This is not so much a deal as it is an in stock alert…
Amazon currently has the GE 12730 Z-Wave Smart Fan Control in stock. HA World is also selling it with Prime shipping on Amazon.
I ordered two about a month ago when they were out of stock, and they just showed up this week. I’ll be setting them up this weekend and will likely use @johnconstantelo’s device type.
Check the other seller options, I ordered mine from ‘The Smartest Home’ through Amazon for around $50, still free shipping, arrived yesterday and they had quoted it to take at least another few days.
The best price for the GE Z-wave switches is still at Lowes. I bought the 3-way kit there for about $45, and although it said “for iris” it worked. It was a challenge to install, but I eventually got it to work.
Several sellers on eBay are selling the GE Security IS-ZW-TSTAT-100 which is a very basic Radio Thermostat Z-Wave thermostat. I bought one for $20 shipped with the Z-wave module. It connects to ST as “Z-Wave Thermostat” been hooked up for a day, working well. Only catch is that it doesn’t seem to update it’s status very often to the hub. But does react to any changes made from ST.
Make sure to install it with a “C” wire, or it will eat batteries.
There is a lot of painfully inaccurate stuff being written about Amazon’s new launchpad department so let me quickly get that out-of-the-way.
Launchpad is not Amazon’s version of Etsy, or Amazon’s version of Indiegogo.
The start ups involved are not selling their own products direct to consumers. Instead they sell their products to Amazon at a wholesale price, and Amazon sells them at an Amazon-determined retail price in a featured department called launchpad.
So the customer is buying the product from Amazon. Which means Amazon policies on shipping, charges, and returns. Nice!
Amazon will accept preorders on some products. But unlike Indiegogo or kickstarter, you’re not a "backer"of the product, you’re an actual buyer with the usual consumer protections. Again, nice!
Amazon selects which startups will get to participate based on some arrangements they have with specific venture-capital firms, and through individual review. One thing this does mean is that none of these products will be vaporware. They may not all deliver everything they promise, but you won’t be charged until they ship And you’ll be covered by the usual return policies.
And some products are being offered at prices lower than their current in the Gogo price which is why this fits in this topic
One excellent example is the Kuna camera lantern which is been discussed elsewhere on the forms. Current Amazon price for a pre-order with August 15 delivery Is $199, current Indiegogo price is about $30 higher, and the Amazon return policies are better.
Anyway launchpad looks like an interesting and often dealworthy way to buy some new HA products.
Monoprice Z-Wave Smoke Detector is currently available on Amazon.com for $21.26 with free shipping, which is slightly less that buying directly from Monoprice (incl. shipping):
Got some of the monoprice smoke sensor in. Tested it by burning a single incense near it and it detected the little bit of smoke immediately. Not bad for the price. Documentation sux… would be nice to know what command class this thing is really using.
Is there anyway to ask the device for the support command class?
Little Bits back to school sale, 15% off site wide.
I admit it, I’m a sucker for littlebits. Lego-like electronics modules, no soldering required, and an IFTTT channel, what’s not to like?
Yes, there will almost always be a cheaper way to do the same thing but these are fun, and if you have kids, a really great introduction to electronics and mechanical design. Also their project reports are great.
My favorite moment is when the kid sees a module that does something and goes “what can we use that for?” An engineer is born!
The “home” versions of the remotes that don’t have a touch screen have four extra buttons that you can use specifically to toggle home control devices.
I don’t know if there’s any difference between the remotes that do have the touch screen. There’s nothing obvious.