Hello,
I’m planning to do initial setup and looking for all king of vera3 compatible best price/quality devices.
I need outlets, dimmers (cfl-dimmable and led-dimmable compatible), 3-way switches, switches, lock. I read many topics, but didn’t get my opinion. Right now I consider Leviton and Cooper brands. But as I know there is issues with dimming Led and CFL. Also it doen’t support beaming, what I need for look.
Any suggestion where to buy?
Please include brand and part number.
I’m so sorry if there is similar topics. Please point me to right direction.
Thanks
Welcome to the forum. I personally have leviton switches all in my home with the exception of some appliance modules and a few switches that do not get used often. You only really need beaming capable switches or devices that are near locks. Otherwise there is no sense of having them in areas that are not needed. If you can afford the Leviton devices, they are a great product, great quality and have a 5 year warranty. I am not a big fan of GE switches. I know that there is an Evolv dimmer that has a neutral that will allow for proper dimming of led and cfl bulbs.
- Garrett
Garrett,
Thanks for your reply. Do you have any suggestions about Leviton dimmers, switches? What is the difference between 600W (6x100W?) or 1000W (10x100W?)? electric, low voltage, magnetic? Any way to make it works with CFL-dimmable? What is the difference between VRE06-LZ and VRI06-LZ?
Thanks again!
I also have mostly Leviton. Instant status updates and scene capabilities are great, and they work well with Leviton controllers (wall mount, etc).
If you find a deal on CA3000 relay (on/off) switches (they popped up on Ebay, and still are there), be warned that they are loud…and I mean it! In my experience, GEs are the quietest, Levitons are just a bit louder, and the CA3000s are just crazy loud. No way would i put them in bedrooms, etc…just too obnoxious. In a garage, laundry room, etc. they might be ok, but still too much for some.
Unfortunately, the switches are more expensive. Levitons are ~$70-100 for a switch, CA3000s are ~$20 on Ebay, $50+ elsewhere.
@purdueguy - Have you noticed any size difference in the Leviton switches? These CA3000s are killing my junction boxes!
I don’t have a Leviton that’s not currently installed, but after looking at a CA3000, they are very similar in size.
However, most newer Leviton switches don’t have pigtail wires. The wires can go directly into the switch, and be screwed down. This can hopefully eliminate some wire nuts in the back of the box. There are holes for 2 wires per connection, and the screw on the side can be used for additional wires (so you can easily get 3 wire connections for “free” without wire nuts).
[quote=“PurdueGuy, post:6, topic:172294”]I don’t have a Leviton that’s not currently installed, but after looking at a CA3000, they are very similar in size.
However, most newer Leviton switches don’t have pigtail wires. The wires can go directly into the switch, and be screwed down. This can hopefully eliminate some wire nuts in the back of the box. There are holes for 2 wires per connection, and the screw on the side can be used for additional wires (so you can easily get 3 wire connections for “free” without wire nuts).[/quote]
Dang, that’s huge for me, I’ve got an s-ton of wire nuts in some of my boxes. . .knocking self in butt for trying to take advantage of E-bay bargain instead of Leviton’s excellent reputation!
Thank you for that info (and the PDFs you uploaded in the other thread), this is quite helpful.
I use Evolve switches and plugs, available from Automated Outlet. Automated Outlet - Smart Home Automation Solutions
Evolve products allow beaming of encypted codes from door locks.
@ TheAce
Have you looked at using Ideal In-Sure Ideal Push-In Wire connectors instead of wire nuts? If you are using solid wire instead of braided wire, they can save you a great deal of space in an electrical box because they are flat instead of round. I have used while re-wiring numerous boxes when I switched for standard switches to larger Leviton Z-Wave switches. I believe that, without them, several of the rewiring jobs I attempted would not have been possible because using wire nuts with Z-Wave switches would have required too much space.
This URL will show you what they look like: http://www.idealindustries.com/prodDetail.do?prodId=in-sure&div=0&l1=push-in. You can purchase them at Home Depot.
I didn’t know about those, looks like it could make my life easier!
Quick question: does the wire come back out (maybe with a hard tug, squeeze a lever, etc)? Or once it is in, it’s in, and the only way to redo things is to cut the wire out, and re-strip it? (thereby losing some length of the wire in the process)
You can find a great deal about Leviton switches by searching this forum. With regard to your question regarding the difference between the Leviton VRE06-LZ and VRI06-LZ switches. The VRE06 switch is an electronic scene-capable, low-voltage dimmer switch. It requires a neutral wire. It costs about three times as much as a VRI06. It must be used in conjunction with an electronic low-voltage transformer. It must not be used with a magnetic low voltage transformer. It must not be used directly to control a receptacle, fluorescent lighting, a motor, or a transformer operated appliance. The VRI06 is scene capable incandescent dimmer. It does not require a neutral wire. It is intended for use with incandescent or 120V halogen fixtures with a 40W minimum load. It is what you use if you want to replace an existing 3-way circuit or single switch circuit with incandescent lighting. Getting it to work with CFL or LED lighting will generally lead to major frustration. After a 18 month search, I discovered that if I could put an EarthLED ThetaLux Pro 9 watt dimmable bulb in a circuit controlled by a VRI06 switch, I would have sufficient leakage current for the switch to operate with almost any other kind of lamp: incandescent, CFL, or LED. I did not try to find a CFL that would work with the VRI06, because I was interested in avoiding using CFLs.
At this time, I have not found any Leviton dimmer switch that is designed to work directly with CFLs or LEDs. The VRE06 dimmer requires an electronic low voltage transformer. The VRI06 requires sufficient leakage current to operate and that leakage current must be supplied by a single lamp.
I use two types of Leviton switches in my house: VRI06s and VRS15s. The VRS15s are non-dimmable, but they are used to control LED lamps and until recently LED lamps were not dimmable. I use the VRI06s in 3-way circuits where I can not run a neutral wire to the main control switch. All my VRI06 switches control LED lamps and they all contain at least one EarthLED ThetaLux Pro bulb to get the circuit to work.
You should be aware of the Lutron patent. It is discussed on this forum: http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,8071.msg80535.html#msg80535
In a nutshell, because Evolve does not pay a licensing fee to Lutron, it may take from 1 to 2 minutes for a change in state of an Evolve dimmer switch to be seen on the Vera dashboard. I used Evolve switches in a couple of boxes and they worked well. However, because of all the pigtail wires, they were a pain to install in an old-fashioned (small) electrical box and I did not like the time delay. As a result of these features, I replaced most of my Evolve switches with Leviton.
So if you really want a true fluorescent dimmer or switches capable of beaming encrypted codes, then you should evaluate the Evolve switches and dimmers. For other applications, I would choose to use Leviton switches. If you scour this forum, you will see that the Leviton and Evolve switches are the ones that are used when a forum user wants a reliable, dependable wall switch.
@Purdue Guy
Perhaps I have been lucky, but my experience with 12 to 18 gauge solid copper wires is that I have never had a situation where I could not remove the wire. There were a couple of cases where I had to use a desperation tug and turn, but once I explained to the connector that if it did not release the wire it would face destruction by pliers, the connector and I were able to come to a mutually beneficial understanding.
I have found the connectors to be extremely useful, especially when you are trying to join more than two 12-gauge solid wires to a third solid wire that is smaller than 12 gauge. Trying to get that kind of a connection to work with a wire nut can often be very frustrating.
I’m glad I’m not the only one the has “discussions” with technology!
Not only do I have "discussions’ with technology, when things get really frustrating, I have been know to “pray” for guidance as well. I read recently that swearing helps reduce stress and I can say from personal experience it does help, especially when I am trying to cram Z-wave switches with their additional 12-gauge neutral wires into old fashioned shallow metal electrical boxes.
Another way I have found to relieve stress in such situations is to use the flat Ideal connectors instead of wire nuts.
And with this shameless bit of fluff, I submit my 100th post.
All kidding aside, I want to thank you, @PurdueGuy, for your help to me along the way of my quest for knowledge with regard to using my Vera controller. Several of your posts have been real lifesavers for me.
[quote=“silvereagle2208, post:14, topic:172294”]@PurdueGuy
…
All kidding aside, I want to thank you, @PurdueGuy, for your help to me along the way of my quest for knowledge with regard to using my Vera controller. Several of your posts have been real lifesavers for me.[/quote]Glad I could help!!
Yes thanks for the suggestion on the Ideal push-ins. I actually think I have some lying around somewhere but have never used them, doh! I’m going to definitely try some out, I know Wago makes a very similar competing product and also one that has tiny levers so you can disconnect/reconnect easily, if that’s your style.
http://www.wago.us/products/325.htm
I actually just bought wire nut twisting driver sockets off eBay for the Scotch Performance Plus (easy, flexible) wire nuts I like (see page 3 of this PDF for the nut driver):
http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?mwsId=SSSSSu7zK1fslxtUnY_vMxmGev7qe17zHvTSevTSeSSSSSS--
And also similar item for the alternate skinny Ideal wire nuts I use. I never even thought of using such a device, twisting seems rather simple, but there were tons of great reviews on Amazon & elsewhere.
And Home Depot was mentioned as a good source for the Ideal push-ins. . .while you’re there they’ve been having a sale for months on the Philips 12.5 watt LED bulb which is funny looking unlit, but produces a nice bright almost 900 lumen light (60-70w incandescent equiv) and is dimmable, for $14.95! I’ve picked up 3-4 so far and am loving them in table lamps, etc. I’ve actually been replacing the “lamp holder” (usually brass colored part of desk lamp where the switch tends to be) to convert multiple 3-way lamps to be on-off only, so I can use these bulbs and connect them to a z-wave dimmer. You can get a Leviton lamp holder on Amazon (and Lowes, and an off-brand at Home Depot) for around $5 and only have to get/use the “inside guts,” not you dont have to transplant the brass parts.
[url=http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-203406583/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=philips+led&storeId=10051#.UDmBLmjyZe8]http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-203406583/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=philips+led&storeId=10051#.UDmBLmjyZe8[/url]
I just got around to trying out the Ideal Push-Ins. They were very helpful and saved a lot of space in the box. I also used some Copper Crimp Sleeves (http://www.amazon.com/Gardner-Bender-20-411-Sleeve-8-Pack/dp/B000F5OJVQ/) for tying the grounds together. This also saved a bunch of space (one less wire nut). I didn’t have to jam the device into the box for once.