Devolo Home Control wireless switch

While I wait for my hub… Just looking at ideas.

We have 11 GU10 downlighters in the living room and while Hue looks too expensive Osram Lightify might not be.

The downlighters are currently in two groups taking up two of the four switches in a tiny dumb switch panel.

I want to be able to provide master dimming separately for the two groups and spotted the Devolo Home Control Wireless Switch

Anyone have any experience of using these with ST?

I like the form factor on this a lot. I’m assuming that it’s battery operated. And it is a certified Zwave device.

SMARTTHINGS DOES NOT SUPPORT ALL “SCENE CONTROLLER” ZWAVE COMMANDS

The problem is that it’s what is called a “scene controller” and it uses a number of Z wave command classes that are not supported by SmartThings. My guess is that it won’t work with SmartThings in the way the manufacturer intends, although you might be able to get basic on/off of one button.

http://products.z-wavealliance.org/products/1143

You could try using a custom device type similar to what some people in the U.S. have done for the Leviton VRCS2 wired two button switch. But no guarantees that it will work, and it may be fussy to set up.

A NICE ZIGBEE ALTERNATIVE, BUT SOLD ONLY IN THE US

If you can get products from the U.S., you could consider this SmartenIT three toggle switch, which I like a lot, and does work well with SmartThings. This is also a battery-operated switch, but it communicates with the hub by zigbee, so the same switch can be used with either the US frequency hub or the European frequency hub as zigbee is the same for both.

It works by sending a request to the hub which then sends the request to whatever and device you’re trying to control, so it does fine with controlling either zwave or zigbee devices in a SmartThings setup. But they don’t have a European distributor, and I know that can be a problem. (“SmartenIT” in Europe is a completely different organization which does not manufacture devices.)

So at least something of a similar form can be used with SmartThings, although you may have to keep looking to find one that is sold in Europe.

FUTURE POSSIBILITIES

I also have hopes that the new Phillips zigbee wall switch, part of the “dimmer kit”, Will eventually be able to be used with SmartThings in a fashion similar to the SmartenIt 3 toggle switch. But the Phillips device was just released this month, and is not yet available in the US, and we may just have to wait a few months to see whether that will work or not.

TRY AND SEE?

As long as you buy the Devolo from a place with a good return policy, you could always try and see if it works. But if it doesn’t work right away, I suspect the issue will be the zwave scene controller commands, and that’s not always something that can be resolved.

ONE MORE NOTE ABOUT BATTERY-OPERATED SWITCHES

This will be obvious to a lot of people, but to those new to home automation it may not be, so I’m just going to go ahead and mention it.

This type of battery-operated switch can communicate directly with the SmartThings hub. And the hub can communicate directly with smart bulbs, so it’s easy to imagine a scenario where you push a button on the switch and the light goes on.

What the battery-operated switches do not do is control the current on the line to a wired fitting/fixture. So they can’t give you control over a ceiling lamp with dumb bulbs in it.

So you can’t just buy a battery-operated switch, put it on the wall, and expected to control existing ceiling lamps.

Again, that’s probably obvious to most people reading the forum, but I just wanted to mention it for new people. Some people are looking for battery-operated switches so they don’t have to touch the existing wiring, which is fine, but then the controlled lights have to either be smart bulbs or be lamps that are plugged into smart wall plugs.

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Wow… Just wow… Thank you for the comprehensive answer…

I’ve managed to download the install manual for the Devolo from the z-wave alliance file server http://goo.gl/cLHRoM

And apparently it works both as a scene controller and also as a on/off/dim switch…

Though that’s with a pile of config options so… Guessing that will only complicate things

Getting stuff from the states isn’t difficult just expensive (if its more than £15 then there’s import duty + a £9 “administration fee” from the Post Office (nice now private import monopoly))

So I might just have a bash with the Devolo seems it’s available from Amazon in Germany (though not UK) and not overly pricey

OK, I looked at the manual.

It’s a very cool device, and I like that it does double-click, but I don’t think it’s going to work with SmartThings at all.

You could probably set it up for direct association so that pressing a button on this device would cause some other Z wave devices in the same room to go on or off. But you won’t be able to control any zigbee devices or devices more than one hop away or change modes or run routines. and SmartThings will not know what the switch did, so the status in your mobile app will be out of sync with what is actually happening in your home.

Again, no problem in getting one and trying it as long as you get it from a place with a good return policy. But I think you’re going to run into the same stuff that the people who tried the Leviton multibutton controllers ran into. SmartThings just does not support the Z-wave command classes that this device requires.

But I’d be delighted to be wrong on this so if anyone has a different experience, let us know. :sunglasses:

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Well I thought what the hell while in Saturn in Stuttgart on Tuesday and bought one.

Still waiting on my trial ST Hub though fingers crossed any day now… and Ill have a go at connecting it.

The switch seems really well made, it comes with a choice of two covers … one is two separate switches and one is a single big switch that covers all the contacts at once.

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Well hub is now here and installed… Got the starter kit and been playing with a floor lamp plugged to the outlet and using the Bright when dark smartapp on sunrise sunset and motion to control it, oh and using mood cube with the smart sense multi…with mixed results… So time to start playing with the Devolo this weekend…just got to work out where to start.

Simon,
any news on this?
Thanks!

Hi Tobiaz…

In a word No… Still on my to do list.

I did find this thread

And with @JDRoberts help on it worked out that someone has created a device type, that might (fingers, toes and other things crossed) just with with it…

However didn’t work for me first time out and to be honest been focusing on playing with Osram bulbs ever since especially now I can use @625alex 's Smart Tiles on a room tablet

It is still on my list to play with just further down the list now.

In case it helps you:

I don’t have any experience with the Devolo controller, but do with both the Z-wave.me and Popp versions. They all look very very similair.

The Popp and Z-wave.me versions are almost completely identical except that the Popp version uses a newer firmware and as a slightly modified back plate so that it is compatible with a different set of switch covers and rockers. However I have been able to fit both versions into both versions of the cover and rockers so the difference is very slight.

In terms of use with Smartthings:

  • The eureka moment was regarding the configuration - which I now have almost perfect. It now registers pushes, holds, hold start & hold end. The last piece of the puzzle is double clicks - which the device can report differently, but so far I’ve had no luck picking up on ST.
  • If you use my device type with the Z-wave.me or Popp versions it will definitely work for button pushes at the moment.
  • They key is to successfully include the device with ST, add my device type, then put it back into inclusion mode and hit the configure button, wait 30sec then you should be good.
  • I’m currently writing an accompanying smartapp so that you can take advantage of holding down the rocker switches and have dim up or dim down events or roller shutter up or roller shutter down events - as you would expect to be able to to do when you hold down a rocker switch. I’ll do a proper release to the community when it is all finished.

In terms of making these look glorious on your wall:

  • I found this German site: http://schalterversand.de/
  • They sell all the cover plates and rocker switches that are compatible. I currently have glass cover plates with chrome buttons - it looks super modern and much nicer then any other solution I have seen on ST
  • Make sure that you only buy from their “radio transmitter” section because otherwise the buttons will not be compatible.

So finally had some time to play and yes can confirm that @AdamV’s code does definitely work with this… So thank you Adam really appreciate your work :smile:

Wireless Wall Switch (ZME_WALLC-S) to control Smartthings devices and routines

Couple of strange things and a question to @AdamV

Firstly it was a bitch to connect, not I hasten to add because of the device type, but because ST took about four attempts (with factory resets of the switch in between) to actually include the device properly and not for example crash to a fully black screen…

Second even after a new battery, either the range or the wake-up are causing a problem, haven’t managed to nail it down to which but it seems to work perfectly for a few minutes and then not at all for a couple…

Press and hold (start and stop) both with perfectly when it’s working.

Smart lighting recognised it as a set of buttons and allows each of the four to be seperate on & off buttons.

Rule engine strangely sees it as a contact switch (singular).

The question… I saw the config tile but couldn’t get it to do anything or rather didn’t see any difference before and after trying to press it (though it remained grey throughout)

Once again Adam thanks for turning my first ST thing buying mistake back into a small victory… Cheers.

Some answers:

Second even after a new battery, either the range or the wake-up are causing a problem, haven’t managed to nail it down to which but it seems to work perfectly for a few minutes and then not at all for a couple…

There are two potential issues here:

  1. The wall controller has broken. I know that sounds like a daft excuse, but I have 12 of these in my house (as I have completely removed normal switches and am replacing them with these) - and with one of them, after a lot of fiddling it started behaving odd - and I was never able to get it to behave consistently - ended up throwing it away. I’m guessing it isn’t designed for constant inclusion /exclusion /configuration.
  2. You have not configured it correctly. In default configuration, after a factory reset and after inclusion the controller will start behaving weird if you do a hold event. To get around this - you must configure it correctly. The configuration in the device handler is the correct configuration - however to get the controller to accept the configuration is tricky:

*- assuming at this point you have already included the device and added the device handler

    • put the controller back into inclusion mode
    • press the configure button in the device
    • the controller’s LED should start flashing red/greed madly for 20 sec or so
    • once it stops wait 30 sec and then go to live logging - ensure that it logs the controls correctly

Smart lighting recognised it as a set of buttons and allows each of the four to be seperate on & off buttons.

Rule engine strangely sees it as a contact switch (singular).

Yes I haven’t set this up very well because I’m working on my own dedicated smart app for this. You can also use Smartthings Button controller app. However none of these correctly will allow you to have dim up or down based on holding the switch - so I’m making this at the moment. I’ll post it back here when it is finished.

The question… I saw the config tile but couldn’t get it to do anything or rather didn’t see any difference before and after trying to press it (though it remained grey throughout)

Try again! push a few times! makes sure wall switch is in inclusion mode

@AdamV so if the switch is in inclusion mode… I.e. all four buttons for ten seconds and then button 1 the configuration button should be click able? I.e. not grey?

Do you mean white?

Its always clickable - nothing you do can stop it from being clicked!

however if the device is not in inclusion mode then it wont be listening so you can click all you like, but nothing will happen!

Ahhh… Thought I had got it in invitation more but will have another go tomorrow… When it works is logs perfectly. But will try again

Here is the full kit for this:

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Found this - just in case others are searching for a guide to setup a Dovolo Wall switch:

Installation Guidelines
On factory default state pushing any button for one seconds starts inclusion (red/green LED blinking fast). This behavior can be used to test the factory default or exclusion state.
The device can be mounted on every dry and flat surface using either screws or double side adhesive. First the mounting base is fixed on the wall. Next step the switch frame is placed on the 2 frame and the electronic insert is used to fix the frame to the mounting base as shown on the image. Finally the switching paddle(s) are mounted on the electronic base.
For battery change, the switching paddle(s) need to be removed. The CR battery can be replaced by pushing the little nipple above the battery. The old battery will slide out and the new battery is inserted until the nipple will hold it again.

The device can be operated in two different modes:

  1. Operation Mode: This is the mode where the device is controlling other Z-Wave devices or is activating scenes.

  2. Management Mode: The device is turned into the management mode by pushing all four buttons for 5 sec. A blinking green LED indicates the management mode. In the management mode the buttons of the device have different functions. If no further action is performed, the device will turn back to the normal mode after 10 sec. Any management action terminates the management mode as well.

In management mode the following actions can be performed:

  • Button 1 - Re-Inclusion/Exclusion: Every re-inclusion or exclusion attempt is confirmed by hitting this button. Any button press stops the mode as well.
  • Button 2 - Send Node Information Frame and Wake up Notification. (see explanation below)
  • Button 3 - Factory Default Reset. After clicking on button 3 keep button 4 pushed for > 4 seconds
  • Button 4 - Enter into Association mode to assign target devices to one of the four association.

Refer to the manuals section about association for more information how to set and unset association groups.

Factory Reset
The device can be set back to factory defaults without performing an exclusion process. Please executes the following steps: (1) Turn the device into Management Mode, (2) click on Button 3, (3) keep button 4 pushed for 4 seconds. This procedure is only to be used when the primary controller is lost or otherwise inoperable.

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