I've always had 'fun' with trying to setup 3 and 4 way light switches in my smart home environment. For my remaining 4 sets to convert over, I believe my line/load are in the same box, BUT more exploration needed. Traditionally I've used Zen and Inovelli switches in my home.
With the recent button demonstration on this month's Hubitat Live, I'm contemplating putting one dimmer switch in for line/load, then potentially the Zen34 for my other switches in that 3-4 way setup.
For those that have done this:
How is the speed of these buttons for those lights? My guess is it depends on the zwave mesh.
How long do the batteries last? In this example (2xCR2032 batteries)
Those that have used the Zen34, pretty flush in single/dual boxes?
If I start cutting power and find line/load are in separate boxes, best to go back to hard wired switches?
I have one two way circuit set up with a Zen34. In my case I am using a Third Reality switch on one dumb switch and on the other I just tied the wires together in the box and put the Zen34 in it's place. I see no noticeable delay in turning on the switch. I am using the Button controller app.
In the other instance I am using it to place a switch where it should have been placed when the house was built. One of the instances where you wonder what were they thinking when they built the house. In this case I tied the GE/JASCO light switch in the room to the Zen34 using device assoc, so it talks directly to the other Z-wave device, so no need for any app to run.
As far as looks , the devices do stick out a bit but I don't mind it. My wife has not said anything so she seems to be okay with it.
My only real complaint is the button itself. You have to be very deliberate about pushing the buttons. You can't just walk by and tap it, you must make sure it gets pressed all the way down. I don't want to say you have to hold it but it takes slightly more delay and pressure than a normal paddle switch IMO. I have had them for about 6 months now. Haven't had any battery issues yet, but can't really comment on battery life at this point.
Take a look at Z-Wave associations - you can connect Z-Wave devices to eachother directly kind of like Lutron does (I think).
I mentioned this in another thread but I have a Dimmer switch (Zen24 V4) on my stairs going to the 2nd floor. It controls an upstairs hallway light. In that hallway I have 3 other switches (Zen23 V2's) that are connected to power but have no load. I am using some rule-foo to get them to sync. It works but can be a little flaky. My current thought is to try Z-Wave association and see if that is faster. Unfortunately my V2 switches don't seem to be working with associations so am upgrading to V4s.
This is for Inovelli but maybe can be used for others.. dunno have not played around with it yet:
I believe the red or black will work with an Aux switch.
I know some of the GE also work with the Aux switch but I have no experience with them. I do not think the Zooz's can use an Aux but I don't know that.
This can also be done with Tasmota switches and devgroup settings to sync multiple switches. All are connected to mains, one only is connected to the load, and they sync their state. Pressing a mains only on or off will sync it with the other two or three (can add as many as you want) switches. You can also add color/dimming, very powerful stuff.
I definitely second this. I had so much trouble with three-way configurations when I first started. I found that my home is hit and miss when it comes to neutrals at the switch. Add to that, there are many ways that a three way system could be wired (which can be important when considering what solution to use). In my home it seemed like the electrician had tried them all. I was able to get one Inovelli working with a dumb toggle in one location that did have a neutral, but in a lot of places I was stumped.
Lutron solved all that very easily and has worked flawlessly.
The only downside, of course, is the price. Not only are the switches more expensive than most smart switches, but you have to buy the Pro hub if you want to integrate with Hubitat. Can get pricey, but it has been worth it for me.
Lutron Caseta's. Okay, I see them at Lowe's. Their design is much different than anything in my house (rocker's), so that is different. Also, are you using the Caseta Pico's in the aux 3/4 positions?
My wife is not a big fan of the look - we have toggles as well. As I mentioned up thread I am testing Z-Wave associations - have 3 no load Zen23v4 toggle switches and a Zen24v4 dimmer. Just upgraded all of them to the latest firmware v4.03. It's working but not as instantaneous as I'd like. There is some lag.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean? The dimmer itself is set to instant on/off so reacts as expected when physically toggling the dimmer (it's the only one with the load). If I toggle one of the three switches then it does respond fairly quickly - there is a lot of lag if I then want to turn it off. Sometimes it won't let me - by toggling it back on until (my guess) the association command is complete.
When you use Aux switches connected directly to the dimmer controlling the load (requires 2 wires between the master and the Aux) the Aux is acting as a remote paddle on the dimmer. There is no radio communication required. It is literally as if you had multiple paddles on your dimmer.
No Hub is required, no radio (aka association) communications require.
Ah sorry yes I know what you are saying now.. of course and that's the way I usually run it MUCH faster as you say - Zooz is nice because they don't need dedicated daughter cards unlike GE.. In this case there are no travelers etc so have to go with no-load.
