Hey good to all … looking for a reliable heavy duty smart switch that can use to automate my 220 v water heater which can also be intergrated to my smartthings hub. I purchased a dewenwils heavy duty smart pool timer switch which came defective and gave a lot of trouble to connect to the app which still haven’t worked. Looking for advise on a reliable brand and device . Much appreciated
What country are you in? The device selection does vary…
Jasco used to make a zwave model sold under multiple brand names, including GE and Enbrighten, but it is out of stock everywhere right now, so they may be getting ready to come out with a new model, they haven’t said for sure.
So, without that, you’re pretty much left with the Aeotec heavy duty zwave relay. It can handle up to 40 A at 220 V.
https://www.amazon.com/Aeotec-Security-controller-electricity-consumption/dp/B00MBIRF5W/
Z wave is on different frequencies in different countries, so make sure you get the frequency that matches your hub exactly or it won’t work.
The one sold at amazon. com is on the North American frequency. Try vesternet if you are in the UK or EU.
Hey Robert i appreciate the feedback…i’m from the caribbean. I beileve we fall under latin america . But how can i verify what frequency my device uses to purchase a switch which is compatible?. And what are my other options if i want to connect a switch via wifi without a hub?.
It varies by country: Chile uses a different zwave frequency than Argentina, for example. And the Dominican Republic uses a different zwave frequency than Haiti. It almost always has to do with the frequency that their ambulances use because governments want to be sure that zwave won’t interfere with local first responder communications.
Z-Wave frequencies by country and region
I don’t know of any Wi-Fi devices that can handle that load. Tuya makes some 30A models, but they don’t have any safety certifications, and I personally wouldn’t use them for this use case.
What a lot of people do is get a dumb contactor which is UL listed and can handle the high load and then wire it to a UL listed smart switch like a 15 amp Shelly. That’s pretty easy to do and as long as you follow the manufacturer directions for both devices, it should be safe. And it’s also less expensive. But don’t just get cheap devices from a Chinese marketplace for this. Get quality parts with real certifications.
@Richierich or one of the other electrical experts in the community might have more to add.
Ok Robert thanks man …appreciate the advice. I would look into the dump contactor option and see what can be done. If not i would just use the z wave switch and get a next hub for the installation.
Hey Robert i now came across this pool smart wifi switch . Have any knowledge of this device or manufacturer.
Suraielec Pool Timer, WiFi Smart Pool Pump Timer, 120, 240, 277 VAC, 40 AMP, Outdoor Heavy Duty Metal Casing Pool Control, Wireless Electric Switch Box for Pumps, Water Heater, Spa, Light https://a.co/d/1Rmoao2
That’s essentially the same idea: the relay itself is ETL listed, which is a good safety certification. The Wi-Fi connection is through a Tuya device.
I don’t know if you’ll get more than just on/off via ‘Tuya scenes, but that would probably be sufficient for this kind of use case.
Ok thanks
JD, I hope your right and they are going to make a newer model! This is a rock solid device and the Aeotec quality and wiring method are not good.
@Appointed A few brand new units showed up on Ebay this morning. I’m tempted to buy a few and keep them for future projects.
@buster reported on another thread that Jasco says their model is being discontinued with no expected replacement…
Thanks @JDRoberts for linking the threads.
The challenge we see is that the GE/Jasco handled in rush current really well. We are going to have to spool up 300ft of 8watts per foot heat tape in an ICE bath in the lab and see if the Aeotec can handle going up to 100amps for about 15 seconds. Not sure how much they tested or certified things like resistive loads in that burst on initial power up. We use the Jasco/GE on roofs in Colorado and have spares on shelf for warranty replacement, etc.
@mlchelp per the product manager at Jasco, there are not plans on creating a new product. I can share his contact with you privately if you would like. We had planned on ordering about 500 of these, however that is not enough to do a production run.
That’s a shame, such a good product, especially compared to the Aeotec. These have been popping up on Ebay recently and I have purchased a few more. The build quality between the Jasco and the Aeotec is night and day.
Hearing rumors the Aeotec is either discontinued or having supply chain issues on HeavyDuty SmartSwitch Gen5. Need to order about 50 of them. Anyone else hear, see or know anything?
Aeotec has their own online store. Have you tried them? That should at least tell you if it’s being discontinued. In which case you’d have to try to find somebody with stock on hand.
If you want to consider alternatives, there are a couple of brands I’m not going to mention because they don’t have any real safety certifications, and that would concern me for something in this device class.
But as far as ones that do have a good safety certification, SmartenIt has a 30 amp Zigbee load controller that used to work with SmartThings, but I don’t know if it does now. ETL listed. That might be worth researching.
Otherwise, I think quite a few people have shifted to using a contactor setup where a dumb contactor is used to control the load and a smart relay is then used to control the contactor at lower voltage