So i ran across these Intermatic HA02 appliance/light modules on ebay for about $20 each if you buy in a pack of 6: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intermatic-HA02C-6-Zwave-Appliance-Module-6-PACK-/141164717293?pt=Home_Automation_Modules&hash=item20de12a4ed
They are about half the price of the next cheapest ones made by GE. I noticed they are also listed under the “List of Tested Things” so they are compatible with Smartthings. Any reason not to get these switches over the GE ones at twice the cost?
I don’t have that particular Intermatic z-wave module, but I do have an Intermatic HA05 lamp module and it works just fine with SmartThings.
The Intermatic products run an old version of the z-wave protocol. The two issues I know with this is that they won’t do full power pairing (i.e. over the mesh network) and they don’t support beaming which is required by devices like Z-wave locks. You have to bring them within a few feet of the hub in order to pair them, but then you can move them to where they need to be. You also shouldn’t put them near a Z-wave lock since it may cause communication issues. If these aren’t issues for you, then go ahead and save yourself some money.
Those don’t sound like problems to me, thanks Blake! I will go ahead and place the order, much easier to talk my wife into these than the more expensive ones after all the other stuff z-wave stuff i have ordered recently. Should I run a Z-Wave network repair from the IDE after pairing them close to the hub and moving them far away? Will that make a difference?