After reading about the Fibaro switches and other devices and drooling over their website, I ran across one of their distributors that actually sells US versions. They are located in the Dominican Republic.
Out of curiosity, I reached out to the vendor, asking about their devices and if they indeed used the US frequency, and if they shipped to the US. Here is my reply:
Hello,
Thanks for contacting us.
Yes we do sell fibaro devices with US frequency and we also can ship to USA.
Just let us know your address and what Fibaro devices types and amounts and we can send you a proforma invoice for your revision.
Good news for anyone here in the US who may want to get some of the devices to try. They are a bit expensive though, and I don’t know what shipping will cost.
Strange that nobody sells these with US frequencies except an obscure store in Dominican Republic ??? If anyone plans on taking the plunge please let us know how it goes
It is strange. I would have thought that when 908MHz versions were available, the major US distributors would rush to stock them. zwavedo is listed as a distributor on the Fibaro website so, presumably, they are genuine Fibaro products. The site does not indicate that the US versions have been launched but it doesn’t show all of the European products either.
Some adventurous sole needs to buy a module and check it out. I recommend the FGS221 - I have them all over my house and they are brilliant. ;D
There are no U.S. versions yet. The Dominican Republic just happens to use the same frequency.
U.L. and FCC certification are required for sale/use in the U.S market. I have been advised by Fibaro that they have begun the certification process. Hopefully U.S. product will ship this year.
Thank you for the interest in Fibaro. We have been in FCC/UL Testing for several months now. We decided to make several feature enhancements to both hardware and software while we were going through the certification process. Our target for release in the US is now mid September. I will add you name to our database which we will send more detailed information in the coming weeks.
Rich Bira
Technical Integrator/US R&D
You guys are going to have so much fun when these modules start shipping on your side of the pond!
Dimmers that work with two or three-wire power, monostable, bistable or centre-off switches, two or more three-way switching, synchronizing dim level of associated devices, dimming LEDs, switching CFLs, …
Switches that provide instant status on two channels, auto-off timer, monostable or bistable switches, more configuration options than you can shake a stick at…
(teaser) im very happy with my fibaro devices
i can say they are the most usuable units one can get for the vera. soon you gonna find out urselfs
now that we speak of it… i hope micasaverde can implement the COMMAND_CLASS_FIRMWARE_UPDATE_MD to the vera so we can also upgrade the firmware on this devices. would be very very handy imho
Yes - I’m looking forward to being able to update the module firmware over Z-Wave. The trouble is, the ones I really want to update are the first ones I bought (like V1.4) and they don’t support firmware update.
Having recently installed a Home Centre 2 for a friend, I may just take my modules round there. Include, update, exclude, go home and reinstall. Hmm. Maybe not…
thank god i have later firmware which supports firmware update. would be nice to have this option in vera as taking it to a store or a friend just aint gonna happen… i got all modules built-in the wall and it would take a week to get them all upgraded. on the other hand this stuff should not fail to update firmware as we are pretty much very screwed and unhappy then.
I wonder what happens if there’s a power-cut right in the middle of the update process? :o I’ve had this happen with professional audio hardware and it had to be returned to the manufacturer to be re-flashed.
I have to say, everything I’ve seen is convincing me to wait for these before I start ripping out light switches. The size of the dimmer module is especially impressive.
Now to find a reasonably priced rocker toggle switch that has a recognizable (to the Fibaro) difference between up and down for local dimming functions. What’s the electrical terminology for that? Double-throw, double-pole?
the proffesional hardware you can take apart and flash the chip with a few wires on the pc and pony programmer but i dont see how i would get the tiny fibaro things apart and flash that
dimmer got double input key so perhaps you can attach the second key and program it to ramp up the dimmer, no idea how they call that double-tap ?
actually they are sold these switches with 3 pole in it but i wonder if the fibaro can distinguise the thing from a normal push-button
the rgbw controller can do this for sure. there is a topic about that thing
What's the electrical terminology for that? Double-throw, double-pole?
Variously known as: Three-position momentary (or retractive); On/Off/On; Centre-Off momentary; ... In the UK, they are usually only available in modular ranges - buy a faceplate and separate, insertable switch modules. I have seen some single-piece units sold as blind switches, though.
I have to say, everything I've seen is convincing me to wait for these before I start ripping out light switches.
In your position, I would probably wait too. I did install some other switches when I first got started but I soon replaced them when I discovered what Fibaro modules could do. 8)
Worth the risk I have some Fibaro and Duewi/ZME switches with the older Zensys firmware in them, and while they can be flashed to newer firmware, I have to return them to the stockist for that. OTA updating would be awesome.
well i did hold my breath and survived http://wiki.micasaverde.com/index.php/ZWave_Command_Classes
supported command classes… the wait is for someone to write a plugin to support the update. it needs a file send to the device using the command class
