I am torn here. Amazon has both in stock. I started a lighting thread a few weeks ago and after the very good suggestions i decided one of these. Any pro's or con's to each one that people want to share from past experience?
thanks,
I have all GE switches. Two dimmers, two fans, and 10 or 11 on/off's. They've been rock solid for me. What I like about them is that the plastic is thicker on the paddles, so putting them next to a dumb paddle, it's hard to immediately notice the difference in look. (other than the led). Some of the others, I don't know about zooz, you can visually tell the difference. I'm particular about that. So, once I went with GE I've stuck with it. The only problems I had was when I migrated from smartthings to HE, I had to do an exclude from ST two times, and do this reset thing before I could add it to HE. It took me a few hours to figure that one out. But, probably could happen to with any of the products out there. Seems nothing wants to exclude from smartthings very easily. I really can't speak for zooz. I didnt know they were out there until recently. I won't go with a different switch for fear the look will be different, so I probably wouldn't try one at this point.
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The only thing that turns me off from GE is their history with their "original" Z-Wave switches, mostly the non-Plus variety, that didn't do reporting of physical changes back to the Z-Wave controller due to a Lutron patent they didn't want to license. Getting those to work reliably required polling if you needed its state to sync with your controller (e.g., if you used the dimmer/switch in-person and other automations depended on this state). The newer ones are fine, but I'm still just a bit afraid of them for this reason. 
They are, of course, a well-known and trusted brand beyond that.
Both are similar technically: both support Z-Wave Plus and beaming (may be helpful if you have a smart lock nearby). ZooZ has a new model that supports S2 Security (not sure if that was the one you're looking at; the older one is pretty similar aside from this); however, Hubitat does not support S2 yet, so it would revert to S0, and most people probably consider pairing a dimmer securely at all due to the limited benefit and the general pain of Z-Wave devices joined securely (three times as much traffic so more possibility for network congestion, beyond just general problems people seem to have with such devices right now).
One difference is that if you have a three-way switch, ZooZ allows you to keep the existing "dumb" switch, and you'll get on/off capability there. GE requires a "companion"/"add-on" switch at the second (or more) location, which adds to the cost, but you'll also be able to use it to dim.
A third possibility is Inovelli, though they're unfortunately out of stock at the moment. The current versions are quite similar to ZooZ but also have "scene" support, which for Hubitat basically means you can use multi-presses on the switch/dimmer (e..g, double tap up, double tap down, triple tap up, etc.) to perform other actions (setting a Hubitat scene, for example, or controlling any device in the same way any automation can, limited only by your imagination--these taps just register as button devices). HomeSeer also has this capability, plus some models with LEDs you can control to, for example, show status. Just some more possibilities to make you think even more.
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on Zooz S2 series dimmer (ZEN 27), it gets a do not buy recommendation from me.
The internal implementation currently issues unsolicited level reports whilst dimming is in progress, these cannot be turned off and cause excessive unnecessary zwave traffic.
This device is not in our currently supported device list specifically for this reason, as an aside, the absolute worst thing you could do with this dimmer is populate your house with them paired securely...
Rant over
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I have all GEs and one Zooz Zen22. The Zooz is ok, but I like the finish and feel of the GEs better. The GE matches the white wall plates a little better, Zooz is a brighter white. GE click feels more solid than the Zooz. The Zooz LED is also a little bigger and brighter, which is a slight negative. The GEs also have more flexibility in setting parameters for ramp rates than the Zooz does.
The GE also have double tap capability to since scenes it secondary functions (driver coming soon hopefully).
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What about the homeseer switches or Zlink ones? I am going to buy $1k of switches when I remodel my house and want opinions. I plan to get some motion switches/dimmers which right now, GE is the only one. I have heard Zooz demoed a motion switch at CES though.. those Zlink ones look like clones of HomeSeer switches to me. Wish Inovelli was in the mix now, as I don't know when they will be ready.
Yes, homeseer, zlink, zwp, all good.
Wow all good info here.
Thanks a lot everyone. I really liked the idea of zooz not needing the companion switch but if it is not supported officially I am thinking I should rethink that
This is only my 2nd suggestion since I joined recently. But the more suggestions anyone can get is very helpful most times. I use the ZEN24 Dimmer from Zooz with the Generic Dimmer Driver and it works very well.
How about the Zooz S2 series switch (ZEN 26)? I've got a bunch of 3 way (and some 4 way) lights I'd like to automate, and not having to replace (or rewire) half the boxes sounds nice. I can do without the dimming of the ZEN 27, or use GE switches where dimming is necessary.
how'z that?, not following...
For the GE switches, to do a 3 way you have to replace both switches. For the ZEN 21 (or the 22 dimmer), you only have to replace one switch (you can keep the other dumb switch) BUT you have to rewire it. For the 26 and 27, you don't have to rewire the other switch at all.
So I'd like to use the 26s for 3 and 4 way switches I have where dimming is not needed, and I guess I'd go with GEs for any 3way where I need dimming (or maybe the ZEN 22). I understand your issue with the 27 and its excessive reporting during dimming, but I assume the 26 (not being a dimmer) does not have this problem. Does it have OTHER problems you know about?
Thanks!
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I would assume he's referring to bottom right "NEW" feature of the screenshot......I'm also curious as to if they have the same issues as the ZEN27 as I just bought a ZEN 26 last week?
Wayne -- please let us know how the ZEN26 works for you. I've got two old switches I'd like to replace with these.
Will do, but it will be awhile, as I can usually handle the simple stuff but with 3 ways I'll leave up to my neighbor (electrician) to do, but he won't be around for another month or so (summer home)
The multilevel reporting during manual operation was removed in the latest firmware and that new firmware was implemented in ZEN27 VER. 2.0 which will be released within a week. Anyone who'd like to update their existing ZEN27 dimmers can request an OTA firmware file as well. We hope to see both models officially integrated with Hubitat in the near future.
The only feedback about ZEN26 we received from the Hubitat team was that it didn't send a separate report for manual vs Z-Wave operation. This was also changed and implemented in the latest release of the switches (VER. 2.0).
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Do we need to get one of the zwave sticks from the smarthouse house, to update the firmware? Also, is there anything else needed if so?
Until Hubitat supports OTA firmware updates for Z-Wave, a Z-Wave stick is needed. Click here for a full description of the process.
If you only need the stick to update your switches, just get in touch and we'll send you a loaner stick with a prepaid return label. If you think you could use one, you can either get the GoodWay model (cheapest) or the ZST10 (use coupon OTA10 for 10% off).
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