Z-wave switch recommendations

Posted on
Wed Sep 28, 2022 5:59 am
bbruck offline
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Joined: Oct 05, 2008

Z-wave switch recommendations

I'm moving into a new 2,600 sf house and want some advice on light switches. There are 45 switches in the new house. I have 25 Insteon white toggle dimmer switches I'll be bringing, but it seems wise to switch to Z-Wave for the additional 20 I'll need; mostly dimmers with a few on/off. I don't have a pile of money. My questions:

Are there any "gotcha's" in using both types of switch with Indigo?

What do you recommend as a brand/model of reasonably priced Z-Wave switches?

Ideas on getting a discount on purchasing 20 switches?

Posted on
Thu Sep 29, 2022 12:15 pm
peszko offline
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Re: Z-wave switch recommendations

bbruck wrote:
I have 25 Insteon white toggle dimmer switches I'll be bringing, but it seems wise to switch to Z-Wave for the additional 20 I'll need; mostly dimmers with a few on/off. I don't have a pile of money.


Personally I'd dump the Insteon switches. I had nothing but trouble with them (large installation over 150 devices) I'm almost done getting rid of them.

I'm very happy with the HomeSeer HS-WX300, they can be set to either dimmer or switch. I was/am using the previous generation dimmers/switches and never had any issues with them.

Posted on
Thu Sep 29, 2022 12:42 pm
DaveL17 offline
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Re: Z-wave switch recommendations

We're all Z-Wave here and have a combination of different switches:

  • Leviton - this is the most common for us (VRS15-1LZ). These are also the oldest switches we have. Never had a problem with them that I can recall. They're one trick ponies that just do on/off.
  • Dragon - Co-branded from the HomeSeer (WD-100+). Never a problem with these either. These units also support multi-tap. (Have never tried the WX-300s).
  • Inovelli = Red Series Dimmer. Don't have a lot of these (they became hard to get). They're very well made, have great firmware and are very attractive IMO. These do on/off/dim, multi-tap, notifications (with the LED) and RGB color adjustment of the on-boardLEDs.
If cost and availability were not an issue, I would go with the Inovelli units first. Second choice would be the HomeSeer units.

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Posted on
Thu Sep 29, 2022 1:42 pm
jltnol offline
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Joined: Oct 15, 2013

Re: Z-wave switch recommendations

https://www.getzooz.com

I've got a few of their on/off and a few dimmers... they are reasonably priced, and so far, work much better than my original group of GE branded switches.

Posted on
Fri Sep 30, 2022 8:08 am
donhoffman offline
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Joined: May 26, 2011
Location: Portland, OR and Livingston, MT

Re: Z-wave switch recommendations

In similar position as OP, but extensive remodel rather than new house and going through the same search for Insteon replacements in existing j-boxes.

My main issue so far is that most devices are much deeper than the Insteon stuff. This becomes an issue in old j-boxes. The Insteon wall switches were first in class in that regard, being very shallow and I have a few crowded boxes where the ZWave switches I tried were too deep to replace the Insteon.

So do add to the OP’s question. Which, if any, of the ZWave switches are of comparable depth?

Posted on
Fri Sep 30, 2022 10:22 am
roquej offline
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Re: Z-wave switch recommendations

The Inovelli switches look great. However, I have been trying to get them for months, but with no luck. Backordered everywhere.

JP

Posted on
Fri Sep 30, 2022 10:23 am
roquej offline
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Re: Z-wave switch recommendations

The Inovelli switches look great. However, I have been trying to get them for months, but with no luck. Backordered everywhere.

Using Zooz for now.

JP

Posted on
Fri Sep 30, 2022 6:53 pm
norcoscia offline
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Re: Z-wave switch recommendations

A while back I came across some zwave wall switches that were supposed to be less deep than most - I’ll poke around tomorrow and see if I can find them again, might have been zooz but not sure….

I think it was this one - not sure how much thinner it is compared to most but these are 1.1 inches deep - Not sure how good this brand is, maybe others can tell you - the fact that these are firmware upgradable sounds good until you try to do a firmware update with indigo - then you realize it is a liability. Since the manufacturer knows they can push a firmware fix they are more likely to sell something that is not quite ready for prime time and if that happens it is a real pain to do an update if you are using indigo….
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Posted on
Sat Oct 01, 2022 12:45 pm
donhoffman offline
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Location: Portland, OR and Livingston, MT

Re: Z-wave switch recommendations

norcoscia wrote:
A while back I came across some zwave wall switches that were supposed to be less deep than most - I’ll poke around tomorrow and see if I can find them again, might have been zooz but not sure….

I think it was this one - not sure how much thinner it is compared to most but these are 1.1 inches deep - Not sure how good this brand is, maybe others can tell you - the fact that these are firmware upgradable sounds good until you try to do a firmware update with indigo - then you realize it is a liability. Since the manufacturer knows they can push a firmware fix they are more likely to sell something that is not quite ready for prime time and if that happens it is a real pain to do an update if you are using indigo….


I just measured an Insteon dimmer and it comes in at 1” almost exactly. So they are still the best in this regard. But the one you suggest might be good enough. and much less than another zwave swicth I bought. Cheap enough to give one a try.

Posted on
Mon Oct 03, 2022 8:53 am
jltnol offline
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Joined: Oct 15, 2013

Re: Z-wave switch recommendations

the fact that these are firmware upgradable sounds good

Even before the last round of updates, the devices worked just fine. And some of the upgrades have included new features.

So yes, firmware can't be upgraded via Indigo at the moment. But this is easily enough done via free software running on Windows. I've got a few older Intel Mac's laying around, and was able to install Windows, and also download the software necessary to do the firmware upgrade easily enough. You can download a copy of Windows from MS for free, and it will work for a period of time just fine.

Posted on
Thu Oct 06, 2022 5:46 pm
norcoscia offline
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Re: Z-wave switch recommendations

I did not say it was impossible but I also don’t think you should paint a rosy picture because it is a ton of work and after many hours I could never get the silicon labs software to work on my windows machine. I have a few Z-Wave devices that could be updated - I have only managed to do one and it was using an old homeseer license I had for their updater - not easy….

And this is assuming someone has a windows machine laying around - don’t forget you also have to decouple the z-wave device from indigo (also a pain) - then do the update and then reconnect to indigo - it is a super big pain in the neck - I love indigo but not when it comes to firmware updates.

We can agree to disagree on this but I would hate to misguide other Indigo users…

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Norm

Posted on
Fri Mar 17, 2023 4:07 pm
jay (support) offline
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Re: Z-wave switch recommendations

peszko wrote:
I'm very happy with the HomeSeer HS-WX300, they can be set to either dimmer or switch.


Hey, I don't have one of those to test - can you check out the HomeSeer brand specific control actions and see if it works with those? I suspect they do, but the docs aren't quite as clear on some of the functionality that we use to implement those actions.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Mon Mar 20, 2023 7:33 am
BigDaddyNC offline
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Location: Wake Forest, NC

Re: Z-wave switch recommendations

I have found the Zooz switches to be a good, inexpensive alternative. I am using the Zen73 and 74 toggle switches, the "behind-switch" relay modules, and the Zen30 double switch for light/fan combinations.

There have been some issues with initial quality, but the vendor thesmartesthouse.com has been very responsive to my problems.

As my Insteon devices fail, I am replacing them with mostly Zooz components. Just my two pennies worth...

Posted on
Mon Mar 27, 2023 7:50 am
ken_jacobs offline
Posts: 187
Joined: Jul 23, 2005

Z-wave switch recommendations

I have been using the GE toggle Z-Wave switches and have had no problems. Switches include dimmer, relay, and three way. The switches do require a neutral.

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