Switch recommendations for new house

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#1

I need some recommendations on what light switches to go with on a new home construction. I probably need about 100 switches (2-way, 3-way, some dimmers, a few fan controls).

I’m open to zwave, zigbee, wifi, or whatever else there is. I’m not up to speed on the latest technology right now, except that I’d like to stick with my SmartThings hub. Cost is a consideration with that many switches. I would want the switches continue to work if the internet goes out.

My last house was all Jasco or GE zwave switches and it seemed to work fine, but since I’m starting fresh here I thought I’d see if anybody had any setup in particular they love?

Thanks in advance!

#2

A new house, that’s always an exciting project! :sunglasses:

How many devices did you have in the old house? A number of people have reported that they have had some issues with the SmartThings zwave implementation once they went over about 50 devices.

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#3

i had 95 zwave switches. The biggest problem i had is every month or so one of the switches would get “fried” for lack of a better term, just stop working, and I’d have to replace it. Didn’t have too many problems with communications though, i had one zwave relay device. I’m not married to zwave at all though, no opinion either way, but no experience with anything else.

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#4

Lemme guess, the fried devices were GE/Jasco/Honeywell 12xxx series or equivalent? :slight_smile:

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#5

yes they were… so stay away from those, check !

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#6

The 14xxx’s and newer - including the new Enbrightens seem to not have whatever issue caused the large filter capacitor on board to flake out… :wink: I mean, I’ve still got a ton of 12xxx’s myself but I’ve got a plan as the remaining 16 I have die. :slight_smile:

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#7

The Smartest House does bulk discounts on their Zooz switches if you contact them. I’d go with Inovelli or Zooz for zwave switches and GE for zigbee switches. And i’d mix the two. If aesthetics of the switch are a concern, the GE zigbee and Zooz z-wave look very similar.

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#8

just curious why would you mix them?

#9

to build each mesh

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#10

Exactly - But I think what jimmy meant was mix tech - not necessarily mix manufacturers.

In my house I built a powered backbone for zwave using my switches - I have at least one powered Zwave switch/Dimmer/fan controller in every room now. usually multiples. THEN I went back and did the same for Zigbee using GE Zigbee wall outlets and Peanut plugs. Both meshes are ROCK solid and I rarely have any signal related issues.

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#11

ahh see this is why i come here, great idea!

#12

You might also find post 11 in the following thread of interest:

A Guide to Wireless Range & Repeaters

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#13

right. you could do both with GE only, but Zooz or inovelli is cheaper and has more features

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#14

Also Leviton. :wink:

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#15

I noticed nobody has mentioned wifi… I assume that’s because they are all cloud-to-cloud? Or is there any reason to consider any wifi switches?

#16

Correct, and with Smartthings CURRENTLY, it’s IMPOSSIBLE to create a local only automation with Wifi switches. (Note this should change as people start creating direct integrations for devices using MQTT - Tasmota flashed devices come to mind. But that’s all very new to the platform. Expect a couple months before you start seeing that.) Until then - JD will say, “Choice is good,” and I will say “Friends don’t let friends buy Wifi switches.” :slight_smile:

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#17

ok yes confirms my suspicions, ty.

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#18

My inovelli’s have been rock solid and feature/$ they are hard to beat. They sell 10-packs that discount even further as well.

Z-wave seems to just WORK for my house, zigbee has a few issues here and there but I’ve mostly centralized on z-wave for hard-wired and zigbee for battery/remote, so it makes sense.

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#19

What are you using for Zigbee repeaters?

#20

I have about 5 mains-powered dimmer bulbs (sylvania/osram) that keep me afloat.

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