Looks interesting. Especially if they don’t make them too deep to fit in shallow back boxes.
Inovelli project Europa
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Interesting, but it’s in the very very early concept stages. They’re thinking about either Zigbee or matter over thread, but they don’t even have a design yet. So my guess is these are two years away from market. (The EU market is typically a slower approval process than the US.)
It’s also clear that at least the founder who is doing the posting doesn’t know anything yet about EU wiring (not even standard terminology) or safety codes.
They also appear to be unaware that the name they’re talking about, Europa, is already in use in the EU by a major switch company, Kopp.
I’m not saying they won’t get there, but this is really early days for this project.
240 V probably wasn’t a good start. That’s more of a UK thing, and even then the younger generation may quote 230 V.
It sounds like his eyes are wide open though.
The depth of back boxes is a frequent problem but the most infuriating designs we have in the UK are for smart plugs. For example:
- Having the bulk of the plug extending vertically down is not a good idea as historically wall sockets were mounted low on the skirting. You might get away with it unless you stick a reset pin hole on the bottom (IKEA). Marketing your product with a photo of it the wrong way up changes nothing (IKEA).
- Having an LED (IKEA) or a button/LED (Sonoff) vertically below the socket is dumb because that’s where the cable is when you plug something in to it. You can’t see the LED or operate the button.
- Our multiple sockets are side by side. Sticking the button on the side may make it inaccessible unless it is plugged in on an end (eweLink, current Innr models). If you really must have the button on the side, have one on both sides as it doubles your chances. The top surface is probably the best place as they have to contend with wall warts.
- Favour height or depth over width (just about everyone). Our wall sockets are quite roomy but multiple gang extension leads aren’t.
- Put a standard replaceable fuse in please. We like fuses, even if we haven’t had to replace one in tonks
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Perhaps exciting… but I wouldn’t hold your breath for a quick turnaround on these. I have been waiting for the promised matte white paddles for the US version for the past 5 years or so. Love my switches, hate the glossy white!
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Hey guys, thanks for posting this! Definitely in the exploratory phase and yes, I’m still learning, so thanks for not beating me up too hard.
I think the overall sentiment here with these switches is more of one where I didn’t really have any interest in the EU market as we already keep selling out in North America, but I get asked via DM, email, tickets, etc a few times per week if we can make something for the EU market.
This was the final straw that kicked things off: Reddit - Dive into anything
Then I rallied the troops to see if it was really something worth pursuing and it turns out it is: Reddit - Dive into anything
I’ve made it clear too that we do not have the capital to create this but I’m willing to do a Kickstarter or some sort of crowdfunding to bring this to life. I am excited to bring these switches over there and I’m looking forward to the journey of learning something new.
Our strategy has always been community focused smart home products where we build these with the community from start to finish.
Guilty.
Luckily we just landed a contract with an EU manufacturer/former major European smart home company founder that I’ve known for a few years to help us navigate this. This will help me not look so dumb 
Good to know, but this is just a project name - not trying to trademark it or anything. All of our projects have codenames associated with them. This was the best I could come up with.
Origin of the name choice:
I chose the name Europa because it’s said that Europe was named after the Greek princess, Europa. I’m not sure if this is true or not, but it sounded cool. In addition, ever since I was a kid, I’ve had this fascination with Jupiter (the planet) and Europa is one of its moons.
How does this all relate to this project? Simple. We’re developing a switch (and hopefully entire line) for our friends in Europe and to be able to create something for what seems like a far away (like Jupiter is to Earth) is a welcomed challenge.
Hope that’s not too corny 
Dang, I never thought this would get held against me. I can send you some sand paper if you’d like?
Kidding, I actually completely forgot about matte white being a request. At the time you asked it was difficult for us to achieve as we only had one switch per paddle, so the costs to make an additional color were too much. If you also remember correctly, we had manufacturer problems where it took like 1-2 years just to come out with light almond.
Now we’re in a different spot in that we have 6 switches that share the same paddle, so I can take a look at this more.
Give me a week or so to get a quote back and feel free to bug me, I just forget sometimes if there’s no squeaky wheel.
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Well, I am certainly bitter about it: Pre-order Inovelli White Series (Thread/Matter) Smart 2-1 Switch $40
… and reminding you all via forum posts like this hopefully helps grease the squeaky wheel… and certainly helps me feel like I am doing my part to bring matte white paddles to fruition. 
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Just sent over a request:
Sorry for the blurring and scribbling, that was an internal comment that I couldn’t share.
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Remember, I believe most everyone around the interweb prefer a matte white that matches the prominent matte white Legrand switches, so that may be a good go-by.
Oh, and I should mention here… aside from my one concern about the missing matte white paddles, the support and the switches are the best I have ever used/had! I really really love them!
I will try to stop hijacking this topic now. 
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Eric, although I don’t (presently) have any Inovelli devices in my homes, I appreciate your thoughtful response. Your product line appears to me to get pretty good reviews and is certainly in the running for future device choices. Thank you!
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Ok let me grab one of those. Hopefully it’s the same as Lutron bc that’s what we base our other switches off of 
Thanks dude 
- I feel bad about the matte thing. I just honestly forgot. Hopefully it won’t be too hard to pull off.
Thanks! Happy to have you over in our community too - we build all our products together from start to finish, so any and all input is always appreciated!
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It’s not.
Lutron comes from a different design school of thought, which said “modern“ (meaning, smart) should be glossy so that they will stand out because people will want to call attention to this cool technology.
It’s also why they offer their switches in black, same concept: they think people will want their guests to say “what is that?“ Or at least to make an architectural digest type design statement with their switches.
Traditionally, dumb switches in the US were satin white (which is a little in between glossy and Matte) So that they would not Call attention to themselves, but would still be easy to find in a dark room.
Leviton switches are in this satin range because their goal was for their smart switches to match their existing dumb switches.
Legrand takes yet a different approach, working through professional decorators and design stores, and offers many different whites, from mirror gloss to full matte.
It’s hard to see the difference just in photographs because in person you will see the high reflective gloss on the Lutron Caseta type tones, which will not be present on the Leviton. You can see the difference in both white and black color ranges. (Lutron does offer some satin tones in some models, but not their basic Caseta DIY line. I’m not sure if the new “diva” line is gloss or satin.)
If you live near a Home Depot, you should be able to see the difference in person as they carry both Lutron and Leviton brands.
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@JKnight – this is going to be tougher than I thought because I just got the quote back and they need to open up new tooling since matte obviously has a different finish on the paddle.
Tooling costs = $6,900
Minimum Order Qty = 3k units
My break-even is close to 1.8k units. Doesn’t sound like much, but to put it in perspective, our best color paddle, light almond, sold 600 units in the last 52 weeks. So, it would take me close to 3 years to break even on this and that’s assuming people prefer matte to glossy and it sells as much as light almond.
I’ll try to shop around a bit, but I wanted to at least let you know what I’m up against.
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