HA - lighting with Zwave - module placement

[Adam2]

Transferring a discussion from another thread as may be useful for others and easier to find here

 

@pocster thanks for your msg:

 

For ufh I have solus actuators on each run . Then a heatmister ( I think ) wiring loom with fibaro switches . So zwave turns on the fibaro switch ; which opens the actuator - the wiring loom sees this and starts the pump . Heating !! ?

z wave for lighting kind of works ! ( z wave not 100% reliable ) . Aeotec sensor detects movement in room and triggers zwave din rail switch to turn light on .

If you need more specific’s just ask !

Just ordered 2 new aeotec sensor 7 - see if they they improve the reliability/ delay between a light coming on . Homeseer scripting does the work

 

I tested out a Fibaro Home Centre 2 (HC2) now they have the HC3 so will investigate what else that may provide. The most important aspect of HA will be lighting control - in the main this will be from a wall switch to activate a scene. An important feature for me is that there will continue to be some basic functionality in the event of an IT drama so plan to use wall switches connected to the smart modules.

 

I need to decide now the plan for the smart module positioning - either at the light switch or in a service area on DIN rails.

 

So my pros/cons on this are:

 

Modules at light switch:

Space may be an issue where we have triple/quad switches controlling multiple circuits with a smart module per circuit - maybe can just place modules in wall outside of the backbox

ZWave connectivity - in theory this should be improved with the distribution of modules but if we do have a connectivity problem it may be hard to resolve - house in mostly concrete/solid block walls. 

 

Modules in a service area:

More future proof if wanted to have a big change over should be easier than going to each switch location/allows a different type of system with centralised controller

Will look more professional - may matter if we ever sell

Cost is a pain if we use those nice Fibaro module holders  Probably looking at 50 x modules + then 50 of these which adds 50% to the price ouch

Zwave connectivity - could always put a HC3L (cheaper slave controller) in the services area to ensure good comms to zwave modules

 

Could have a bit of a hybrid approach as the lighting designer suggests using RGBW 0-10V to control the dimmer modules on LEDs which he would prefer (need to see if that actually work like that) so could put some smart modules in a central location and a few in back boxes.

 

 

We'll also have some sockets that will help with the mesh network for any battery power things like sensors - some areas will also have movement triggers.

 

So - what am I missing re smart module positioning? 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pocster]

SWMBO wants the same - everything works when server fails ?

Looked at hc2 - wasn’t that impressed - but hc3 May be better .

SWMBO wanted ‘real ‘ light switches in bedrooms . So have  zwave ones that also function as ‘normal ‘ touch switches i.e can turn a load on/ off regardless of HA functioning .

I have zero battery powered devices so aeotec sensors for example are poe . Battery failure and polling / update issues I can see being an issue so eliminated that problem .

My lighting is automatic ( don’t want 50 switches on the wall ? ) or via an iPad to control .

Edited November 18, 2021 by pocster