Newbie... catching the Z-Wave

[Michael McSharry]

For those bottom fishing UPB, then it is hard to beat the $35 price at Frys/Outpost.com for HAL UPB switches. I have heard they may have gone up a few dollars recently. The ones I have seen are actually made by Simply Automated. In my case I had to swap out the white bezel for ivory which added another $5 from Automated Outlet. I also concur on the slave switches with respect to the LED. A normal switch is Blue/Green or Red/Green, but the Slave is Dark/Green. It really shows up when they are in a multi-gang jbox.

 

[kwilcox]

Yikes! What a great price! Currently they're 37.99 and those are US1130W SAI switches!

Here's the link:

HAL UPB Wall switch at Fry's

 

[KenM]

ogeneo ,
If you think Z-Wave is confusing and Insteon isn't then this is a first for me. With Z-Wave you walk up, hit the switch, and punch a button on the remote and you are done.

Rupp - As one of the most knowledgeable guys in this forum I am sure you are more than familiar with both technologies. You must also know the setup is fairly similar.

"With Z-Wave you walk up, hit the switch, and punch a button on the remote and you are done."
vs.
INSTEON-enabled products - press and hold 10 seconds at the switch - press and hold 10 seconds at the other device.

Currently, this is how INSTEON enabled products link and work. I would be open to your thoughts on how we can make this process less confusing.

My two cents. I have used both Z-Wave and INSTEON. Each seem to take about the same amount of 'figuring out the directions'. After you 'program' a few of the devices, things seem to get easier.

I would not, personally, rate INSTEON harder unless I included the KPL, which may not be 100% fair as the KPL has more link options than your average Z-Wave device.

ken

edit added:
All INSTEON switches are controllers. That has the possibility of confusing things.
I guess one real advantage that Z-Wave has, is that the remote switches cannot be re-programmed at the switches, a 'master' controller needs be present for that. I have read a few posts where a toddler managed to reprogram some INSTEON wall switches. I'll admit that is rare but if you have 100 customers that you did installs for, it will happen.

I would like to see some type of 'switch' (software/hardware/firmware who cares?) that one could use to disable local INSTEON linking. That's just me though.

k

 

[George West]

ogeneo ,
If you think Z-Wave is confusing and Insteon isn't then this is a first for me. With Z-Wave you walk up, hit the switch, and punch a button on the remote and you are done.
If you are using a HA package like HomeSeer you can then plug in their latest controller to the PC and manage the switch from there.

Not to nit-pick or anything...

Shouldn't it be:

Add the device to the network - Punch a button on the controller, hit the switch

Associate the switch to a button - Punch a button on the controller, hit the switch

The process made sense once I sat down and thought about it and I admit I screwed it up the first time that I tried it.

If you are used to the idea of a controller based network than it makes a certain amount of sense when compared to a peer to peer network like INSTEON. At the same time, if you are used to a peer to peer approach it takes some getting used to.

I agree that using software based configuration tools makes the process a whole lot easier. After you understand how to use the tool that is...

JMHO,

George West

 

[ChrisWalker]

Hi George,

That's one of the fun things about standards used in products made by an array of companies. I can't tell you how maddening it has been to set up some of the Bluetooth devices out there (and remembering which "side" I needed to start the pairing from).

In the end, you need a good standard and then you pick the hardware based on brand, cost, design, etc. I particularly like the Wayne-Dalton Wireless Gateway, and would use it as my Primary remote control. To add a device into a scene, you just hold the scene button (1, 2, or 3) and press the button on the device. If it wasn't in the network, it's added in automatically. Simple.

Then if you want to have your car activate that same scene, simply (for instance, with your new GM vehicle) press the button the Wayne-Dalton Wireless Gateway until the red LED goes off, and then hold down the respective garage door button in your car. The light on the Gateway will flash, telling you that it's good to go. Awesome.

BTW, there are three or four very exciting announcements coming at EHX. Please feel free to contact me offline if you'd like more info...

Chris