Well, late last year I began my research into the world of HA and trying to absorb everything I could about the different solutions available. My main focus was dimming control for many of my LED lights. It took some time to gather all the information I needed to move forward, and on a positive note I narrowed down my research to the VERA EDGE; however, during the time that it took me to select a solution and the proper HW, the dimmers that I was interested in had gone up in price by almost $20 (Leviton VRMX1-1LZ) - Amazon had them for $55. For the last month I have been tracking these, and they just seem to go up in price.
Now I am on the fence about jumping in to HA or waiting it out till the dimmers come back down in price (or alternates are found). Does anyone know a good forum to track sales on z-wave products? Typically I just use Amazon and Google Search, but they do not seem to catch everything.
Someone in this forum once said if you find a deal on zwave devices snag as many as you can get. I will tell you tiger direct had great deals during the holidays and potentially Newegg thay started selling as well. Probably best near holidays for these items.
Use camelcamelcamel for Amazon price tracking and alerts.
Join deal sites such as slickdeals and fatwallet then set deal alerts for “zwave”, “z-wave”, etc plus for whatever brand name of zwave products you got you eye on.
Many times tigerdirect and newegg have promotions if you pay via Visa checkout, google wallet, paypal, etc you get XX$ off XXX$ purchase, so even if it is not on sale you can still save.
Look for rebates, Tigerdirect usually has a few good ones over the course of the year.
Ebay can sometimes have good deals.
Use a junk email address and sign up for newsletters for places that sell home automation stuff to get discount emails and such.
Some credit cards have promotions that if you spend XX$ at store Z, you either get X$ off, or similar back in points.
Do your research now for the items you want so you dont waste time thinking “should I buy it?” when the deals popup.
And to repeat, don’t think or debate, BUY when you see a good zwave deal. They go quickly.
[quote=“faustiano, post:1, topic:185593”]Well, late last year I began my research into the world of HA and trying to absorb everything I could about the different solutions available. My main focus was dimming control for many of my LED lights. It took some time to gather all the information I needed to move forward, and on a positive note I narrowed down my research to the VERA EDGE; however, during the time that it took me to select a solution and the proper HW, the dimmers that I was interested in had gone up in price by almost $20 (Leviton VRMX1-1LZ) - Amazon had them for $55. For the last month I have been tracking these, and they just seem to go up in price.
Now I am on the fence about jumping in to HA or waiting it out till the dimmers come back down in price (or alternates are found). Does anyone know a good forum to track sales on z-wave products? Typically I just use Amazon and Google Search, but they do not seem to catch everything.[/quote]
Where are you located? I just go down to my local Lowes and buy the dimmers for 35.00.
I thought about that, but I have read that the IRIS model they sell Model #: 45639 does not support LED bulbs. I have read that some people have buzzing, flickering, and issues with min/max brightness when using LEDs. Unfortunately, I only have two bulbs per switch so the load may be an issue.
[quote=“kirkla79, post:3, topic:185593”]Zwave deals sell out fast so don’t think, buy.
Use camelcamelcamel for Amazon price tracking and alerts.
Join deal sites such as slickdeals and fatwallet then set deal alerts for “zwave”, “z-wave”, etc plus for whatever brand name of zwave products you got you eye on.
Many times tigerdirect and newegg have promotions if you pay via Visa checkout, google wallet, paypal, etc you get XX$ off XXX$ purchase, so even if it is not on sale you can still save.
Look for rebates, Tigerdirect usually has a few good ones over the course of the year.
Ebay can sometimes have good deals.
Use a junk email address and sign up for newsletters for places that sell home automation stuff to get discount emails and such.
Some credit cards have promotions that if you spend XX$ at store Z, you either get X$ off, or similar back in points.
Do your research now for the items you want so you dont waste time thinking “should I buy it?” when the deals popup.
And to repeat, don’t think or debate, BUY when you see a good zwave deal. They go quickly.[/quote]
Thanks for the advice. I have downloaded the IOS app for Slickdeals to keep me updated on any deals. I hate having to kick myself because I missed a deal.
I thought about that, but I have read that the IRIS model they sell Model #: 45639 does not support LED bulbs. I have read that some people have buzzing, flickering, and issues with min/max brightness when using LEDs. Unfortunately, I only have two bulbs per switch so the load may be an issue.[/quote]
Really you just need to try a few different brands. All of my dimmers are standard Leviton (no special load or features) Z-Wave dimmers, mainly the ones Monster had a sale on 600W. And years ago I tested them with some LED trims and they worked, but flicked sometimes when dimming, etc. I fixed this for the most part my installing a shunt resistor on one of the cans as suggested by @TimAlls. Flash forward to last weekend and I found 4" Cree LED trims on sale at Home Depot for $12 so I bought enough for the whole house after buying one to test with my dimmers. I also tested a Sylvania trim and completely different results, the light hesitated to come on, then flickered, then caused the dimmer to cycle up/down on its own like crazy. The Cree however was brighter, instant on, dims beautifully (albeit to only 50%), and WAS CHEAPER. Every dimmer/trim combo could be slightly different, so make sure you test a single LED Trim as the only bulb on a dimmer’s circuit to see how it behaves before buying all of them. Return any that don’t work. The CREE bulb seemed to have part of its electronics in the medium-base socket screw plug, that may be an indicator that they have it powered differently. My house is brighter, cooler, and went from 1300 watts down to 298.
As far as finding deals, the deals do come to the patient. I started with Intermatic switches when they were on sale for $25, then I jumped on the GE’s when they were $15, then the Levitons when they were $20. Not to say I didn’t pay full price here and there or that I am bragging. It is just to indicate that there have been times when the supply and demand for Z-Wave has driven liquidations and you have to jump when it happens. You might also look around other forums like AVSforums as it is common for people to sell entire systems.
I thought about that, but I have read that the IRIS model they sell Model #: 45639 does not support LED bulbs. I have read that some people have buzzing, flickering, and issues with min/max brightness when using LEDs. Unfortunately, I only have two bulbs per switch so the load may be an issue.[/quote]
If you have only 2 LED bulbs on a switch, then you are correct please do not buy them as you will post a disappointing thread following your purchase. If you have a room of can lights atleast 4 works better with 5 or more then your good to go. I have probley 5 or 6 total of the dimmers and a ton of the on/offs.
You can find a $10.00 off a $50.00 purchase coupon for lowes online or a 10% off total order. I buy 2 switches at a time and take 10.00 off the order. Pickup local and Lowes is super easy to return if it doesn’t work. For basic on/offs cost like $30.00 each after 10.00 off and before tax.
I’m surprised prices on basic zwave items, such as light switches, haven’t fallen much in the last year. I still expect competition to drive prices down substantially.
I’m curious how the cost basis of wifi-based light switches compare to zwave equivalents.
If apple can sell 30,000 iphones per hour, certainly the potential to sell huge numbers of HA devices will exist soon.