HomeSeer

[tyroiii]

Hi,

Are there any thoughts on HomeSeer for controlling UPB and Z-Wave devices? I am particularly interested in any struggles that people has had with HomeSeer or getting the combination to work.

Thanks,
Charley

 

[Bruce L]

I have both UPB and Zwave. I like UPB better. It's easier to install and MUCH easier if you have to replace devices. UPB uses a program call UPstart to program devices and you can save the configuration to a file. So if a part dies or "forgets" it's configuration you can just load the config file and reprogram.

Zwave setup is with a remote, you can't save the configuration (well not without another remote), and replacing a dead Zwave module usually means rebuilding the entire Zwave install!

Homeseer has built-in support for Zwave devices but it still gives lots of people LOTS of problems. Most of them seem to be with the USB version of the controller.

UPB support in homeseer has only been for versions 2.0 until just last week (costs $40). I wrote a UPB plugin so now we have UPB control in version 1.7 now (for free). I've not tested the plugin with 2.0 so can't comment there.

For me UPB is much easier to configure and control. I am slowly migrating devices to UPB. The main downside is costs of devices vs zwave.

My $0.02

Bruce

 

[tyroiii]

Bruce,

Thanks for the reply. I have a few UPB devices installed as part of a test run. During the test, I encountered several switches where there are no neutral wire in the J-Box. A few of those, I do not see any outlets nearby, so I can not easily run neutral wires into the box. Z-Wave switches doesn't need a neutral, so that's my reason for adding Z-Wave and I am planning on using HomeSeer to bridge between the two technology. I could have gone all Z-Wave, but I've spend some good money on UPB already and didn't want to just throw it away. Also, UPB has more options on switches.

 

[ChrisWalker]

Zwave setup is with a remote, you can't save the configuration (well not without another remote), and replacing a dead Zwave module usually means rebuilding the entire Zwave install!

Just FWIW, Z-Wave makes it really easy to replace a failed module. You can simply ask the Z-Wave controller to replace a failed module, and then you push the button on the module you'd like to replace it with. It keeps all the associations (links) set up and everything.

We have people doing this today with the Z-Wave PC SDK. And I understand that some of the new handheld remotes should be exposing this feature as well.

You can also just completely remove a failed device from the network with ease. But unfortunately it's up to the remote you're using as to whether it can or does expose this functionality.

Chris