Rootdet Posted February 24, 2022 Posted February 24, 2022 Hi all, So i am looking at starting to phase out the insteon devices. The reasons are numerous, but the product line is stagnet, hardware is on short supply, and with the nokia anouncement, it just shows smartlabs is redirecting away from insteon. However my smart home needs continue to grow. Anyways not trying to debate that stuff, horse is dead and buried here. I am looking for a path forward, and Z-wave is it for me. The Eco system is thriving, and i already been dipping my toes into z-wave for awhile now. While i can easily find a new light switch, where i constantly get held up is the fanlinc. I cannot find anything quite like it in the z-wave line, and wondering what people have been doing? Also as another thought, any decent replacements for the Insteon Keypads? I have 3 at home (1 for fan, and 2 for multi zone control). My rough thought is i will tackle one room at a time as money/time permits.
lilyoyo1 Posted February 24, 2022 Posted February 24, 2022 No quality zwave replacements for either unit. While you can Google zwave keypad and fan switch, what's currently available fail miserably when compared to how insteon works
Rootdet Posted February 24, 2022 Author Posted February 24, 2022 14 minutes ago, lilyoyo1 said: No quality zwave replacements for either unit. While you can Google zwave keypad and fan switch, what's currently available fail miserably when compared to how insteon works that is what i was afraid of. I have one box where i can do a seperate light + fan. but i have one where it is not so easy without replacing the single gang box.
kzboray Posted February 24, 2022 Posted February 24, 2022 On 2/19/2022 at 1:39 PM, kzboray said: Just wanted to test out a ZEN32 (z-wave 700) for it's scene capabilities. While it doesn't support native z-wave scene control, it is very similar to, but not as flexible as a 6-button Insteon controller. Each of the five buttons is individually programmable. I used the word programmable because you can only access the 4 scene buttons through programs! Their functions are not available via the buttons themselves. The five buttons shown as controller buttons (top red box) 10,2,4,6,& 8 and can only be queried. The same is true of the group of the same buttons. Buttons 1,2,3,4, & 5 (bottom red box). Why they are split into two groups I don't know. You can't make any changes to any of them except through programs. Only the button labeled as binary switch (green box) can be controlled directly or added to a scene. The other four have to be controlled via programs. The larger button can control a load as well. There are a few parameters that you can change mostly dealing with the LED indicators on each button. You can set their color to red, green, blue, or white and change their intensity to high, medium, or low. You can also set them to come on when the switch is on, or on when the switch is off, always on, and always off. Range seems to be decent. I put it on my test Polisy which only has two devices on it atm. I was able to move it downstairs and it worked OK, response times could sometimes be in seconds, but it worked. 30' with one wall proved to work well, anything more than that and I would need a better mesh. With only 2 devices this is truly a test bench scenario. Each button allows you to capture double tap, triple tap, quadruple tap and even quintuple tap actions. Although I doubt anyone would remember all of that. You can also capture press and hold (fade up.) Overall it has possibilities, but without native scene support in my mind its limited. I only tested with IoP. I did no testing via Home Assistant or any other controller. Results might vary.
Rootdet Posted February 24, 2022 Author Posted February 24, 2022 10 minutes ago, kzboray said: That MIGHT work for the two non-fanlinc integrated ones. What i do with the insteon version was tied them to a scene, but maybe on this one i can simply just tie it to a program on the isy.
WCarrigan Posted March 27, 2022 Posted March 27, 2022 On 2/24/2022 at 3:41 PM, Rootdet said: That MIGHT work for the two non-fanlinc integrated ones. What i do with the insteon version was tied them to a scene, but maybe on this one i can simply just tie it to a program on the isy. i’m in exactly the same boat.
Goose66 Posted March 27, 2022 Posted March 27, 2022 See if your fans have a remote control unit available that can be added, and then buy a Olibra Bond Bridge to control the fans via the remote codes.
WCarrigan Posted March 27, 2022 Posted March 27, 2022 2 minutes ago, Goose66 said: See if your fans have a remote control unit available that can be added, and then buy a Olibra Bond Bridge to control the fans via the remote codes. i actually have a first gen bond bridge from before i discovered insteon…. i’ve definitely had that thought. however, i live in the southeastern US and have 6 ceiling fans w/ lights in my home and a fanlinc + keypad on all of them.
io_guy Posted March 27, 2022 Posted March 27, 2022 What am I missing? Zen30 for fan/light control. Zen32 for multi-button.
WCarrigan Posted March 27, 2022 Posted March 27, 2022 3 hours ago, io_guy said: What am I missing? Zen30 for fan/light control. Zen32 for multi-button. the controller module being in the ceiling fan shroud because the fan may not be wired in with the switch.
JTsao Posted March 27, 2022 Posted March 27, 2022 I came across this (but it's out of stock) https://inovelli.com/red-series-fan-light-switch-z-wave/ Also, GE makes a decora switch fan control (GE Enbrighten) FWIW - I had several Insteon fanlincs paired with Casablanca fans - these fans came with their own remote control - as the fanlincs failed I used an insteon on/off switch to turn the fan on and installed a ceiling fan capacitor inline to set the fan to a good speed for all conditions I should point out that my house has two switches in each room, one for lights and one for the ceiling fan - this may not be the case for everyone - In the instance of my outdoor fan + fanlinc failing, I had to install the remote RF unit that came with the fan as I only had one wire going to that one
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