Folks, I have 150 or so devices in my ST network but so far not a single relay. I’m fortunate to have neutrals everywhere so I’ve replaced most of my switches with Z-Wave GEs.
I have two rooms left where I do not want to change the switches as before I got in to smart home stuff I had already put in place some fancy designer switches and I don’t want to change them. So, I’m looking at relays now to finally ST-enable those rooms.
Room one first is a guest bathroom. I have a 3-gang switch box with switches for sink light, shower light and exhaust fan. I’d like to put in relays (dimmable if possible) for the two lights and maybe a switch relay for the fan. Even with relays, space in the switch box is going to be tight so I’m mulling my options.
Is there a single unit, dual dimmer relay on the market?
I know I can put the relays in the light fixtures so that’s another option. In one of the fixtures that may not be too straight forward as it’s a can light with a retrofit LED trim so I’d have to pull out the wiring behind the can housing.
For those with relay experience can you share some ideas on how you’d approach this please.
First things first: the device options in the US and the UK are different for relays. Since you said GEs, I’m going to assume that you are in the US or Canada.
I have a Qubino relay installed in a double gang behind 2 GE smart switches that controls my hot water circulation pump. I bought it from the @TheSmartestHouse and it’s super small, maybe they can chime in here. I see they have double relays too:
Worse case you could cut out the gang box and install a deeper one. I have had to do that a few times and with a handle hack saw you can cut the nails without messing up the wall at all.
Qubino are definitely your best option in terms of value for functionality/quality. Unfortunately, they don’t offer double dimmers, we haven’t heard of anyone who does but will definitely request that they start making one!
They’re the smallest relays on the market and really solid with plenty of configuration options. We have the double on/off relays in stock as mentioned by @ritchierich below and we’ll have just single dimmers back in a couple of weeks (there was a firmware issue with the inventory we received recently which caused the dimmers to flicker so if you research the product, you can ignore the reviews that mention flickering):
As usual, we don’t recommend using any Z-Wave relays with fans because they take much more power st start-up than what they’re rated for and can damage the electronics, if not right away, then sometime along the way. We know many users still install relays to automate fans but 99% of warranty service we perform for on/off relays is for modules used with either single LED’s under 10Watts or for ceiling/bathroom fans.
