I'm doing a major home remodel and I plan on installing a automated lighting system. After doing lots of research on-line, I'm coming down to either a UPB or Z-Wave system. I like Z-Wave because it looks to be better supported with more active development with a wider range of new devices and software. However, a few things give me cause for concern.
My plan for both a main house as well as a guest house call for over 100 nodes including switches, dimmers, wall controllers, HVAC, and switched receptacles. I also want room to grow the system later. First and foremost, I want an "all lights off" button near the entrance which I can press as I leave the house. Without this, any "Green" home claims would be moot.
Unfortunately, The Leviton ViziaRF+ software puts a limit of 31 nodes per "Area" and the Leviton training website specifically warns against an "All off" button among other restrictions, including not controlling a guest house.
My thinking was to use a Mi Casa Verdea Vera controller as the primary controller with perhaps a linked Vera in the guest house to work around these restrictions. If I go the UPB route, I would simply set up a "All Off" link that all of the switchers and dimmers would listen to.
Without having actually worked directly with either of these systems, I'm still somewhat confused about the Z-Wave concept of associations and Scenes. By comparison, UPB "Links" seem much more straight-forward. Is the ViziaRF+ concept of "Areas" inherent to the Z-Wave model or only to the Leviton software?
Does Vera actually work around these mimitations by routing scene requests to Vera rather than sending them directly from the wall controller to the switches? If so, can I still have local control of light switches even if the Vera goes down or is rebooting after a power failure?
Most of all, I want to hear from people who have set up 100+ node systems with either Z-Wave or UPB and get their success/horror stories.
Update: I'm expanding my search to also consider Insteon systems and I would really like to hear from people who have installed well over 50 nodes in one home.
My plan for both a main house as well as a guest house call for over 100 nodes including switches, dimmers, wall controllers, HVAC, and switched receptacles. I also want room to grow the system later. First and foremost, I want an "all lights off" button near the entrance which I can press as I leave the house. Without this, any "Green" home claims would be moot.
Unfortunately, The Leviton ViziaRF+ software puts a limit of 31 nodes per "Area" and the Leviton training website specifically warns against an "All off" button among other restrictions, including not controlling a guest house.
My thinking was to use a Mi Casa Verdea Vera controller as the primary controller with perhaps a linked Vera in the guest house to work around these restrictions. If I go the UPB route, I would simply set up a "All Off" link that all of the switchers and dimmers would listen to.
Without having actually worked directly with either of these systems, I'm still somewhat confused about the Z-Wave concept of associations and Scenes. By comparison, UPB "Links" seem much more straight-forward. Is the ViziaRF+ concept of "Areas" inherent to the Z-Wave model or only to the Leviton software?
Does Vera actually work around these mimitations by routing scene requests to Vera rather than sending them directly from the wall controller to the switches? If so, can I still have local control of light switches even if the Vera goes down or is rebooting after a power failure?
Most of all, I want to hear from people who have set up 100+ node systems with either Z-Wave or UPB and get their success/horror stories.
Update: I'm expanding my search to also consider Insteon systems and I would really like to hear from people who have installed well over 50 nodes in one home.