Help a newb understand secondary controllers

Community Playground General Discussions
1

Hi, I just purchased my Vera2, a schlage door lock and a few lighting switches. So far everything is working great. Now that I have the basics in I started thinking of what else I can do. I decided I would want to create scenes for when I come home from work and went to bed ect. For example when I ran the bedtime scene it would instruct all my downstairs lights to turn off and turn on my upstairs hallway and bedroom lights.

Now the question was, what is the easiest way to activate the scene. I looked at some of the common zwave resellers and see that GE, Monster and Leviton among others make in wall scene controllers. My initial instinct was great because I have an unused wall switch which is right where I would want to run such scenes from. Once I started reading about these controllers they don’t work the way I would have expected them to. It seems to me, and keep in mind I am a newb, that these controllers have to be programmed with the scenes themselves. Thus, in my opinion, complicating the zwave network configuration. My initial assumption was that these multi-button devices would just register with my Vera2 and than I could program what each of the buttons do from the Vera2 interface. Thus keeping all the programming in one place.

I have a few questions.

  1. Is my current understanding of how the secondary controllers work correct? If not can someone explain this better?

  2. Do these Secondary Controllers work with all devices on my zwave network?

  3. Will I need to register each of my zwave devices with this secondary controller?

Thanks in advance for any help.

2

I have some of the Monster Scene Controllers and some Leviton Zone controllers. Each work well, but I do prefer the Zone Controllers. I have a Monster controller than can handles a “room on,” “away,” and “go to bed” scenes.

The easiest way is to leave Vera in charge. You pair/include them to Vera, and define scenes. You don’t have to explicitly tell the controller about devices, you can configure that through Vera.

With the Monster controllers, the “a scene is de-activated” doesn’t work, so you can’t make Vera run an “off scene.” But you can assign devices to the buttons, so when a scene is deactivate, the controller will turn lights off for you.

The Leviton Zone controllers (in my limited experience) will directly turn on Leviton devices, but not my GE devices. When I hit “on” for a zone, the controller turns on Leviton devices, sends a “scene” notification to Vera, and Vera turns on my GE devices.

  1. You don’t have to program them directly, you can do it through Vera.
  2. They may or may not control them directly, but you can control anything in your network through Vera.
  3. Just register them with Vera, and Vera will push down programming when she can.

I think that’s how it all works, I’m still playing and experimenting.

3

[quote=“PurdueGuy, post:2, topic:169000”]I have some of the Monster Scene Controllers and some Leviton Zone controllers. Each work well, but I do prefer the Zone Controllers. I have a Monster controller than can handles a “room on,” “away,” and “go to bed” scenes.

The easiest way is to leave Vera in charge. You pair/include them to Vera, and define scenes. You don’t have to explicitly tell the controller about devices, you can configure that through Vera.

With the Monster controllers, the “a scene is de-activated” doesn’t work, so you can’t make Vera run an “off scene.” But you can assign devices to the buttons, so when a scene is deactivate, the controller will turn lights off for you.

The Leviton Zone controllers (in my limited experience) will directly turn on Leviton devices, but not my GE devices. When I hit “on” for a zone, the controller turns on Leviton devices, sends a “scene” notification to Vera, and Vera turns on my GE devices.

  1. You don’t have to program them directly, you can do it through Vera.
  2. They may or may not control them directly, but you can control anything in your network through Vera.
  3. Just register them with Vera, and Vera will push down programming when she can.

I think that’s how it all works, I’m still playing and experimenting.[/quote]

Thanks so much for the info. GE makes a controller also and so far all my switches are GE so maybe I should go with that. Guess I will have to buy one and experiment. A friend of mine has a remote that is a secondary controller. He linked it to his Vera but we could not figure out how to program it through the Vera. I kind of wish someone would just make a Z-Wave remote that isn’t a controller. The concept is really simple. Just make a Z-Wave device that has buttons labeled 1 through x. Then in Vera when making a scene you can add an event and choose the device and button you want to trigger the scene. IDK, maybe I am over simplifying this.

4

The GE handheld controller, right? Don’t go for the GE wall mount (45631). It has severe limitations on the number of devices, IDs, etc. And it won’t really tell Vera about scenes. I think everyone here is disappointed in that.

The GE 45600/45601 would probably do what you want, but the others will too.

The Monster Scene Controller will essentially tell Vera “scene 1 activated” which will kick off a scene. What it won’t do is tell Vera “scene 1 deactivated” so you can’t program an “Off” scene. You can associated devices to button 1, so when button 1 is deactivated, it will turn those devices off.

The Leviton Zone Controller (VRCZ4-M0/VRCZ4-MR) will tell Vera “scene 1 activated” AND “scene 1 deactivated”, so you essentially get 8 scenes. Again, you can associate devices so they turn off faster than Vera can turn them off. Vera can control the LEDs for the Leviton Zone Controllers as well (not sure about Scene Controllers).

If you have a Monster scene controller and created a scene, you can make a button fire off a scene.

Go to the scene, click the wrench, then Events → Add Event → Choose your controller → A scene is activated
Name =
Which scene number = button number (1, 2, 3, or 4)
Click “Back”, then the X, then save.

5

[quote=“PurdueGuy, post:4, topic:169000”]The GE handheld controller, right? Don’t go for the GE wall mount (45631). It has severe limitations on the number of devices, IDs, etc. And it won’t really tell Vera about scenes. I think everyone here is disappointed in that.

The GE 45600/45601 would probably do what you want, but the others will too.

The Monster Scene Controller will essentially tell Vera “scene 1 activated” which will kick off a scene. What it won’t do is tell Vera “scene 1 deactivated” so you can’t program an “Off” scene. You can associated devices to button 1, so when button 1 is deactivated, it will turn those devices off.

The Leviton Zone Controller (VRCZ4-M0/VRCZ4-MR) will tell Vera “scene 1 activated” AND “scene 1 deactivated”, so you essentially get 8 scenes. Again, you can associate devices so they turn off faster than Vera can turn them off. Vera can control the LEDs for the Leviton Zone Controllers as well (not sure about Scene Controllers).

If you have a Monster scene controller and created a scene, you can make a button fire off a scene.

Go to the scene, click the wrench, then Events → Add Event → Choose your controller → A scene is activated
Name =
Which scene number = button number (1, 2, 3, or 4)
Click “Back”, then the X, then save.[/quote]

Actually I just made my purchase and bought the Leviton VRCZ4-M0Z. I was leaning towards the GE Wall Mount 45631 but after reading the installation instructions I was shocked to find out it was battery powered. Not what I wanted at all. All the photos I had seen on the regular re-seller sights including Amazon only showed me the face. The battery was a deal killer for me. Too bad because it was like a third of the price of the Leviton and in my opinion more ascetically pleasing. Sounds like the Leviton will do exactly what I want. I have amazon prime so I should know how well it works by Friday night, LOL. Don’t know what I would do without Amazon Prime. There is no replacement for instant gratification, ;D.

I can’t wait to play with my new toys but I actually have another question in the back of my mind. I have a great home theater system and a logitech harmony remote of course. I would love to include the home theater system in some scene’s. I know I can buy a zwave compatible logitech but I would love to hit my bedtime scene button and have it turn off everything including my TV and receiver. When I choose “add a device” from the vera dashboard there is an option that says “Add a device you control with a normal infrared remote control, like a TV, cable box, stereo, etc.”. When I choose this it asks me to “Please pick infrared transmitter:”. I googled “zwave infrared transmitter” but it didn’t help me. Any idea how I can add turning off such items to a scene?

BTW, thank you so much for your replies, your awesome. I just setup my first zwave items 2 days ago and I am already a grand in the hold. Damn this is addicting.

6

[quote=“KewlRobD, post:5, topic:169000”]I can’t wait to play with my new toys but I actually have another question in the back of my mind. I have a great home theater system and a logitech harmony remote of course. I would love to include the home theater system in some scene’s. I know I can buy a zwave compatible logitech but I would love to hit my bedtime scene button and have it turn off everything including my TV and receiver. When I choose “add a device” from the vera dashboard there is an option that says “Add a device you control with a normal infrared remote control, like a TV, cable box, stereo, etc.”. When I choose this it asks me to “Please pick infrared transmitter:”. I googled “zwave infrared transmitter” but it didn’t help me. Any idea how I can add turning off such items to a scene?

BTW, thank you so much for your replies, your awesome. I just setup my first zwave items 2 days ago and I am already a grand in the hold. Damn this is addicting.[/quote]
Gotta love Amazon Prime!! I don’t want to add up how much I’ve spent.

I’d recommend the SQ Blaster form Square Connect. squareconnect.com I have it, works GREAT. Awesome iPhone/iPad app for integration that will control both the SQ Blaster and Vera. It connects to your WiFi network, and using a plugin (SQBlaster) Vera controls it.

I have a “go to bed” scene that turns off the receiver and TV. And other scenes that are “Watch TiVo” or “Watch Roku” that turn everything on, set the input, etc.

And you’re welcome. I only have a 2.5 month head start on you!

7

[quote=“KewlRobD, post:5, topic:169000”]I can’t wait to play with my new toys but I actually have another question in the back of my mind. I have a great home theater system and a logitech harmony remote of course. I would love to include the home theater system in some scene’s. I know I can buy a zwave compatible logitech but I would love to hit my bedtime scene button and have it turn off everything including my TV and receiver. When I choose “add a device” from the vera dashboard there is an option that says “Add a device you control with a normal infrared remote control, like a TV, cable box, stereo, etc.”. When I choose this it asks me to “Please pick infrared transmitter:”. I googled “zwave infrared transmitter” but it didn’t help me. Any idea how I can add turning off such items to a scene?

BTW, thank you so much for your replies, your awesome. I just setup my first zwave items 2 days ago and I am already a grand in the hold. Damn this is addicting.[/quote]

I have to agree with PurdueGuy, the SQBlaster is by far the best solution. I have the Harmony (actually Monster) remote and it’s a HUGE hassel to set up and get working. I also have 2 Blasters and they are awesome. I have a “Going to bed” scene that turns the home theater off, turns on the bedroom tv, sets the sleep timer, lights the way to the bedroom and shuts the downstairs lights off after 5 minutes. You can also do stuff like run an “All A/V off” scene from outside the house, just in case you are worried something was left on.

8

@KewiRob … not to high jack a thread but there are other options other than wall controllers … I am using multiple $70 7" Android tablets running Home Buddy.

9

Just curious - what tablet(s) are you using?

10

Hey, thanks for the suggestion. I currently have Home Buddy on my phone, wife’s phone and my android tablet. But I have a household of very non techie family members. So having that controller makes it easier for them. Plus in my scenario this controller will be right inside my front door which is also next to my stairs. I also plan on putting in a home from work scene which will turn on the appropriate lights, and A/V equipment.

I also happen to have 3 gang box in my wall and since putting all my lights on ZWave have no more use for one of the switches in the box. So this also kind of fills that void.

11

[quote=“KewlRobD, post:10, topic:169000”]I also happen to have 3 gang box in my wall and since putting all my lights on ZWave have no more use for one of the switches in the box. So this also kind of fills that void.[/quote]I did something to add scene/zone controllers in other rooms w/o putting in a larger gang box. I swapped out outlet that were controlled by a switch for Z-Wave receptacles. You could also use plugin modules, and wire the outlet to be “hot” all the time. Then replace the switch with a scene/zone controller, program one of the buttons to handle the lights and you’re good. You can also use a controller with an integrated switch too. But the way I did it, I could relocate/expand the switched outlets easily.

I got 12 outlets for $8 each (with shipping) a while back, so I could do that easily. I’m hoping I can snag some more with a deal like that around Labor Day!

12

I also plan on putting in a home from work scene which will turn on the appropriate lights, and A/V equipment. [/quote]
How? What will you use to blast the IR?

13

The SQBlaster is supposed to work for that.

14

The SQBlaster is supposed to work for that.[/quote]
But he’s using Droids, they (for now) require iOS and SQRemote. There’s a plug in for Vera but that isn’t a very practical solution, it takes forever to get each command set up and your average home theater requires a lot of commands.

I don’t mean to be a downer but IR control was/is very misleading (lie?) by MCV. They advertised home theater control with Vera but they STILL don’t support any IR blasters out of the box or in the market.

15

[quote=“mbairhead, post:14, topic:169000”]But he’s using Droids, they (for now) require iOS and SQRemote. There’s a plug in for Vera but that isn’t a very practical solution, it takes forever to get each command set up and your average home theater requires a lot of commands.

I don’t mean to be a downer but IR control was/is very misleading (lie?) by MCV. They advertised home theater control with Vera but they STILL don’t support any IR blasters out of the box or in the market.[/quote]

Well for my purpose all I want to be able to do is turn my Receiver and TV on and off when I get home and go to bed. I have to imagine that would be much more simple to setup than say trying to use zwave as a harmony replacement.

16

@purdueguy Thanks again for the direction on this. My leviton scene controller came today in addition to several more in=wall switches/dimmers. I got everything installed, configured and working beyond expectations. I noticed one odd thing and wanted to find out if you have the same issue since you seem to be using a similar setup.

Since isntalling the Leviton controller and assigning the buttons to a scene my Vera2 status box in the upper right hand corner constantly says “ZWave:
Configuring ZWave devices”. On the controller item in the vera2 has a status message of “Setting special association”. Did you notice anything similar?

OH and BTW, my SQBlaster is on it’s way. There has been some discussion in this thread about the extent of what the SQBlaster can actually do. What are you doing with it?

17

Just in case anyone else has the same issue I fixed the “ZWave: Configuring ZWave devices” problem or rather found a work around for it.

Since it appeared the Vera2 was getting stuck setting some type of association I opened the properties on the Scene controller and under the settings tab I change the “Automatically Configure” to NO. Now the only problem is that if you make any changes you then need to go to the settings tab and click “Configure Node Right Now”.