How the heck can you like this before I even have a chance to proof read it. 
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So it may also have to do with how often the switch get used. We use ours a lot. 
Well it shouldnāt mater if you use it or not the child device is supposed to check in with its parent within the cyclic sleep peirod. Typical sleep periods are in the tens of seconds or shorter. Sleep cycles in the minutes are considered extended sleep cycles. Checking in every 10 seconds may sound like a lot but it really isnāt. When the radio is in sleep mode it is only drawing around 10 micro-amps of power when it wakes up to poll its parent for data it only takes a few micro seconds and may pull a milli-amp or so of power if that. So sleep for 9.9999 seconds and wake for 0.000010 seconds doesnāt use much power and that is how they get multi year usage out of the batteries.
Since we have gone this deep I better point out that a ZigBee Green Power switch does not have to check in with its parent. However, it requires a router that conforms to the ZigBee Green Power spec and that is another story. Green Power switches donāt have batteries or at least batteries you will ever need to change.
But I think in the case of the 3 button battery powered switch using it more helps. I have noticed when mine sits around for a week or two without use it just stopped working all together and I had to reset back to factory to get it back.
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Iām no expert, however I use mine daily and have not had any problems.
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Frequent use, that might be the ticket - itās for my wifeās lamp and sheās not in the habit of using the remote yet. The lamp is supposed to be mostly automatic. Still it should live four days - not worth $50 to me as is.
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Do we still have to go through a crazy 21 step process to add this switch to SmartThings, or did the folks at SmartThings finally get their act together and start adding more supported devices? Seems like they have not been too proactive here, which is really making me regret choosing them as a home automation solution. Based on the state of the app and their product line it seems like they are asleep at the wheel.
Big thanks to @JDRoberts for going through all that hard work to document this process! You sir are a rockstar. Itās just a shame that itās such a hassle to do something so simple that so many people want/need to do. The whole idea of a smart home solution like SmartThings is to make this process easy, intuitive, and flexible, but they donāt seem to be holding up to that promise.
In my case, which seems to be rather common, Iām a renter in an older home with no ground wires on all the switches. Also, Iām using Philips Hue bulbs for many locations so I donāt simply want a switch that cuts the power to the bulb but one the triggers events on the SmartThings hub. With my previous solution (X10) I had battery powered wall switches that looked and worked great. Itās a bit scary to think that a horrible and outdated company like X10 is doing some things better than SmartThings.
I find it pretty shocking that SmartThings is 1: not offering a battery powered wall switch in their product line, 2: not being proactive about supporting any of the battery powered switches that are out there, and 3: not more involved here in the community and taking actions on issues like this that are clearly a major oversight.
I reached out to customer support about this issue, and their response was to direct me to this thread. So they are aware there is demand, they are aware they dropped the ball, but their only solution is to pass the buck on to the user community to roll their own complicated solutions.
Itās also a little frustrating that this switch seems to be the only āgoodā option right now. Iād much rather use something like http://www.amazon.com/GE-45631-Z-Wave-Wireless-Controller/dp/B003OUWABU which is not just a toggle, and much sleeker profile (not 1/2" thick) but the process of getting that switch to work with SmartThings appears to be even more of a nightmare than this switch based on the discussion threads Iāve seen.
I also want to apologize for the negative tone of this postā¦ Iām pretty upset with SmartThings right now, as they seem to be falling apart as a company. Iām in a home with 300mbps internet and the app is super slow (their servers and CDN appear to need more resources), occasionally the app does not even respond. The geofencing occasionally does not detect arrivals and departures. The app is badly needing updates. One of the products I ordered from them (motion detector) does not function (hardware issue), and getting support to resolve that issue has been an uphill battle. And this whole switch issue is the infuriating icing on the frustration cake. When I first saw the product line when they launched I had such high hopes, but at every turn the seem to be letting me down.
THANK YOU SOO MUCH!!! Followed the instructions and got it set up. Works great. Gonna buy more for my house. Took me about half 20 minutes to setup following these instructions (make sure you read them carefully especially about what you do on the web vs what you do on your phone) but everything works great and I am so freakin happy!!!
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Hereās what the light switch looks like after its all setup. Bought two of these and both my wife and I have been very happy with how easy it is to use.
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Any chance of tweaking the code to trigger a Routine or an IFTTT action?
Iām not sure I understand your question. This is a button controller device type, it can already be used for routines or IFTTT recipes (via a virtual switch).
Just have the toggle (button press) turn on a virtual switch, then have the virtual switch tied to a routine, or use that switch as the āifā in an IFTTT recipe.
If you donāt know how to create a virtual switch, see the following FAQ.
If you donāt know how to use a virtual switch to start a routine, Alexa Helper is a good smartapp for this. (If it seems too complicated, there are simpler ones in the Marketplace section of the mobile app under lights and switches.)
To assign a specific toggle to the virtual switch, just use Smart Lighting.
Or did I misunderstand the question?
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He asked this in 2 different threads it seems as I just answered this in the other thread.
At least we both gave him the same solution of using a virtual switch!
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Virtual Switch worked beautifully - Thanks! Iāve set button 1 to set Ecobee3 temp higher for one hour.
WifeButton = āJust push this button to turn on the furnace, honeyā¦ā
Now if I could get Ecobee to improve their IFTTT channel to allow odd-numbered temperature settings and temps below 70ā¦
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I just got this switch, and have it added and published. Iām having issues with steps 14-20. i donāt have a button up top that says āMy Device Typesā. What gives?
Itās now called My Device Handlers.
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I got this working thanks for the help.
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Im in the UK but have a US HUB V1 (Naughty me i know - illegal radio frequency etc blah blah blah , but i find the US have much better zwave products than the UK, so its better for me haha)
anyways my point, does anyone know of an online retailer that will ship to the UK for this product as im really struggling to locate them online ?
Isnāt zigbee on 2.4Ghz everywhere? Itās z-wave frequencies that differ by region.
Does anyone know if this device supports Long Press/Held Button?
This device type does not of course however does the device itself have the capability? Is there a different Device Type out there that works for Long Press/Held?
Thanks.
The device itself doesnāt report hold duration, so you canāt get it. Each switch acts as a toggle.
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Thank you so much for such a nice detailed set of installation instructions!
Just wondering whether anyone has successfully set up more than one of these button controller devices. My second one is in the network and recognizes button pushes, but it seems I can only associate one device with Button Controller. In my Smart Apps, the Button Controller has both devices for me to choose from. However, if I choose my second device, then the first one doesnāt work anymore.
Thanks.