Confused about Leviton controllers

Other Devices & Integrations Lighting & Load Control
#1

Okay, apparently Leviton doesn’t want me to understand the difference between their several controllers. Can someone explain what distinguishes each of them from each other?

And are the Leviton controllers the best quality or value of controller? I’m just looking for something I can put on the wall and set to control a few scenes. For a couple spots it doesn’t matter if the controller its self turns a load on/off/dim, but for a couple others it does…

#2

Very valid question. Leviton has a FULL line of in wall controllers. The determining factor for answering your question correctly is what you want it to do.

Does it need to switch a load?

If yes:

What type of load? Incandescent? LED? CFL? Ceiling fan?

How much load? 600W? 1000?

If no, how many scenes per controller? 1? 2? 4?

Basically, they have a device for nearly every application, you just have to know what yours is.

There are a lot of users that aren’t a big fan of the single position paddle which requires the bottom to be pushed regardless of turning on or off, but they are the only manufacturer (as far as I know) that offers a ceiling fan controller.

For Multi scene control, they have both scene and zone controllers, load and non-load, 2 and 4 scene/zone.

If you are looking for simple on/off/dim single scene capable controllers, check out the Linear WT00Z-1 or the Evolve LTM-5. These ones don’t have load switching/dimming, and their load switching brethren are scene capable as well. They are the same device manufactured by Linear and rebranded for Evolve and will do exactly what you are looking for at a better price. The Linear model advertises multi scene support, but they don’t. This point has been exhaustively tested by others on this forum, namely @Z-waver and @haworld.

@haworld has really helped members of the forum clarify a lot of questions regarding these products, so throw a little karma his way and purchase from his store

Free shipping to the US and very reasonable pricing. He carries Evolve, Linear, and Leviton

#3

[quote=“Dignan17, post:1, topic:180756”]And are the Leviton controllers the best quality or value of controller? I’m just looking for something I can put on the wall and set to control a few scenes. For a couple spots it doesn’t matter if the controller its self turns a load on/off/dim, but for a couple others it does…[/quote]Where you want to control a local local (on/off only, no dimming), you want VRCZ4-MRX (http://amzn.com/B0032ZFHTY).
Where you don’t need to control a local load, you want VRCZ4-M0Z (http://amzn.com/B004KN87OE)

Each of these has 4 buttons each with on and off (so you can somewhat do 8 separate scenes, if you let Vera manage them). The controller sends a button press to Vera, and Vera acts on it. It might be easier to just do 4 scenes, then you can turn each scene on or off, and no complications from trying to have different devices in an on and off scene.

Each comes with White, Ivory, & Light Almond faceplates.

#4

Thanks folks!

Vodden: The Linear controller might do for a couple locations in my home, but I really need more than one scene to be controlled from these controllers.

PurdueGuy: thanks for the summary of the specific Levitons. Are those the only ones that do multiple scenes from one in-wall controller? I’m hoping for something less expensive :slight_smile:

#5

[quote=“Dignan17, post:4, topic:180756”]PurdueGuy: thanks for the summary of the specific Levitons. Are those the only ones that do multiple scenes from one in-wall controller? I’m hoping for something less expensive :)[/quote]There are others. The only one that comes to mind immediately is the Cooper Aspire RF 5 scene controller (http://amzn.com/B0053ZIRWK) It isn’t cheap either. The GE wall-mount controller (45631) has significant limitations, and in my opinion, shouldn’t be considered.

Also, you can always go the Insteon route where the keypads are $80, but then that needs a PLM ($80) and either Alsteon (free) or an ISY (~$200) and plugin. That depends on if you are comfortable mixing technologies, etc.

#6

[quote=“PurdueGuy, post:5, topic:180756”][quote=“Dignan17, post:4, topic:180756”]PurdueGuy: thanks for the summary of the specific Levitons. Are those the only ones that do multiple scenes from one in-wall controller? I’m hoping for something less expensive :)[/quote]There are others. The only one that comes to mind immediately is the Cooper Aspire RF 5 scene controller (http://amzn.com/B0053ZIRWK) It isn’t cheap either. The GE wall-mount controller (45631) has significant limitations, and in my opinion, shouldn’t be considered.

Also, you can always go the Insteon route where the keypads are $80, but then that needs a PLM ($80) and either Alsteon (free) or an ISY (~$200) and plugin. That depends on if you are comfortable mixing technologies, etc.[/quote]

Personally, I went the Insteon route (because I wanted fan controllers as well that controlled fans and lights in 1 gang. I can do this with a fanLinc and KeypadLinc). So far, the ISY and Garret’s plugin has worked great for me. I’ve had a few times where it didn’t trigger in Vera, but I’ve been restarting, rebooting, and messing with the vera so much, that I think that’s it. When I just leave it be it “just works” for me.

That being said, I do have the Leviton 2 button scene controller with 2 local loads. I just installed it yesterday and it has been a pain to get working correctly. This is likely mostly due to the fact that I just want it to act like 2 switches for the local loads and not really control scenes.

#7

Is there an opinion on the Enerwave ZWN-SC7? I’m seeing it for around $45 which is, of course, much more appealing than the high price of the Leviton controllers.

Also, is there an inexpensive single-scene controller out there? I have a couple rooms where there’s a switch at the entrance, and all it does is turn on power to an outlet. I’d love to rewire those switches so the outlet is always on and the switch is merely a controller for one scene, tied into the neutral line. Are there some inexpensive devices out there for that?

#8

SirMeili, those 2 load Levitons need to be including within 2 ft of Vera. It won’t work remotely, you’ll only get the scene controller. Up close, you’ll also include 2 appliance modules for the loads.

#9

I should have updated this. I had them all added ( and did so within 2 feet), I just didn’t have the scenes setup correctly by or by he bless and I didn’t turn off the option for vera to control the LEDs. It works great now!

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