UPB Install

[tmbrown97]

ano - dunno what you're talking about honestly... using links instead of remotes actually has a lot of drawbacks IMO.  That's my last resort - I use remotes anywhere a 3 or 4 way switch would normally be.
 
I guess your "better alternative" is a matter of opinion and one I absolutely don't share.  I personally feel that the remote switches are a great option and I use a handful of them.  They work as a true extension of the main switch - not a separate switch sending links - you can enable setup mode from them; they don't need their own configuration; status of the main load stays in sync; they're more responsive - it's just a million times better than an unloaded switch sending links.
 
To each his own and I'm glad you're happy - but I tried that route and I didn't like it.

 

[drozwood90]

Work,
 
What drawbacks did you see?  I'm curious if there was something I did not consider when I went that route? 
Personally, I never saw any drawbacks so long as you had power in every box.  Which I did, since we were lucky enough to be switching to UPB at the same time we were building.  So I paid an extra $125 to have 12-3/12-4 run everywhere, instead of 12-2/12-3.  Then, when the electricians were wireing up the place, I had them make all the tie points to the power in the switch box instead of at the light fixture.  Made it SUPER easy to put in UPB.  The only hard switch to do was a 4-way I had.  However, the only hard part was figuring out which switch was the one that fed the lights themselves.  After that, I just replaced all the switches with US2-40's so I could get the blue LEDS.  At the time, there was no 11-40, only the 11-30 (I think?).  Basically it was the one that was cheaper that only had RED/Green Leds.
 
So, mostly for the easy of configuration, and partially over the LED colors I went all US-240 and used links.  I've not had any issues with them and actually find it nice.
 
For instance, I have 3 outside lights (from the builder).  One at the garage, one at the front door, one at the back.
I setup 3 links.
One for all 3 lights
One for Garage and Front Door
One for all outside (which right now is the same as the all 3, but I have plans to add in 5-6 dual flood lamps so we can light up the entire yard at night)
 
had I linked the Garage and Front door, I could not turn them on/off individually.
 
Basically that is why I ask...
 
Thanks!
 
--Dan

 

[tmbrown97]

I think it totally comes down to opinion and it's definitely important for people to have a good understanding of UPB before buying a whole houseful of switches.  I was lucky enough to experiment with it on a small scale at my previous home before buying this place - with something like 80 light switches around the house, I wanted to get it right!
 
My issues with linked 240's over the remotes are:

• Eats up links even for direct control
• Added delay between switch activation and something happening
• blows any chance of accurate Status on a hardware controller like the M1
• Each has to be programmed separately
• I've noticed that every switch I add seems to lower my UPB signal just a tad - so replacing 10 remotes with real UPB devices would likely have an impact
• Cost
• Unable to use different single-tap vs. double-tap functionality

Don't get me wrong - I use the 240's quite a bit - I was quite pleased with how this house was wired considering it was just a straight builder-spec tract home...  Every room in the house has a switch for the ceiling light and for a switched outlet - so in most cases I just wired the outlet to always on and put a scene switch there.  I have a hall closet that's controlled by a 240 but none of the buttons on the 240 actually affect that light - it's a scene switch for other things and I use a contact sensor to have the Elk turn the light on/off!  
 
That said I squeezed a lot of functionality into the 1140's too - kinda like your exterior lights - I use single/double tap a lot.  For my back patio, a single tap turns on the porch light and a double-tap turns on/off the landscape lights.  In my upstairs hall, a double tap on either the 1140 or the slave-connected USR at the other end - will turn off the entire downstairs.
 
Another place I used the 240's - my guest bathroom has two switches by the door as you enter, and 2 switches on the other side of the vanity by the door to the guest bedroom that never gets used... as you entered, the two switches controlled the fan and overhead light - you had to walk all the way in and around to get to the other two switches which controlled the vanity and the overhead light - so I replaced them all and made both banks the same - a double-short rocker for fan and light, and full-height 1140 w/slave for vanity light - essentially none of the switches in the bathroom control what they're actually wired to (I really should diagram that out as an example because it's quite confusing to explain).
 
My main goal was to make it so that the light switches in the house made sense to most people - they look like standard full rockers, and the "spare" locations were used for scene switches which my house guests never use.  I have hidden functionality in several via the hidden double-tap feature which my wife and I use quite often; honestly we almost never use the Scene switches because I didn't finish programming or labeling most of them (it's only been 3 years...).