Still Cannot Find Perfect Dimmer Switch

That’s the new one, it has a built-in motion sensor.

The 12 series are the older Z wave classic devices. It was a dimmer, a binary switch, both in rocker and toggle form.

The new 14 series are all using zwave plus. In addition to a dimmer and a binary switch, there is also a new line including the “occupancy” switch model with the built-in motion sensor.

Zwave plus binary 14291
Zwave plus dimmer 14294
Zwave plus motion switch 26931
Zwave plus motion dimmer 26933

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The 26933 is the one I have developed a device handler for. It looks odd, but like @JDRoberts said the reason is it is also a motion sensor. You can set it to occupancy mode, vacancy mode or manual as well.

I just looked over the 14 series switches configuration values here and do not see the default dim setting. It seems only the 26933 has this parameter that I have seen.

Also I picked mine up from newegg.

Sweet! OK ordering this bad boy:

Will just wait until I hear back from you @mlebaugh before pulling the trigger. If you can’t get to it this weekend don’t worry about it, been trying to do this for years so waiting a little longer is no worries :slight_smile:

As always, thanks to the community for helping here!

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Updated the device handler with the last remaining item on the to-do. Not sure why I didn’t do it before, was a simple fix.

https://community.smartthings.com/t/jasco-ge-motion-dimmer-switch-26933-alpha/?source_topic_id=85067
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OK awesome @mlebaugh, I’ve ordered the dimmer and will install with your device handler. After that will look for the local dim capability when I set a rule in CORS.

Just wanted to let everyone know I’ve got this working! Here is a screenshot of my piston in WebCORE that’s controlling the default dim rate. I’m using @mlebaugh’s device handler and it’s perfect. Thanks to all!

Link to dimmer:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA7XF5BM7143

Link to device handler:

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wich dimmer did you use finally?

Sorry I wasn’t more clear! This is the one:

Slight bummer though… they are out of stock. I actually communicated with the company (Jasco) by email today and they said it’s on back order until August 8th, 2017. They apparently do not take pre-orders (I tried :slight_smile: )

Hope this helps! It seems weird that this dimmer is so out of stock and not reviewed by many people… but I ran it through the paces here and I’ve got to say, walking into the bathroom at night and the light automatically turning on with the right dim level is nice!

Great! Thanks!

Just one question, I own the Leviton dimmers, and when I ask Alexa to “turn on bedroom light to 20%” the lights turn on to 20%, should be the same way with a rule?

Hi there! So this thread is specifically covering the use case of setting the default dim level on a scheduled basis. So if your dimmers actually support that, the behavior of Alexa (I believe) should be:

  1. “turn on bedroom light to 20%”

Light turns on to 20%

  1. “turn on bedroom light”

If you don’t call out a %, then the light will just turn on. If your dimmer had the default level changed to a certain brightness, then it will come on at that brightness. Just like if you walked up to the dimmer and tapped it on.

Let me know if that doesn’t make sense!

Hi All – is the Homeseer still the go-to option outside of the GE Dimmers? (https://shop.homeseer.com/products/homeseer-hs-wd100-z-wave-plus-scene-capable-wall-dimmer?variant=24629775366)

I’ve had a GE In-Wall Smart Dimmer Switch since ~fall 2016. It was my first smart swith with a couple OSRAM bulbs. It’s always had a 10 second (or more) delay from On or Off. With my own troubleshooting and working with smartthings support, the only thing we’ve been able to identify is that it takes 10+ seconds after I push the dimmer paddle to SmarlThings Live Logging to even be aware of the action. I’ve used custom device handlers to mess with every setting I can find, but it’s just how that switch behaves (even with everything using local processing).

It may be I just had back luck with my switch and should get another GE with more current firmware … If I didn’t need all the features such as double-tap (though that one I’d probably like) is there are solid smart dimmer recommendation?

This all assumes my current switch’s delay is not normal, but in working with smartthings support they felt like it was odd as well.

Thanks for any insight or suggestions.

So far the best one I’ve used. IF the switch has a good view of the room it’s literally fantastic. If not you may need another motion sensor in the room. I have this in 3 rooms now and will be slowly migrating to them everywhere. The largest benefit I think is local (as in on the switch) processing of motion and turning on the light. It’s almost instant. Plus you are getting a motion sensor included with a dimmer (they have a non dimmer version too). It also has handled dimming any bulb I have put on them so far. I’ve had issues with some of the others dimming some of my LED bulbs. Also you don’t have to use the motion sensor if you don’t want to.

The Jasco is still my favorite as well! @mlebaugh for some reason I’m having trouble disabling the motion sensor. I have these in my bathrooms with the motion sensor on, works great. But I just installed one into the family room and I don’t want the motion sensor on. Here are my settings:

I did just notice a slight difference in your device handler code on Github vs what I had installed, gonna give it a try tonight but just wanted to ask you if you’ve had any luck setting this dimmer up but having motion sensing and auto-turn off completely disabled.

Just to follow up once I downloaded the latest device handler I was able to get the motion sensor settings to stick. Once again a shout out to @mlebaugh for making this great device handler.

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Thanks for the feedback @strazz and @Jrfarrar. I had ordered the Homeseer not too long after my post and since installed it replacing my ‘gen 1’ GE switch.

I don’t believe I can utilize the assocation groups (one challenge (I think) is my bulbs are zigbee and the switch is Z-Wave), but that aside the response times are MUCH better. My GE (~2016 purchase) would take 10+ seconds and sometimes far longer to have any response in the SmartThings log. The Homeseer is 0-3 seconds. I know the automatons I’m running are in the cloud so there’s some additional optimization to be had there as well.

I wasn’t hot on getting “another” GE Switch based on my first experience, but when I need a motion in-wall switch I’ll definitely check out the latest one based on this thread and additional feedback.

I just bought the Homeseer dimmer (+ companion unit for 3-way installs) for my kitchen, based on this thread.

I’m considering the GE motion-integrated switch for the bathrooms now… Do these have double-tap functionality? Assuming it doesn’t… I’m trying to think of a way to have the default light level change based on whether “sleep mode” is on, but also have a way to override and turn the lights to 100% quickly, if needed. (I hated my GE dimmer because it was slow, and I had to stand there and hold the button down for 10 seconds while the light slowly brightened).

Let’s say I have the default light level set to 10% and I walk into the bathroom. The motion sensor triggers and turns on the light to 10%. Now, if I simply tap the top button, what happens?

Is the GE 26933 still the only z-wave dimmer on the market that meets @strazz’s criteria (i.e. where you can set the dimming level while the bulb is off)?

@mlebaugh Is this the parameter you are changing in your DTH?
Parameter# Parameter Name
2 Change brightness of associated light bulb(s)

No, that is the parameter to change the devices specified in the association group.

@Stephen_W - I am also interested if there is another dimmer out there that meets all the same criteria.

I am about to purchase a handful of switches to play with them before installing 15ish in my home. I didn’t even consider using a motion sensor in the bathrooms. That would be awesome for walking into it late at night, and the lights come on very low.
What is the best way to get the 26933 turn on with motion at a certain dim level after a specified time as mentioned above, but turn back off after no motion is detected after say 20 minutes? Would this be done with a handler - or on the switch itself?

I am looking at the other GE 14294 for areas such as the living room, dining room, kitchen, etc. simply because I light the paddle better than the funky motion detector look - but again I think the 26933 would be great for my bathrooms!

All you’ve got to do is use WebCORE to schedule the dim settings. Scroll up in this thread and you’ll see a screenshot I posted of my WebCORE routine for my bathroom dimmer. You need to use the special device handler that I linked in that post as well. It’s up there posted in July 2017.