Building new house, which zwave switch to use?

I’m building a new house, and soon the electrician will be coming back and installing all the light switches. I’ll have dimmers, 3 ways, and just the regular one switch one light setup.
Currently I have two of the Leviton Zwave switches in my current house. They have been working great for 6 months. I see GE has a Zwave switch too, and is cheaper. Which one has a better track record? I’m going to be buying at least 20 of these things.

This is like asking what car brand is best. Everybody will have different opinions. I’ve personally used GE and Zooz with success.

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Agreed. I like the Jasco/GE/Honeywell but that’s only because that’s what I used (28 of them) and they worked well for me. I have nothing to compare to from personal experience.

Whatever you do, you probably want to be consistent throughout the house so all your switches work similarly. Be consistent with paddle/toggle and color as well.

Do you want scene control too? Look at Inovelli.

You might want to check with @TheSmartestHouse about a bulk discount on the Zooz Z-Wave Plus…

I personally went with the GE and I really like the GE Z-Wave Plus because with each switch/dimmer, you get 2 additional buttons. Double Tap Up and Double Tap Down that you can assign to whatever rule you like.

But it really is a matter of taste.

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Congratulations on the new house, that’s always exciting! :sunglasses:

See the light switches discussion in the device class features FAQ. The conversation in light switches starts around post 40.

The short answer is that on a good/better/best Scale the GE devices are at the high-end of the good category and the Leviton devices are at the high-end of the better category. But good is good enough for many people, and the GE devices are very popular. :sunglasses:

I also like the lutron caseta line of switches paired with a GE fan switch if you need an independant fan. That’s what I’m using in my home. Although the lutron switches need a seperate hub, they integrate into ST very well.

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Is there a GE switch model that specifically provides this capability, or is this something that you get with their standard Z-Wave Plus switches with a custom DTH?

Do you know if there are any that match inovelli toggles? I’ve decided on them, but they’re out of stock until who knows when.

Oh, I think you’ll be close enough to assume “white” is “white” and “light almond” is “light almond”, although there will be a slight variation between manufacturers. I have a 3-gang with two GE smart switch and one Leviton dumb switch that are all light almond, but there is a difference but only if you are looking for it closely.

I just meant that your choice of smart switch should include considering what colors they have with respect to other (dumb) switches in the house.

I can’t say enough good things about the Homeseer switches. The new 200 series gives you up plenty of control with up to 5 taps up and 5 taps down (the 100 series lets you do 3 up or 3 down). Plus the lights on the side of the dimmers can be used as status lights.


They are a little bit more, but they’re well worth it!

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I just watched the video and wow! Yeah these offer a lot. Going to pick up a couple for my Man Cave. Gotta a lot of stuff going on in there! :rofl:

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Im in the UK and don’t like the massive switches you have over there across the pond. Aesthetically they are horrible so I prefer to have the intelligent device then have my switches connected too them i.e the fibaro dimmer 2 with push to make or center off retractable switches.
Alternatively if you have a smart lamp I use the fibaro universal binary input to do the same although that requires you to wire 9-24v down to where they are installed. But in doing that I also utilise the temp sensor that you can connect too them and leave it behind the switch to monitor the temperature of the room. :slight_smile:

Can’t go wrong with GE Z-Wave Plus, I have about 27 of them and never an issue.