Z-Wave Switches

[checkthisout]

Alright, so I have been slowly adding to this system and let me just say I am starting to like it.

A few that were giving me hell are flawless now are working good, after a few days. Must take some time for the system to "learn"? I dunno.

The only one giving me a little bit of hell now is the chicken coop over 150' away. It didn't work at all but then I added another switch (to act as a repeater) in between with instant results but sometimes it still doesn't work.

I would say that the one flaw in this system is the fact that it doesn't keep "trying" to turn on or off a switch on that doesn't register as on./off after executing a command. Adding such a feature would greatly help the consistency of the system.

Other than that, it does everything I want. Love that I can turn on one switch and have several switches turn on. I light my whole backyard with floods on my house, garage and coop with the flick of one switch.

Starting to add motion sensors now. We'll see how those work.

 

[Commendatore]

Love that I can turn on one switch and have several switches turn on.

Sold! I've been trying to figure out the best way to add flood light coverage to my backyard. With lights mounted to the second story soffits getting a light switch in a reasonable place on the first story was really holding me back. Sounds like I can just mount switches in the attic and control them from a new switch on the ground floor!

 

[Fallon]

That was my first use case for them. Turning on the deck lights also turns on the light switch out at the chicken coop, my shop outside lights switch & the light switch for the lights outside the master bedroom that are pointing towards the shop. Really handy to head out to do chores or what not when it's dark.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

I cant even remember who made the switch for my outside garage lights. Since I didn't want to run wire from the house, I installed one of those switches that are wired inside the garage, but the corresponding switch inside the house is 9V battery powered. Only cost me 20 bucks at Menards, but you get what you pay for. Sometimes you can flick the switch a hundred times and it won't come on, other times, like right now-no issues. Depends on sunspots, or lack of, I guess.

 

[Fallon]

Oh, and after a bit more thought, I do prefer the Leviton switches over the GE switches. I think I like the single switch toggle better than the on/off functionality of the GEs. Levitons definitely feel more solid & worth the extra $5 per switch or so.

 

[checkthisout]

Sold! I've been trying to figure out the best way to add flood light coverage to my backyard. With lights mounted to the second story soffits getting a light switch in a reasonable place on the first story was really holding me back. Sounds like I can just mount switches in the attic and control them from a new switch on the ground floor!

You can get little controls that fit inside a junction box. I have been using those. You can just run fish unswitched power to your light and mount the controller in the junction box for the light.

 

[Commendatore]

Whoa even better!

 

[willf650]

You can get little controls that fit inside a junction box. I have been using those. You can just run fish unswitched power to your light and mount the controller in the junction box for the light.

This is a small z wave module that can be installed in the electric box. This one is made by aeon labs.

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[Todd.Brock]

I had that same module. But the screw down terminals were so small, you basically a single strand of 90 gauge wire to screw in for the switch. It was also crowded in the box that I was using because it was also being used to junction another couple wires.

 

[checkthisout]

This is a small z wave module that can be installed in the electric box. This one is made by aeon labs.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

There ya go! I'm using the ones from Enerwave that do two circuits/channels for $43.00.

No dimming though.

 

[willf650]

I had that same module. But the screw down terminals were so small, you basically a single strand of 90 gauge wire to screw in for the switch. It was also crowded in the box that I was using because it was also being used to junction another couple wires.

I don't know about the single strand of 90 gauge. I have 14 gauge stranded on the power terminals and 16 gauge stranded on the control input terminals. I had no issues with it, it won't accept 12 gauge wire but it is certainly within reason to easily wire up. I would use stranded wire to make it easier to put in the box.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008VWBNAU/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I'm sure there are others but these were the cheapest I found.


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[Commendatore]

Does anyone have recommendations for a hub? Looks like wink is probably the cheapest at $50.

Initially I'm only wanting to "pair" three switches so that a single switch downstairs will turn on the existing porch light, second story flood lights on a z-wave switch in the attic, and an additional light controlled by a switch in the garage. I may dream up more scenarios down the road, but that's my primary objective.

 

[Fallon]

Does anyone have recommendations for a hub? Looks like wink is probably the cheapest at $50.

Initially I'm only wanting to "pair" three switches so that a single switch downstairs will turn on the existing porch light, second story flood lights on a z-wave switch in the attic, and an additional light controlled by a switch in the garage. I may dream up more scenarios down the road, but that's my primary objective.

Avoid Wink! They have been flirting with bankruptcy & you don't want an unsupported device. I went with a SmartThings v2 hub & have been happy with it, i'd recommend it to anybody. I hear good things about the Vera as well, although it tends to be a bit more technical.

Samsung bought SmartThings a little while back & this year is advertising the fact they are putting SmartThings hubs in their TV's & other smart appliances. That bodes well for their long-term support & development.

 

[Todd.Brock]

I have the Wink app and it has worked flawlessly. That said- Winks parent company did file for bankruptcy in sept 2015 and wink was/is being sold off. I do wonder if I should return it and invest in a smart things.

 

[Todd.Brock]

I don't know about the single strand of 90 gauge. I have 14 gauge stranded on the power terminals and 16 gauge stranded on the control input terminals. I had no issues with it, it won't accept 12 gauge wire but it is certainly within reason to easily wire up. I would use stranded wire to make it easier to put in the box.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008VWBNAU/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I'm sure there are others but these were the cheapest I found.


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Thanks for the info! I liked the little box, but my j box was already crammed full and it didnt like being shoved in there. My adapter was actually defective b/c of the screw down terminals for the light switch. They just seemed really flimsy but I did get them all screwed down, but one terminal that was stripped out. I liked it b/c you could use a regular toggle switch. The two GE switches I have use a little toggle that moves very little I like it better that the big decora paddles, but the switches all work well

 

[checkthisout]

Network is solid now. Just bought some window/door sensors and motion sensors (they come as kits). They work great!

One thing I found, I bought a Leviton plug-in switch to replace a GE switch halfway between my coop and house that I am using as a repeater (and possible future yard light).

The Leviton switch didn't cut the mustard. Maybe because it's a smaller device and has less antenna area?? Or it just *****, I don't know. I put the GE switch back in and all is well.

The more I add, the more solid the network seems to become. (as they say it's supposed to.)

 

[jomobco]

I'm running Homeseer HS3 and it's quite capable and with the correct interface can run insteon, zwave, etc and has a bunch of plug ins for voice commands and a whole bunch of other stuff I'll never use. It's nice because I can operate any of my 30 or so Zwave units from my smartphone from anywhere. It also has a camera app for security cameras/system.

 

[jsherid1]

I'm running Lowes Iris (V2 hub) with GE Z-Wave switches and outlets. It works well once you get it set up but each switch took 30 minutes to pair. I started by pairing the switch closest to the hub and went out from there. Haven't needed the signal boosters (I bought 3 on clearance) yet but that day may come. Biggest problem, besides the glacial pairing, is that the app is kind of clunky and you need to pay $10/month to be able to do "scenes" where you get multiple devices to switch on/off simultaneously. Because I used the Z-Wave switches I can switch to a different hub if one seems to be outdistancing the others. If Lowes doesn't get a link to Amazon Echo I may migrate to the Smart Things hub which can. I just can't get the motivation to go through the pairing process again right now.

 

[Fallon]

No monthly fees with SmartThings. And once I figured out how to put a given device into pairing mode (usually hitting a specific small button, or hitting the main off button 3 times quickly or something), it usually only took me a couple minutes tops to pair.

 

[Todd.Brock]

Ugh. My first wink hiccup- my schedule for a light switch decided not to activate for some reason. It's worked great for a few weeks. But today, no Bueno. Does anyone experience a situation where a schedule decided to just not happen? I can't see any failures in the app. It's not the end of the world, but just curious. I like messing with this stuff but would like to see some type of fail report?

 

[willf650]

Ugh. My first wink hiccup- my schedule for a light switch decided not to activate for some reason. It's worked great for a few weeks. But today, no Bueno. Does anyone experience a situation where a schedule decided to just not happen? I can't see any failures in the app. It's not the end of the world, but just curious. I like messing with this stuff but would like to see some type of fail report?

I have a Vera but I can generally trace it back to a power outage. My exterior lights are triggered based upon dusk, not a specific schedule. The scene waits 30 minutes and then turns on the lights.

I have found that anything that uses a timer isn't persistent through a power failure. Basically if a scene was waiting for a timer to expire, it fails due to a power failure.

I have also noticed that all triggered events are instantaneous one shot actions. If one of the condition in your event requires data from the Internet and the connection is down during the event execution it will fail.



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[Denwood]

I'm testing out the Vera Edge, as well as the Smarthings hub.

Vera allows you to get "under the hood" a lot easier, has a local login via we page, and so far is integrating very well with both our security system, ecobee stats, and devices. It also does local processing, so if the web is dead, the automations still work. Out of the box though it's z wave only. Local processing and the code options make this a great choice for more advance automation needs..and where local processing control is important. Multiple Vera devices can co-exist to serve as repeaters in the same site. Definitely the right choice for business.

Smarthings has surprised me in terms of how easily the motion detection, multifunction devices and GE-Link LED bulbs connect and can be automated. Smarthings V2 does some local processing now, and so far has been very quick to respond..almost no delay. Smarthings does zigby and zwave out of the box, so may be the first choice for most home users. You can't have two smarthings in one site, so maybe not the best choice if you want one in your house, another in your shop.

The need for a wired neutral for the Leviton Z-wave switches is a show stopper for me, but the GE-link bulbs are awesome, and can dim/switch on their own. Something to think about as the bulbs are inexpensive, light quality is excellent...and they are silent when dimmed...buzzing bulbs drive me crazy. In some cases, leave the old switch, just install the bulbs.

I experimented with X-10 some time back and it was awful. Both of these hubs are awesome..and the devices are already night and day more reliable. The tech has come of age.

 

[Todd.Brock]

The wink hub has been ok to deal with, just no troubleshooting. I bought it at HD at Christmas time and still in the 90 day return window. Haven't found a reason compelling enough to switch to the Smart things yet. I looked at the Vera, but really wanted a simple system to get my feet wet. I am buying a switch here and there and adding it to the system. I am not crazy about how wink advertises working with a particular vendor and then when asked why it won't work, they say oh... We have a year long issue with those guys. Hang tight. ( Honeywell thermostats). Either way, I called just to see what you can see under the hood and it's pretty much what was confirmed here ... Nada.
So chalk it up to a fluke

 

[jsherid1]

Lowes support was good for IRIS, allowing me to get the system up and running letting me move on to screwing up the programming quickly. My "scenes" (where you turn on multiple lights together with one button push) are really good at turning things on but then I have to turn them off one at a time in the devices menu.

The IRIS app is much better than it used to be but is still unnecessarily cluttered as it has sections for all types of devices on the home screen and you can't get rid of them. For example it has a section for cameras, I use Swannview for that, don't need it--can't get rid of it and make the sections I use larger.