The evolve does control the primary over zwave, but it does need power. This is why I tie the traveler and AC in together on both the master and acc so there is always power going into both switches at all time
Can all three manufacturers able to do what I am suggesting and work with other 3rd party master switches? Inovelli seem to have more bell and whistle, but need know if it would work. However, I did read about Inovelli seem to have a little more lag time between pressing on the button to when the light actually turn on. Thoughts anyone?
No.
GE add on switches donât have a Z Wave radio and will only work with their own master switches.
Zooz doesnât make auxiliary switches, only master switches. They recommend using a standard mechanical switch as the auxiliary in a three-way. Technically you could use one of their master switches as the auxiliary in a virtual three-way, but Iâm not sure that would work with your wiring set up.
Inovelli doesnât make auxiliary switches either. They recommend using the add-on switches from GE or Homeseer, both of which require a physical traveler wire.
I donât really understand what youâre doing with your wiring, it doesnât sound standard and you wouldnât be able to use it with any smart switch that required the use of the traveler wire. But I would leave further discussion to the electricians know much more about this sort of thing than I do. (I was a network engineer. I know device specifications quite well, but when it comes to the wiring for any given installation, Iâll leave that up to the experts.)
In order to get a set up similar to what you had with the evolve switches you need to find a company which makes an auxiliary switch for a three-way which does have a Z wave radio in it so you can use it in a virtual three-way. That would include Gocontrol, Eaton Cooper, or perhaps an Inovelli or Zooz master switch set up for scene control instead of load control. But most of those would require a neutral for the auxiliary switch.
https://www.gocontrol.com/detail.php?productId=25
One other option that does not require a neutral would be the Qubino module. That does not require a neutral although it might require a bypass if the load is too low. And that could get to be an expensive solution, it wouldnât be my first choice.
So putting everything all together, the switch which would be most like the one that you are used to is the gocontrol accessory switch. But I would have an electrician review your wiring plans before finalizing a selection.
Let me ask you this way, for GE, can I use master for all the mutli-way switches. And just use the Z-wave association to turn on and off the light
The GE is not designed for that option. (Again, GE doesnât make those devices, they have just licensed their brand to Jasco, and they are intended as budget devices. people like them because of their name, but the engineering has historically not been as good as the other brands weâve been discussing.)
The inovelli and the Zooz do each have an option that lets you bypass load control for one of their masters. Although intended for control of smart bulbs, it can also work to make the switch part of a virtual three-way.
And the GoControl is specifically designed for exactly the use case you described: to be the accessory switch in a virtual three-way.
@dwchan69
Partially, were these strictly switches or do you need dimming? Dimming is harder to get good behavior.
Zwave plus switches all have some capability to control other zwave devices using zwave association.
Using these dimmers and zwave association good behavior is hit or miss.
And SmartThings does not make it easy to setup the associations
Many do, but The only zwave plus requirement In the protocol is for association group one, the lifeline group, which would not be used to control other switches. Otherwise itâs up to the manufacturer.
So you still need to check the conformance statement at the official Zwave product site or read the manual to see if the device supports association for other association groups.
The Z wave Tweaker does work with the new V3 app, so although itâs not an official feature, itâs not that hard.
If youâre familiar with the IDE âŠ
Good point, itâs definitely not as easy as some of the other platforms like vera or Homeseer, but, again, itâs not that hard. Basically cut and paste the code into your account.
[OBSOLETE] FAQ: An Overview of Using Custom Code in SmartThings (SmartThings Classic, Groovy Code)
I played around on HomeSeer a little, and used the aeotec stick as a stand alone with my old system, the z-wave tweak on ST by far is the easiest for me so far
Just be aware that you will have to do some manual work to setup the zwave association.
You will have to get the zwave id of the primary switch you want to control.
Then use zwave tweaker to setup the associations.
The latest custom device handlers for Zooz switches have built-in association fields for easier programming if anyone is looking for that type of functionality (so you no longer need to to turn to the tweaker tool).
so you no longer need to to turn to the tweaker too
Can you elaborate? Are you saying I can do the associate right from the physical switch? Or somehow ZooZ branded switch has more option on the ST 3 APP out of the gate?
If you install a dedicated custom device handler, for example as described here for the ZEN27 model, youâll be able to input the node ID for an associated device straight from the deviceâs advanced settings. Itâs a little more intuitive to use than the Z-Wave tweaker (otherwise a great tool!) and less work to do the programming over all.