HomeSeer HS-WD100+ and more (Simple DTH in post 27, advanced feature DTH in post 32)

Devices & Integrations
#242

I am wondering, if I only want the physical double and triple tap in certain locations in my house do I only require the homeseer switches where I want this functionality??

Can I use ge or some other less expensive switchs for in the other areas?? Can the homeseer switch include other brands of switches in their double and triple tap groupings?

Example: can I have a switch at the front door that if I triple tap it turns off all the z-Wave switches, plugs, etc? Or do I need to have homeseer only switches if I want them included in the central scene groupings???
Thanks, love this forum and plan on buying new Nvidia shield once smartthings are available.

#243

When you double tap a specific homeseer switch, it sends a central scene command to the SmartThings hub, and that then gets processed by a smart app which tells the hub to send the appropriate messages to whatever devices are in the group. This is one of the advantages of using SmartThings. The other devices could be any other Z wave device, it could be a zigbee device, it could be a Wi-Fi device. As long as SmartThings can talk to it, it can be in the group. So in that sense, the other devices can be pretty much anything you want which has a radio to talk to SmartThings and can receive a command.

That does leave out some things. The GE auxiliary switches, for example, donā€™t have a radio at all ā€“ ā€“ they are designed only to work with a GE master switch and communicate by physical traveler wires to that master.

But other master switches of any protocol that are controllable by smart things could be included in the group. :sunglasses:

#244

So, other the the different look, there is no real flawed logic in this approach? Seems that most people put the GE as the runner-up in most comparisons. JD what other zwave switch would you suggest to pair with these homeseerā€™s if not the GE? I am planning on waiting for the new GE Z-wave plus 14294 to become available before doing the mass buy for the house but the GE z-wave plus 14291 just started being available now so will prob start watching for sales. Thanks for the info JD, I am looking forward to joining the smartthings family soon!

I was looking at the Lutron Castea line as I know they are built very well, but the bridge and technology seems flawed for a 2 storey as my understanding is the switches are not repeaters and you are supposed to be within 30-40 feet of a bridge? I was excited to see the smartthings compatibility kinda announced at CES but this non active repeater seems like it would be doomed to fail. Unless I am not understanding the tech properly?

#245

Lutron Caseta now allows one of their plug in pocket sockets ( but so far only one per Lutron smart bridge) to be used as a repeater to extend the range of their Devices. Thatā€™s new as of December 2016. I really like the Lutron Caseta line and use them in my own house, but thereā€™s no smartthings integration yet. One was announced at CES 2017 this month, but it will be a cloud to cloud integration and a lot of people donā€™t want to have to buy the second bridge.

As far as which other zwave switches to use, the GE are a very popular value Switch. Different brands have different features, so it just depends on what features you want.

Z wave light switch discussion starts around post 40 in the following thread. :sunglasses:

#246

After testing, and now running my Dragon Tech switches with the firmware mentioned earlier in this thread, I can tell you that everything works just fine.

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#247

Has anyone been able to get their hands on these Dragon Tech version of these dimmers? Since before Christmas they have not been in anyoneā€™s stock and one site even told me they donā€™t expect a shipment until March 2017. Any one else finding these? If so, where?

Thanks, -Darren

#248

I am testing a couple of the Homeseer Z-Wave Plus dimmers and comparing them to the GE Z-Wave dimmers. I like the Homeseers, however, I am trying to turn off the indicator lights and donā€™t appear to be able to using either of the common device managers to do this (one by darwinsden and another by erocm123), even though they have buttons that are supposed to be used for this purpose. Do those functions actually work in the device managers? I havenā€™t seen anyone comment either way. Did I use the appropriate installation method (i.e., controlling the switches through the device manager using the simulator)? Or, is there another way to connect the switches to the device manager?

Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions.

ā€“EJ

#249

FYI for anyone how tries to expose these switches to HomeKit through homebridge-smarthings and JSON Complete API smartapp, this what I experienced:

  • DTH created by @erocm1231 partially works (can control but would not update state). While trying this I can confirm that this DTH works well for both the switch and dimmer, even though it is labeled for the dimmer only.
  • DTH created by @Darwin does not work at all (will not appear in iOS home app even when exposed through JSON smartapp)
#250

Big thanks to everyone here, with a special thanks to @JDRoberts @Darwin for all of your help and insights into dimmers. Iā€™m currently running about a dozen WD100+ dimmers in my home and very happy with them. I am looking to add a few more dimmers and was wondering if anyone has any experience with the new GE Z-wave Plus 14294 dimmers, and knows how these compare to the homeseers?

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#251

The GEs are great dimmers and switches but do not have native double taps and triple tap detection and reporting that HS has. In any other aspect the GE are better from HS because they run locally on the hub. Lighting automations have lower latency, and are not dependent on internet connection. For example if you do lighting automation w/ HS based on motion the light will turn on later than it would with GE. I had to relocate a couple of HS because of that. GE also work better with HomeKit (see my post above).
The switches are very similiar phisically and in opereation - the two diffrences you should be aware is in off state the GE has blue led compared to HS which is white, and the HS has led dimmer intensity indication on the switch which GE doesnā€™t

#252

As a note, the new GE Z-Wave Plus switches do support double tap natively. Obviously if you choose to use that option, youā€™ll need to use a custom DTH that will not run locally.

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#253

EDIT: Thanks, agree. [incorrect and misleading information - deleted].

#254

The link below shows all of the DTHs that run locally (last I checked). All custom code is cloud based. The only SmartApps that run locally are SHM and Smart Lighting (and they are only truly local if the devicesā€™ DTHs are local as well).

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#255

EDIT - All custom devices do not run locally. I edited this post only to leave whatā€™s true.

You are correct that only Lightning Automation and Home Monitor will run locally, but the Lightning Automation is such powerful smart app (I run most of my automatons using it) making it hardly a limitation.
The two prominent examples in my case are Xiamoi wireless switch (button) and Xiamoi and Ecobee motion sensors all of . I use them to turn lights on and off around the house. A press on a xiaomi switch will turn on (GE switched) light instantly (as fast as using the primary switch), but with homeseer as primary switch there is 1-3 seconds delay. Same experience with motion detection to turn on light - and these are all automations you can run using the Smart Lightning smartapp.

#256

That seems odd to me. Every custom DTH I use does not run locally. Only ones that use the DTHs in the list I supplied do, including my Ecobee devices.

Homeseer have a delay not because of local processing but because of triple tap functionality. The switches wait to see if you will press it multiple times. Also I donā€™t believe they support instant status. ZigBee reporting tends to be faster (thus the Xiaomi).

Iā€™ve also seen odd cases of local processing being slower than cloud processing so delay is not a reliable indicator of cloud vs local processing.

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#257

I stand corrected about local processing forcustom DTH.

The delay issue I have with HS is when controlling the switch programmatically such as triggering it with lightning automation. There is also delay for double tap and triple tap but my gripe is with the basic functionality compared to GE .

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#258

There is a known issue with GE Z-wave Plus switch & dimmer not update correct status

I have tried GE, and stuck with this issue.
Just ordered some HomeSeer and waiting for them arrive to test and compare

#259

Good to know. The non plus ge (12772) are still available on Amazon and work flawlessly. I guess Iā€™ll get few more before they run out. The homeseer will update status on the ST cloud (and ST mobile app) just not on the hub. One annoyance is that if you use iOS homebridge the status will be last status it knew (correct half of the times :slight_smile: )

#260

FWIW have just tested one of my homeseer switches and it no longer update the status in the app (others do). Maybe the zwave repair I did last weekā€¦ Donā€™t knowā€¦ these plus devices seem to have issues. I would stick to non plus devices till ST figure things out.

#261

They do have instant status. You can see some comparative specs here My HS-WD100+ switches have been pretty rock solid for me. Of course that is probably cuz I donā€™t use iOS HomeKit :wink:

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