New to Vera

Community Playground Getting Started & Initial Setup
1

I bought a (hardly) used Vera 2 from a friend and I’m itching to get started.

My background:
I’m a software developer, I’m comfortable working around electricity, I like gadgets.

My house’s current situation:
Everything except one switch are standard builder-grade toggles/dimmers. Lots of multi-way circuits in the house. Most everything is currently using CCFLs except the dimmer circuits.

Where I want to be:
Everything LED with Zwave control of all lights. This would be ridiculously expensive to do all at once so I’d like to take the approach of replace a bit at a time. I’d like to go with some good quality toggles both dimmable and non-dimmable that will be compatible with dimmable LEDs without requiring additional load so I can swap out the lights without also swapping out the switches. I don’t mind paying for quality as long as the cost difference is justifiable.

What I can’t find easily is a comparison of switches by different manufacturers that compares price, need for neutral, ease of installation, component quality, etc. Can anybody point me in the right direction for this?

2

First question: are you in the USA / Canada, Europe, of Asia / Australia? The available stuff for Z-wave varies rather a lot per region.

Also, in my experience LEDs and dimmers are tricky: you’ll want to try a specific combination of dimmer and LED lamp… Some work, others don’t, and some require an additional load thingy (small and easy to install). Experiment, and replicate what works :slight_smile:

3

Welcome to Vera!

There’s been a fair bit of chat about this on the forums here. Here’s a thread to get you started:
[url=http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,9262.0.html]http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,9262.0.html[/url]

I use dummy loads for the LED rope lights above my kitchen cabinets that are inserted between the load and the module (my issue wasn’t flickering, it was that the modules were allowing a bit of current to pass through such that the LEDs would never turn off 100 percent).

Good luck.

4

Just to add information, I’m in the US. I’ll take a look at the mentioned thread. Thanks!

5

I think I’m going to go with some nicer switches but have a few questions:
Is this

the correct companion to this?

Under what circumstances would a multi-way circuit NOT have a neutral in the box with the switch? Again, I’m in the US and the house was built in 2007.

6

I have been happy since upgrading to my Leviton Dimmers, but Cooper Aspire is supposed to be pretty good too and Homeseer is having a sale right now (just to let you know):

http://www.homeseer.com/support/newsletters/current-promo.htm

At first glance I would say that is the correct slave switch in your link, from my memory the slave didn’t have RF in the product name since it didn’t use RF (Zwave).

7

Those switches look nice and from what I quickly saw online the LEDs look like they’d be a lot less annoying.

About this:
Note: For 3-way (or more) circuits, use Cooper RF9542-Z accessory switch only. When using an RF9542-Z it will need to associated with the RF9534-N using either HomeSeer software or a Cooper remote control.

Can I substitute the word MiCasaVerde in place of HomeSeer or do I really have to buy that expensive control?

Also: does this captcha thing ever go away?

8

Nobody? I figured at least one person would have known.

9

I am upgrading a very robust but failing X-10 home automation system to Z-Wave. I am very interested in Vera, but on two sites I went to review the Vera 2 and Vera 3 buy there is a comment on the sellers web page stating that both the Vera 2 and Vera 3 are out of production. Is this correct? Other seller sites did not confirm the out of production comment, but they all say both the Vera 2 and Vera 3 are “non-returnable”. Only the Vera Lite seems to be current, but the specs say there is no WiFi in the Vera Lite.

I need a robust Z-Wave platform to migrate my X-10 system to, but am reluctant to jump into Vera after reading these out of production claims and the sellers’ refusal to accept returns even if the item is defective. What gives?

10

Go through micasaverde.com and they have Vera 3 for $249 once you navigate to the shop

11

Did you ever get an answer to this question? I have tried doing it but am not successful using Vera…the problem is that I really don’t know much about how to do it, there is very little information given in the directions. It does, however, seem possible based on what Cooper says in its instructions for the 9542, which is basically “consult your z wave controller device manufacturer”.

[quote=“briancribbs, post:7, topic:175143”]About this:
Note: For 3-way (or more) circuits, use Cooper RF9542-Z accessory switch only. When using an RF9542-Z it will need to associated with the RF9534-N using either HomeSeer software or a Cooper remote control.

Can I substitute the word MiCasaVerde in place of HomeSeer or do I really have to buy that expensive control?[/quote]

12

I got it working. The wiki on the subject is correct, but you must make sure your Vera has properly configured the the RF9542-R. That was my problem. I eventually wound up running a very long CAT5 cable and doing a full power inclusion. Once that was done, following the wiki worked, as interpolated for the current UI. I hope this helps someone.