and sunny, I don't need mega-enlightenment in the evening

I deleted the redundant text. [retrofood]

PolGraphic wrote:

so you say not to be afraid of forging?

Sure not to be afraid! Let a colleague say, the cable from the socket is run in the wall without any trough / pipe? My guess is that there is no, because then it was enough to drag the wire to the top box. If the control from a smartphone is with the broadlink module. This one costs money, but on the other hand

PolGraphic wrote:

However, the difference in the cost of solutions is not that important anymore.

Personally, I would be in favor of making a groove for the cable, the more electronics, the more possibilities for a fault, and now they make Chinese with a "warranty" for 2 years, and then it breaks down soon and either repair or buy new ones. And in one cable, not a switch (even this Sonoff), there is nothing to break too much. The simplest solutions are the best.

The wire is, as you write, Tumiwisim, released without a tube (three cables - the first incoming phase and then two to each light source separately, all three run in one cover through the wall up from the socket).

Hmm, I called 8 electricians and everyone said that "we don't do such little things". And yet I would rather not go crazy with forging and running a neutral from the can to the switch.

And this is perhaps a stupid idea:
1.Replace the light source on the ceiling with sonoff wifi (switch without touch, wifi control only),
2. then, parallel to this new sonoff, connect the light source which this ceiling sonoff will control,
3.Instead of the light switch, then give a sonoff touch, the phase of which should be connected normally, and the neutral should be connected as what came out of the switch once (old phase) and which now would go to the sonoff on the ceiling and then to the neutral one.
And then set it so that it does not turn on anything anymore, but I can read the signal from it by pressing the switch and with this signal (catching it and adding a scenario in my application which is already running 24/7, controlling other things), control the sonoff on the ceiling.

Do I understand correctly that then the circuit will look like this (in series): neutral -> sonoff on the ceiling (the light source is parallel to it - so turning it off / on will not cut power from the systems in sonoffs) -> sonoff touch in the wall -> phase. Could it even work that way? There would be no forging, only a small modification to the light source (which I can hide under the lampshade).

In other words, now I think the installation looks like this (not sure if I drew neutral correctly?):


I marked in green the places where I have free access / I can make changes without hammering the walls (inside the "box" of the switch and at the light sources, under the luminaires.

And I would like to rewrite it like this:


Then I control the other light source normally with the sonoff, and the closer one I read the wifi signal of the keystroke and I control the sonoff on the ceiling. Only such a combination in one series of sonoff touch and sonoff (and he is still in parallel with the light source) will work?

The idea from the second drawing is fine, but I have a suggestion, but I don't know what a colleague @PolGraphic to this: Give the sonoff touch with one touch in place of the old light connector, but in such a way that sonoff turns on both bulbs at the same time (you can screw in two weaker ones so that they do not consume the current so much and do not burden the switch). One phase conductor going from the switch to the other bulb should be adapted to neutral for sonoff, which requires such a conductor. then we do not combine anything at the light source and without forging in the wall, and it is enough to insert one wire in the box above the switch - I think so, because I do not know what is in this box. What does a colleague say to this?

It's a very cool idea, Tumiwisizm - I think I'll use it in the end :)

However, a bit of innate "investigation", I would like to find out what prevents me from realizing this second drawing.

Namely, I started with small steps from simply connecting the wires in the cube in place of this lamp in the middle of the second drawing (so far without sonoff on the ceiling and without the lamp on the ceiling).
I turned on the fuses, everything flickers - the second light comes on with a sonoff touch.

I went further, in place of this cube I added a ceiling sonoff (yet without light to it, so that it would just close the circuit but not control anything yet).
I turned on the fuses and ... sonoff touch flashes, the application shows info that neither one nor the other can find the network, and the manual button also does not work and does not switch the light.

Back to the previous version of "installation" and everything works again - of course, I ruled out a problem with the network by testing it twice.

What could be causing this behavior? If I solved it and brought it in order, I could close this chapter with a clear heart and do as you write - one switch for both points of light with weaker bulbs - it will be more even and without recombination.

Did you manage to implement the plan of "returning" the neutral to the switch box? I have a similar situation with myself and I am curious if everything worked out as expected.