Which "in-wall" switches?

[Andrew]

Hi all,

I'd like your opinions in "in-wall" switches (the type that install into an existing swich) such as this one.

I need them for a few different uses: single-pole, single-pole with dimming, three-way with dimming... etc....

Any suggestions appreciated for small, reliable units. I'm having an electrician over to review some projects tomorrow, and plan on having him "clean up" some of our wiring / switches and want to install.

thanks-

Andrew

[asbril]

Your link does not exactly show switches, but my experience has been best with Homeseer switches, series 100 and 200.  The Homeseer 200 series dimmer switches are fun with the sentinel lights usable as status reporting for other Zwave devices.

[Andrew]

Hi asbril,

What I'm talking about are installed behind a standard switch - in other words, in-line with your current hardware like this.

[asbril]

28 minutes ago, Andrew said:

Hi asbril,

What I'm talking about are installed behind a standard switch - in other words, in-line with your current hardware like this.

I get it. I tried this once and it did not work for me. Sorry that I can not help you.

[lilyoyo1]

Most people here tend to replace the actual switch rather than use modules behind existing switches. 

If you prefer keeping your existing switches, I would recommend getting a few of them, installing, and see how well you like them. IMO they're more headache than they're worth

[mwester]

I'd tend to agree with the general sentiments...

I've got an Insteon micro-dimmer and two Insteon micro-on-off units -- they've all three been installed, then removed and re-installed elsewhere, then removed again, before ending up in my spare parts box, where they've remained.  Not a good solution (for so many reasons) compared to the on/off switch or dimmer solution.  (As a point - I thought I could live with the idiosyncrasies in my workshop, but the last straw that led to it's replacement was an odd quirk that would turn on the workshop light when certain loads in the basement switched (apparently the sense line was just too sensitive when attached to a long electrically-floating wire to an open switch).

I realize you're asking about z-wave modules, but I expect they'll have similar (mis)behaviors and compromises.

[asbril]

As a side note, for 3-way setup,  I recently used a Inovelli switch as main device and a regular (non-zwave) switch for the "slave".  That turned out to be very useful as the particular box is too small for a Zwave switch and can not (concrete wall) be enlarged.

[stusviews]

If you don't mind using Insteon device, the Micro-Module fills the bill perfectly. I've been using several successfully for quite a while with no difficulties--even in metal boxes.