I’m getting ready to embark on my first attempt at home automation in a new home theater room. Finished up the framing and am about to start on the AC wiring but wanted to do some research into dimmers/switches first to make sure I don’t miss any special wiring requirements.
Would greatly appreciate any suggestions on especially good/bad brands/models of dimmers and switches that I should watch out for. Thanks!
Was hoping for more feedback… :-\
In case any one runs across this thread in the future, the Leviton Vizia RF+ line seemed to have the most favorable mentions in my Googling. Hope that turns out to be true as I’ve now got a dozen VRI06-1LZ’s on order.
On a tangential note, anyone know the difference between smarthome.com and smarthome-products.com? Are they related or is the latter just mooching off the name recognition of the former?
Leviton are great zwave switches. They are more expensive than other options, but better quality and more reliable. All of my hard wired switches are Leviton. I would stay away from GE, too many issues and wiring them up can be a issue as well.
Hi,
I recommend GE Z-Wave switches, they are reliable, reasonably priced and backed by great service and support (from Jasco as well as us). We have sold hundreds of Z-Wave GE switches and have not had even a single complaint and only one return of one switch in over a year.
I have read some derogatory messages on the Internet regarding the wiring for GE 3-ways but can tell you that in over 15 years in the home automation business, almost everybody sometimes has trouble wiring three ways, my X-10 and Insteon customers ask the same questions and have the same problems so it is not just GE nor is it z-wave. There are many different ways to wire a 3-way and in most cases, each case is special AND different and will need to be treated as such.
The Leviton RF+'s are a good choice also so no worries, you will be fine. I only just stumbled upon this thread this morning so I am a little late with my recommendation, but you will be fine.
BTW, smarthome.com and smarthome-products.com are two different company websites. Smarthome is in Irvine, Ca and is the manufacturer of many X-10 products and the developer of Insteon. I don’t know much about smarthome-products.com but they appear to be a retailer of “smart” products or home automation products and are located in Florida I believe.
Good luck and enjoy the learning curve! :
[quote=“garrettwp, post:3, topic:169834”]Leviton are great zwave switches. They are more expensive than other options, but better quality and more reliable. All of my hard wired switches are Leviton. I would stay away from GE, too many issues and wiring them up can be a issue as well.
I disagree, I’m using all GE dimmers and switches for a yr now and have yet to have an issue.
as far as wiring just make sure you have your ground wire along with white and black and in some locations white, black, and red (ie ceiling fans or lamps that are controlled with a switch)
also make sure you have plent of room these zwave switches are larger and the more room you have in the junction box the better you’ll be.
good luck.
yes, big boxes, and make sure to run a neutral to every switch location so you can have a cfl-capable dimmer there if you want one in the future.
The problems I’m aware of (and can confirm first hand) is with the older 3-ways, when used as an actual 3-way (i.e. they work fine as a 2-way). The signaling between the aux and primary switch seems poorly designed, and there are various threads here discussing that. It appears the switches have since been redesigned.
At the Z-Wave level, the Levitons support associations and scenes. The GE’s, and a lot of others, do not. The association part is what makes ‘instant status updates’ work reliably, i.e. when you control the switch locally, the status will update in Vera ‘instantly’.
smarthome.com and smarthome-products.com are two different companies.
I’ve been reading tons of threads trying to figure out which home automation system is right for me. I’m torn between Vera3 and Insteon. Ideally I’d like a single system for my security cameras, automation, garage door, thermostat and remote control. Each offers part, but not the entire equation.
Does the Leviton VRCZ4-M0Z work as a switch first in addition to it’s role scene controller?? Meaning I’d like to hook it up to a circuit and have it operate the lights on that circuit as button 1. Then have the remaining 3 buttons control various other scenes. I don’t want to have to hookup a dimmer for my circuit then wire in one of these as secondary control if that makes sense??
I like the INSTEON 8-Button Scene Control Keypad with Dimmer. The first button controls the wired-in circuit and remaining buttons are left for additional controls. I’ve read various posts about people having some success using these in conjunction with Vera. Has it gotten better??
I feel like a hybird Vera/Insteon solution would get me everything I’m looking for, but the problem is I’m not entire confident in the software based some messages I’ve seen in the forums. I don’t want to spend a ton of money if this stuff isn’t going to play nice together.
Welcome!
The VRCZ4-M0Z does not have a built-in switch. The VRCZ4-MRZ does. (No dimming.)
I've read various posts about people having some success using these in conjunction with Vera. Has it gotten better??I have no Insteon experience. But have you seen [url=http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,8910.msg58036.html#msg58036]this topic[/url]?
Here is the thread I was talking about where it seems that someone managed to get the KeypadLinc Dimmer - INSTEON 8-Button Scene Control Keypad with Dimmer working.
http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,6182.msg44406.html#msg44406
This was posted in June. I hoped things would have come together a little better since then since Insteon support is advertised.
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