Hi there,
I've spent quite a bit of time trying to work this out but can't quite wrap my mind around what is needed. I'd like to hook my lights up to an Arduino to be able to switch on and off and possibly even dim remotely. I've figured that I could use a relay to switch the light on and off. I'll have to do some more research on SSR to be able to dim the lights but this is just a bonus at the moment as we don't have dimmers.
The second step would be to still have the wall switch turn the lights on and off. This is where I can't wrap my head around whats needed. I'd like the switch to be able to override the Arduino if something goes wrong with the Arduino but I'd also like the switch to be an input for turning on the lights.
Thanks
Hilton
You can buy a home automation dfimmer-switch compatible with [u]X-10[/u] or [u]SmartHome.com[/u] has switches (and controllers) using a variety of different standards. These things are all use momentary switches (rather than a toggle switch) so they manually or remote controllable.
Then, you can either build or buy a controller with various features. I've got a programmable X-10 controller that turns on & off lights.
The advantage of going with a standard protocol is that you can add a controlled switch or outlet at any time without building it yourself. Or, if sometime in the future you want to add a feature such as cell phone or Internet control, you can buy (or build) a controller with that feature without starting-over from scratch.
Thanks for the quick reply. X10 is probably out the question as I'm in Israel and we're on 220V. I see most of the X10 stuff is using the American voltages.
As for the building it myself, this is what I'd like to do. That's the whole point to using the Arduino. Tinkering, breaking, fixing, crying and laughing till it's working 
Maybe I'm not being specific enough. I'd like to convert the wall switch into an input into the arduino. This will then switch on/off the light. Is this possible as the light is running through a 220V line? Surely you'd need some sort of relay/interface between the two. If so I'll get an electrician who can help with the connections just so I don't kill myself.