Hi Guys - I when the Office Light (a GE Z-Wave "non-plus" Dimmer) is physically turned on nothing there is no log of this occurring. So HE doesn't know when its been turned on or off at the wall.
If you poll the dimmer HE is able to pickup the proper state of the dimmer. Everything else seems to work fine with this dimmer. Using the standard Generic Z-Wave Dimmer device type.
Do you think there's an issue with the dimmer?
Thanks, Glenn
Zwave non-plus devices do not proactively send their status to the hub. That is just the way non-plus zwave devices work - on every hub.
The difference, if you are used to other hubs, is that Hubitat doesn't automatically poll non-plus devices in the background like some other hubs do.
You should setup an RM rule to poll/refresh the device, or use the poller app.
Without doing one of those two things you won't get device updates in Hubitat when changes are made physically at the switch.
I can't recommend strongly enough in replacing that non plus device with a plus version... Polling, while it mostly works, is much more unreliable and chews up the very limited zwave bandwidth with polling requests.
I was afraid of that. Funny how some of my GE Z-wave non-plus dimmers report back upon physical change while others do not.
Any thoughts on what technology/brand you would use to replace 20+ in wall dimmers?
None of them should - those devices were not programmed to allow that, to avoid patent infringement. Now, if something else happens to poll it / contact the switch it may update. But unsolicited status responses from the switch are exactly what was not allowed in standard zwave (without paying licensing fees to lutron).
But, using the in-box poller app may be sufficient for your needs - depending on how quickly you want/need the status to update in Hubitat.
Well that is quite strange as I have several GE In-Wall Z-Wave non-plus Dimmers that absolutely log a Physical On or Off. What they don't log, unlike the z-wave plus dimmers, is a Physical dim rate change.
I wonder if it has something to do with the model # / date in which the dimmer was manufactured. I have GE z-wave non-plus dimmers with different model #'s and firmware.
Just curious, if you had to do it over or were going to upgrade your in-wall dimmers, would you go with Lutron and integrate their bridge or just go with a good z-wave plus dimmer.
Also, thought I read somewhere that the Lutron patent was or had run out.
Thank you again!
Maybe... The patent expired in 2016. Although I've never seen a GE zwave standard device that had updated firmware since then to support report back. I know none of the 60+ GE switches/dimmers I had reported back on physical device changes without polling. But whatever, I guess it doesn't matter - if yours do, they do. 
10 people will have 10 different answers on this. I can only answer what I would do/did - replace zwave standard with zwave plus devices. I also took the opportunity to change to the GE motion switches/dimmers wherever I wanted motion based lighting.
Lutron seems to work fine, too, though. If you are OK with how they look (I am not - having those next to traditional paddle switches is ugly as hell in my opinion) and don't mind another hub in the mix, then all reports are that they are very reliable.
I can't speak for anyone else, but most of my dimmers, and a few switches, are Lutron Caseta. Their response time is phenomenal compared to any of my z-wave+ devices, and I have never had an issue with the a Caseta device dropping off.
The capacity to use Pico remotes to control any HE-connected controllable device is another benefit to adding the Caseta Pro bridge to your Hubitat setup.
I replaced all of my GE Z-Wave switches and dimmers with a Lutron SmartBridge Pro2 + Caseta Switches, Dimmers, Fan Controllers, and Pico Remotes. I originally bought the SmartBridge Pro2 just to use Pico Remotes. When I realized just how much better Clear Connect (Lutron's RF protocol) worked for my house versus Z-wave, I decided to migrate everything over that I could. I must say that I have much more automated lighting these days than I ever did when using ST + GE Z-Wave. Hubitat + Lutron is really an amazingly reliable and fast solution. I also like that my separate lighting controller (i.e. the Lutron SmartBridge Pro2) provides native integration with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomeKit, Logitech Harmony Hub, SmartThings, etc... So, if I ever need to change in the future, I at least feel my lighting system will work with just about anything. Sort of the way some folks feel about using a Philips Hue bridge for their Zigbee bulbs.
My biggest regret is that most of my zigbee bulbs aren't supported by the Hue bridge (they're Lightify ZHA products). A purchase on the horizon is a second HE to move my zigbee bulbs on to, with repeaters that are compatible with those bulbs (Peanuts), but not Aqara sensors.
I know what you mean. All of my Zigbee bulbs are Sengled, which play very nicely with other ZHA devices on my HE hub. However, they cannot be paired to a Philips Hue bridge, and thus I have never even bothered to try the Philips ecosystem. Seems like Philips is to Zigbee bulbs what Lutron is to switches, dimmers, fan controllers, and picos. Both offer some very nice features versus directly pairing these devices to any home automation hub. Hubitat provides a very nice local integration with both, making it so easy to integrate additional sensors and devices. I prefer Iris v2 zigbee sensors due to their speed, battery life, and very low cost (ebay deals are still around, I think...)
I have dozens of non plus dimmers and switches due to my early adoption and none pair easily and once paired they don’t report so I left them on ST.
I just had a power outage and three of them died on the same day due to the abrupt restart. It’s the smart home god’s way of telling me to get off my keester and finally replace them. Big sigh... but it is time. Lutron is the way I plan to go based on the advice of this forum.
FYI, as hypothesized elsewhere in this thread, the difference isn't really Plus vs. non-Plus; the timeline for when Plus became more common and eventually required for certification just happened to nearly coincide with the expiration of this patent and the manufacture of devices that therefore began to include this feature. I think Plus became required a short time after this, so some classic devices do indeed support this (beyond those that had always paid to license the patent).
They all don't, which is why I asked. Seems some report back on/off physical changes and others do not.
All of that is true. I guess that was over simplified wording on my part.
I don't remember GE actually releasing any zwave standard devices that supported report back, but maybe they did. Not like I spent a lot of time looking into it once the zwave plus models were released.
Do you think the z-wave based dimmers, switches and fan controllers will reach the performance of Lutron. I would love to switch everything out for Lutron but that would be quite costly. I'd rather stick with z-wave and swap out the older non-plus over time.
Probably not.
But I don't think that's the right question. The right question, in my opinion, is whether zwave plus is fast ENOUGH and reliable ENOUGH for your uses.
It is for mine.
FWIW, I too had a few non-Zwave plus GE dimmers, and I found the Zooz line to be quite suitable for replacing them, typically at a much lower price than GE or the Lutron solution often suggested.
They are a little odd for 3 or 4 way dimming solutions, as there is no add-on switch, so dumb switches remain in the configuration and act as simple on/off switches. But other than that, so far, they have been reliable, simple to install, and comparatively inexpensive.
S.
So I have a mixture of GE and Lutron Z-Wave Plus dimmers, outlets and switches. Only thing to be take into account is the Lutron (non Caseta) dimmers and switches will need a firmware update report back status. I learned that the hard way.
Feature wise I see zero reason to buy lutron zwave plus dimmers and switches. Unless they are substantially cheaper, I would stick with GE/jasco if you are going to go zwave plus.
Some like zooz. I had multiple bad experiences with them, but your experience may be different. I also had many 3 way switches, and wanted full dimming capability on every switch - not just some.
Inovelli is mostly vaporware still (aka you can't readily buy them today without unknown wait). If their stock situation changed I would be very tempted to try those if I were starting from scratch. The feature set is nice, price is excellent, and they look good.
Homeseer never interested me. I didn't feel the need to pay their premium for the LEDs and scene capability.
Are you referring to Leviton Z-Wave Plus devices? I don’t believe Lutron makes any switches and dimmers that use any RF protocol other than their own proprietary Lutron Clear Connect.
Download the Hubitat app
