Spouse has approved lighting project... any suggestions?

[JDRoberts]

GE switches are popular because the brand name is famous and they are inexpensive. They are a “good enough” choice for many people. They are not the best engineered switches, and in particular, they seem to have a fairly high failure rate, maybe 15%, around six months to a year after the end of the warranty period. They are not technically defective, because they’re out of warranty. And many people are fine with just replacing the 10% or so that go bad feeling that they still saved considerable money on the overall project. But it is just something to be aware of.

This has nothing to do with SmartThings, you will find the same discussion on other forums.

GE Switch Failures

I’ve had two out of three GE12722 Z-Wave switches fail on me. By fail, I mean that their z-wave functionality just dies. They don’t respond to commands, don’t respond to z-wave network repairs, won’t uninstall – just dead to the z-wave world. Seems like a high failure rate. Anyone else seen this?

There’s a discussion of individual features for switches in the following thread that might be of interest:

Bulbs, switches and sensors, oh my....what to buy (device class features FAQ)

I would love to hear your opinion on wall switches as I’m looking at adding some basic light switches and fan control switches in my house. There are so many different issues on zwave switches that people may not be aware of. Things like association groups, physical traveler wires, instant status, LED options, Minimum dim levels, ramp rate, A couple of network issues… And then there’s the whole issue of multi end point switches. And zwave plus switches (any brand) will have a significantly longer-range then older zwave switches of any brand. Usual rule of thumb inside a typical U.S. House would be a maximum of 40 feet for the older zwave and around 60 feet for zwave plus. Also, if the switch will be the mains-powered device closest to a Z wave door lock, it’s good if it supports “…