Should I move from Insteon to Z-wave

[thruster999]

Hi

Well, I've been using Insteon switches, dimmers and motion sensors (controlled with my ISY) for 14 years now and have been happy with them. However, it appears they are starting to fail. In the last six months 2 of my dimmers, 1 on/off switch and 3 motion sensors (MS 1) have stopped working and have had to be replaced. Each device either just stopped working or the lights would flash on and off - eventually not coming on. Anyway, I'm thinking of replacing each future failed INSTEON device with a z-wave device. I only have a few z-wave devices now but they work very well with my ISY.

Could anyone recommend z-wave switches, dimmers and motion sensors that work well with the ISY and are capable of being set to different scenes multiple times per day (i.e. brightness and ramp rate)? 

Thank you

[lilyoyo1]

1 hour ago, thruster999 said:

Hi

Well, I've been using Insteon switches, dimmers and motion sensors (controlled with my ISY) for 14 years now and have been happy with them. However, it appears they are starting to fail. In the last six months 2 of my dimmers, 1 on/off switch and 3 motion sensors (MS 1) have stopped working and have had to be replaced. Each device either just stopped working or the lights would flash on and off - eventually not coming on. Anyway, I'm thinking of replacing each future failed INSTEON device with a z-wave device. I only have a few z-wave devices now but they work very well with my ISY.

Could anyone recommend z-wave switches, dimmers and motion sensors that work well with the ISY and are capable of being set to different scenes multiple times per day (i.e. brightness and ramp rate)? 

Thank you

I don't know of any that can change dynamically like insteon does but then again, it's been a while since I've tested newer dimmer releases. 

The Homeseer 200 would switch is probably your best bet in getting a switch that will do what you want

[Bumbershoot]

I'm using the Homeseer HS-WD-200+ dimmer, and it's fine, and the sentinel LEDs can be useful.  Or not.  I use the sentinel LEDs to reflect the status of the various doors in my house, so I'm writing parameter changes to the switch a great many times every day.  It has operated flawlessly since I installed it, nearly two years ago.  The biggest beef I have with it is that the ramp rate is only adjustable in seconds, not milliseconds. 

I'm also using GE Enbrighten Smart Motion Dimmers/Switches in order to eliminate motion sensors from the walls.  They are also working fine, exactly as intended.  Again, the ramp rate on the dimmers is adjustable in seconds only.  Otherwise, they're fine, and the built-in motion sensors work as intended.

I still prefer Insteon switches for lighting, but these Z-Wave switches are all working well.  I only use Z-Wave dimmers/switches where they answer a particular requirement that Insteon can't do, so I don't have enough of them installed to be able to report how uniformly they respond in ISY scenes.

I suspect you can write changes to the NV Ram on these switches many, many thousands of times without issue.

https://github.com/UniversalDevicesInc/Z-Wave-Devices/issues

[asbril]

I have several Homeseer 200 series switches, including dimmers, and have had zero issues.

[thruster999]

Thankyou very much @asbril, @lilyoyo and @Bumbershoot

One other thing I like about Insteon was that I could also link the motion sensor to the light switch/dimmer which gave immediate results i.e. no delay in activating the light switch/dimmer.

So, which motion sensor would you recommend to use with your Homeseer dimmers/switches? Could you link them or do you need an ISY program to turn on the scene?

 

Thanks again!

[lilyoyo1]

19 minutes ago, thruster999 said:

Thankyou very much @asbril, @lilyoyo and @Bumbershoot

One other thing I like about Insteon was that I could also link the motion sensor to the light switch/dimmer which gave immediate results i.e. no delay in activating the light switch/dimmer.

So, which motion sensor would you recommend to use with your Homeseer dimmers/switches? Could you link them or do you need an ISY program to turn on the scene?

 

Thanks again!

If both devices support the same associations it is possible to have a direct link with zwave devices so that they work outside of the isy. However, the isy will not know about that association so it will not update the status of the device once on (or off) depending on situation. While this may not matter, this can affect how your programs work. 

For overall best results, you'll need to let the isy be the middle man. There will be a delay but the experience will be much better

[Bumbershoot]

6 hours ago, thruster999 said:

So, which motion sensor would you recommend to use with your Homeseer dimmers/switches?

The only motion sensor I'm using with a Homeseer dimmer is in a GE Enbrighten Motion Switch that shares a box with the Homeseer dimmer.  The load on the GE switch is attached to a closet light that I seldom use.  I have the motion sensor set to "manual" mode, meaning that it does not control the load that it's attached to.  It acts instead like a fully independent Z-Wave motion sensor.  I use it to control the Homeseer dimmer through ISY programs.  I'm surprised at how fast the Homeseer dimmer responds to motion, since the ISY is completely involved in the process.  It is discernibly slower than the Insteon MS/dimmer combo that are linked in a scene, but only just so.  Sort of how the ½ second ramp rate in Insteon dimmers is discernible.  But only just so.  I suppose if your ISY CPU gets tied up with some process, you might notice a performance lag, but I haven't noticed that as of yet.

In short, I'm really quite pleased.  The only thing lacking is more granularity in the Homeseer ramp rate -- 1 second intervals.  Otherwise, it works well.

The program is simple (a separate program turn the lights off).

Office Light On - [ID 00D4][Parent 000A]

If
        'Devices / dirOffice / ZW 025 On-Off Power Switch / ZW 025 Motion Sensor 1' is switched On
 
Then
        Set 'Devices / dirOffice / ZW 004 Dimmer Switch' On
        Set 'Devices / dirOffice / lmpOfficeDeskLamp' On
 
Else
   - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')
 

 

Edited November 19, 2020 by Bumbershoot