What's the big difference between the Z-wave light switch/dimmer with and without Leviton Vizia RF+?

[sing5duck]

New to HA and did some comparison between each technology. It's time for me to decide whether I should go the Insteon route; or, Z-wave route. The reason I don't mention UPB is the price tag.

Say, if I am going to pick Z-wave; I notice that there are 2 different types of switch/dimmer. One with the Leviton Vizia RF+ and the other is just a Zwave switch/dimmer. The price difference is about $40/switch!

My question is what's the difference between the 2 and what do people normally use? What is the benefit to have Leviton Vizia RF+? Thanks in advance!

 

[guessed]

Someone recently posted a comparison matrix link (from HomeSeer) that gives a fairly good overview.

I'd put it here, but my [newbie] account is restricted for the moment, but it's fairly easy to find on their site.

I bought Leviton for the long warranty, and for the "Instant Status" ("HAIL") feature. I have (roughly) 30-40 Z-Wave Switches, Dimmers, Wall Warts and Scene controllers around the house and they all work very reliably in my setup, and have a good feel (although the Paddle style takes a while to get used to).

My Z-Wave gear ranges in age, with the oldest Leviton gear running nearly 3yrs old.

 

[hobbes487]

The main difference between the Vizia RF+ and most other switches available is exactly the reason guessed mentioned. They report their status back to the controller when toggled manually. With other z-wave devices the HA system will have to poll each device to check for changes. There may be other differences, but as far as I know that is the main one.

 

[tmbrown97]

The reason I don't mention UPB is the price tag.

Fair enough - and honestly Z-Wave has really come a long way in the last 3 years since I started playing with lighting - but if you had any interest in UPB, the Simply Automated switches are pretty affordable and incredibly reliable and simple to set up and use.

 

[pete_c]

I utilize both. For a while stayed away from zwave because it was wireless. Today using upb for in wall switches and zwave for external modules.

 

[batwater]

Fair enough - and honestly Z-Wave has really come a long way in the last 3 years since I started playing with lighting - but if you had any interest in UPB, the Simply Automated switches are pretty affordable and incredibly reliable and simple to set up and use.

I just installed my 1st 5 SA UPB devices this past weekend. Love it so far! I'm also installing ZWave in locatins where I do not have a neutral wire. I just received the Leviton RZC0P v3 controller (and USB stick). Went with the Leviton because was the most current, is now firmware upgradable, and had a good warranty.

As I kill X10 in my home I have X10 and UPB interoperating by using CQC in the middle. Will do the same thing with the ZWave switches.

Here is the link to the message with the URL to the comparison

-Ben

 

[ddennerline]

I personally feel the other major difference for Vizia+ is in the quality of construction and ability to change faceplate colors. My kitchen switches take quite a beating and have been installed for over 1.5 years.

My only major complaint is why did Leviton put the led indicator on the bottom (nearly impossible to see). Second, dimming takes some patience when making large adjustments. I am not a big fan the rocker dimming. It would have been better to use a sliding switch IMHO.

I have grown to love the paddle action; it's nice to blindly control the switch without having to roll fingers around.

Part of the higher price I suspect is royalty fee that mustbe paid to Lutron for every switch sold (http://www.cepro.com..._lighting_cont/).

 

[Dean Roddey]

There are other Z-Wave modules that use the Group Association feature to report status asynchronously. It's not just the Leviton ones that do that. This feature was added at some point a couple years back I guess it was? So anything before it was provided won't have this feature but lots of newer modules do. I have a pretty old Intermatic motion sensor that supports it.