This may be a dumb question, but we are currently in the middle of remodeling our home. I plan on having our electrician install all our smart switches & thermostats (mix of Zooz Z-Wave & Enbrighten Zigbee and Sinope Zigbee). Is it possible for me to pair these to HE at a much later time when we finally move in (think weeks to months)? If so, would these still work as regular switches & thermostats even when not paired to the hub just so he can test that he wired these correctly?
If it’s not recommended to pair them that far later, is it okay for me to pair them while the HE isn’t at its “final location”? I would be pairing these at a less centralized location to begin and then move it up to a more centralized location after we move in.
You can pair later. My concern would be if any of the units function manually but have defective radios, you won't find out until later. You can pair with a hub not in final location but just be aware that when you move the hub, you may have some dropouts and if some of the devices are out of range, you may need to add a repeater device or two. If you are patient it should be no problem.
Would you recommend that I follow the electrician around and pair it? I just hate having to take a day off to do that and him to feel like I’m looking over his shoulder lol. I want the HE to be in a more centralized location upstairs, but they’ll probably disconnect and move it out temporarily while they’re wrapping up.
Would it be better if I pair it at its “final location”, moved it temporarily to a different location (doesn’t need to work at this time), and then move it back to the “final location” weeks/months later? I’m not sure how sensitive the Zigbee and Zwave networks are to moving the hub around like that.
I'm not sure what the best approach would be for testing. I think you could test with the hub close to each device and then move it when everything is done. The routes will eventually get figured out as long as there is a viable route (path). If you have some devices that don't want to re-establish, that will be a clue that you need to put a repeater device somewhere in between the device and the hub.
I am assuming that you are "responsible" for the home automation part working? If a switch or dimmer works manually (locally) but fails when you try and use it with the hub - who will replace it (assuming it is indeed bad)? I don't know if you feel comfortable doing that.
One of the reasons I chose to use Lutron Caséta was that my electrician could support it.
Yes
Yes, they should
Yes, it just make take 24-48 hours after the hub is moved to a new location for all the devices to find a route. However if you have a C8 and not too large of a house they should mostly connect directly to the hub so the routing will not be a factor.
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I do feel fine changing out the switches myself, but I figured since the electrician will be there to replace all the outlets and switches to “decora” type anyway that I would just have him install the smart switches as well. I just want him to be able to test that it works manually (especially the 3 way switches) and I just wanted to make sure they should still work as a regular switch/thermostat regardless of being paired to a hub. I don’t want him blaming the hub if it doesn’t work manually.
I’ll probably just have to cross my fingers on the home automation testing piece since I think the networks need 24-48 hours anyway to “settle”. I can change any myself after the fact if there are issues with the radio. But, you are correct that I shouldn’t wait too long after he installs them since I’m not sure what the return policy is for the smart switches.
Thank you! My main concern is really to make sure the electrician can still test them all manually. I don’t want him to blame the “hub” for why it doesn’t work manually.
I may go ahead and pair them to HE later that day or the next day, wait 48 hours, and monitoring to make sure there aren’t any issues with the radio on the switches.
For Zooz, if you are connecting non-momentary "dumb" switches for the secondary in the 3-way they should work without doing any configuration on the smart switch, so, should be able to test that fine. The wiring may be very non-standard on some of the Zooz switches for the 3-way setup so hopefully he can follow instructions and does not try to wire them up like a normal 3-way.
Zooz I think has a 1yr warranty and extends it to 5 yrs if you register the devices on their support site.
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I’m also hoping that he does read instructions 
I may include print-outs on the 3-way wiring instructions from the Zooz Support site.
This is really good to know!! 
Thank you!
