I’ve searched around and have not been able to find a topic that just covers people’s favorite scene controllers.
I’m really having a hard time finding one that is well-liked, meaning good reviews, and easy to set up with Vera.
I have a dozen of the GE 45631 units that I like ok, but they do not work the way I want them to now that I have a Vera3.
So, what do you like? I’m okay either with an AC powered unit or a battery operated one. But I do want it to mount on the wall like a normal lightswitch.
This probably isn’t what you’re looking for, but the best scene controllers I’ve used are tablets and smartphones. There’s a really awesome app for the IPad called Veramate. That’s my favorite. I use the vanilla android app on my androids. I paid for one on a win8 machine that I don’t like very much, so much so that I forgot the name!
The android app is for interfacing with UI5, so it’s not the brand new slick looking thing with nice graphics. but you can put your favorite scenes on the home screen.
I don’t even bother logging onto my the lan with my phone. there’s no perceptible difference as long as the mios servers are online.
my favorite remote used to be the Monster AVL 300. it used the logitech harmony software to configure scenes and such, but I couldn’t figure out a way to make it a secondary when I got the vera lite, and I thought it made more sense to run everything through vera/mios.
I’ve also used the logitech harmony home theater remote with Z-wave radio inside, and it was nice, but the Monster AVL has better button texture/feel. you know what you’re pressing without looking.
what was really cool about both harmony-based remotes was that I cloned them. one for my AV setup and one for my mother’s (in the main part of the house). they both had all the information in them. you just had to select which room you were in, and it controlled the AV stuff directly via IR and the lighting via z-wave. I setup some rudimentary scenes for all on/off. and half on/off. almost never used the individual light commands after that.
other than that, I find the simplest is the most direct and bulletproof: Intermatic HA09. old faithful. it was my first z-wave controller, and it’s the “survivor” of them all.
if any one can recommend a good in-wall scene controller, I’m hunting for something to put in a 1 or 2 gangle wall box. 8)
They work great, seem to be reliable far (a couple months in), can mount them anywhere (battery powered), and not too expensive at USD $29. (i run a vera 3 with UI5)
I like the enerwave 7-button z-wave scene controller. At $45 at amazon that’s a great price and it’s way better than the monster 4 button scene controllers I’ve tried.
I did a review of the Enerwave 7-button scene controller and also have a few videos showing how I use mine
You can check out my Z-Wave review site at http://www.myzwave.net
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