Battery-Operated Zigbee or Zwave Relay

(Tim) #1

Hi,

I would like to build a battery-operated Zigbee or Zwave relay (just on and off, nothing fancy). Has anybody experience with it? I couldn’t find a single off-the-shelf product, but I do not want to use an arduino because of the power consumption (it should run for at least 3-6 month on 2-4 AA/AAA)

Thanks,

Tim

(David Creed) #2

Hi Tim,

Check these posts out:

Cheers,
David

(John Rucker) #3

When you say build do you mean construct a circuit and communicate with SmartThings? If so here is an example of how to do it with an xBee and a Propeller. I have several devices based on this hardware and the end devices can run months if not over a year on 3 AA batteries. http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/157233-Propeller-to-SmartThings-(communicating-with-the-ZigBee-HA-public-profile)

The example in the link above is for a ZigBee router device (always on). To get long battery life you will need to convert it to an end device that puts the propeller a sleep and only wakes it when data has been received. The ZigBee spec has this all very well defined.

Please take note this is not a kit or an Arduino (code and go) solution it is a blog post that discuss the parts required and circuit to turn a LED on and off. You could easily modify the circuit and add a relay.

(Tim) #4

Thanks JohnR, that was exactly what I was looking for.

-Tim

(Ash Raj) #5

Check out Cooper’s Anyplace Switch: http://www.cooperindustries.com/content/public/en/wiring_devices/products/lighting_controls/aspire_rf_wireless/anyplace.html

(Tim) #6

That does not help me. The main goal I have is to replace a wall switch, that does not have a neutral, and where I can not send a current through the wire without activating the device on the switch (for simplicity think a LED lamp).

I also found this tutorial, which seems very useful to me: http://examples.digi.com/lights-motors-more/802-15-4-digital-output-with-an-led/

This together with a solid state relay should do the trick.

Thanks!

#7

Why isn’t the relay drawing power from the wire instead of batteries? The aeotec microswitches are often used for this. And they’ll pass a home inspection in most places, which DIY may not.

#8

Without a neutral wire, the z-wave switch does not have power when turned off, so it goes offline.
Fibaro dimmers are a working solution since they don’t require a neutral wire.

I found a helpful article about it here:

I am also looking for a solution to control my roller shutters that don’t have a neutral, so a battery powered switch could do the trick, but I can’t seem to find anything online. Any help would be appreciated.