Can ZWave light up a dark basement?

Good morning, everyone. In order to turn on the lights in my basement, I must descend the dark, creepy stairs and try not to bash my ankles into a coffee table as I fumble for the pull string on the ceiling-mounted fixture, which has no wall switch. (My wife really hates this.)

Rather than run new Romex up to the top of the stairs and install a dumb switch, I would like to take advantage of my ZWave network (Indigo with a Aeotec Z-Stick S2). My thought was to pair a ZWave LED bulb with either:

a) a wall switch that could send a ZWave ON command directly to the bulb

OR

b) a wall switch that can send an ON command to the controller, which when triggered sends an ON command to the bulb.

Option a) seems more direct, but the wall controllers I've seen are very expensive and have multiple buttons, which I don't need.

I'm fine using Option b), but either way I need help choosing a switch. I already installed a GE switch to control my front porch light (which Indigo turns on and off at sunrise and sunset for me), but that would not be the right choice for my basement project because there is no load. What I need is a ZWave switch with only a neutral and a line connection. Does that exist?

Thank you.

Dark Man Cave
Melrose, MA

[jay (support)]

A couple of thoughts: first, you can always just cap off the load wire on a switch - it doesn't have to be hooked to anything so if the GE switch supports associations then you should be able to have it operate the Z-Wave bulb directly. But even if it doesn't you can have a trigger in Indigo watch for the switch to go on and it could turn on the bulb.

Second thought: what about a motion sensor? It sees motion and turns the bulb on. When it stops seeing motion, turn it off. You could even make the latter an Indigo trigger and delay it for a while (maybe like 5 minutes) just to make sure you don't get a false positive or some such. A door sensor would work as well except someone could close the door while you're in there...

Jay-

Thank you very much for the advice. I'll go with option 1. I was thinking of doing that but I wasn't sure if the switch was so smart that it would know that the circuit to the load was not complete and would give an error to Indigo upon receiving a status request. That not being the case, I will try it that way.

That said, it is disappointing that there is not a simple one-button controller (or a powered wall-mounted single switch), which seems to me would have a world of uses.

The problem with the motion detector is that when I fall asleep watching Letterman, I would wake up in the dark. I know there are workarounds to that, too, but what I really want is a just a wall-mounted switch without busting up the basement ceiling to run 14/2 cable. Option 1 will do that nicely. Thanks again!

That said, it is disappointing that there is not a simple one-button controller (or a powered wall-mounted single switch), which seems to me would have a world of uses.

I'm assuming you're in U.S., so I don't know what options are available over there (different zwave frequencies) but there are some, ugly, single/dual controllers in UK such as http://www.vesternet.com/z-wave-me-wall ... with-frame - I don't feel the range is great, but for this scenario they would have been fine.

You're right though, it's about time Zwave caught up with Insteon in this regard.

Peter

Peter-

I am in the US. I found this:

http://aeotec.com/z-wave-in-wall-switch ... oller.html

Trouble is, the web site doesn't exactly explain what the device does. I assume it sends a ZWave ON instruction when the dumb switch it's connected to is flipped on, and an OFF instruction when flipped off. Clever, if a little pricy (around $45). I can convert an existing switch at the top of the stairs, which currently controls a kitchen lamp, convert it to a double gang box, and borrow the line and neutral from the existing switch. Again, though, no load.

I didn't do a ton of research, but I wonder if this wouldn't fit the bill for you:

Cooper Wiring Devices RF9500AW Aspire RF Wireless Remote Switch

Both Dave's suggestion and the Aeotec unit would work.

The Aeotec is designed to retrofit behind an existing light switch. It allows you to continue using the existing switch to control the light, whilst also gaining Zwave control of it such as 'turn off all lights". However if you're getting a Zwave bulb, there's nothing stopping you using this Aeotec as just the switch input to Indigo, then Indigo instructing the bulb to turn on/off.

The Cooper is just a remote control switch, which might fit your needs perfectly, except it is battery powered. If you're in the luxury position of having an adjacent switch for other uses, it might be better to use the powered option.

If you wanted, some other switches similar to the Aeotec (Fibaro?) are doubles - so you could gain control of the kitchen lamp whilst you're at it!

Thank you, howartp. I'm learning the US and UK have slightly different devices available. But I like the idea of controlling both devices. Naturally, the existing switch is a 3-way, so that will add to the degree of difficultly. And I have to think about whether I want to drop $140 on a dual-switch controller.

I'll put some more thought into it and let you all know what I settled on. Thank you all for your advice.