Can the Inovelli dimmers (Black or Red) be configured to use both smart bulb control and direct power control at the same time?
E.g.,
Single-tap up/down: Control smart bulb in fixture, don't change power to fixture bulb is in
Double-tap up/down: Turn power on/off to fixture
What I'm looking for is a fail-safe, i.e., if the hub control isn't working to turn a smart light on/off, brute force it by turning power to the fixture on/off. The brute force option would rarely be used, but I'd like to have it as an easily accessed option to deal w/high damage to WAF when lights won't work.
I believe this isn't possible, but wanted to ask just in case.
Yes, but only with the Red Series. The Black Series do not support multi-taps. What you'll want to do is disable local control while leaving remote control enabled (if you're using Inovelli's drivers or mine, these are both options there; if you're using Hubitat's built-in driver--or really in any case, regardless--you can tap the "config button" on the device itself 8x, which will enable or disable local control; you'll see the LED bar flash red if it just got disabled or green if just enabled). Local control affects whether physical taps on the device affect the load, so you want that disabled. Remote control affects whether Z-Wave commands work, so you want those enabled--that way, you can still use the hub to turn the device on and off.
After this point, I'm guessing you can figure things out, but basically what you'll need is an automation on the hub that responds to the single taps (button 1 pushed for up and button 2 pushed for down if you're using Hubitat's driver, mine, or one that works like it; button 1 pushed for up or button 1 held for down if you're using Inovelli's) and adjusts your bulbs as desired. You'll also need a hub automation that responds to double taps (button 1 or 2 double-tapped with Hubitat's driver; button 3 pushed or button 5 pushed with mine; button 2 pushed or button 2 held with Inovelli's) and adjusts the Inovelli switch/dimmer itself to turn on or off (which, again, is still possible via Z-Wave as long as remote control remains enabled).
With either the Red or Black Series, however, there is also a "backup option" you can use: pulling the air gap (small tab at the bottom of the switch/dimmer) will cut power to the load and the switch/dimmer itself. Because of that latter thing, you probably don't want to keep it pulled, but it would at least give you a way to power-cycle the smart bulbs if that's all you're looking for. You could also keep local control disabled for normal use but re-enable it (again, tapping the config button 8x will toggle this setting) if you want to actually directly control the load, but I suppose that might not be as easy to remember for anyone else in your house. The advantage here is that this workaround does not require the hub to get in the middle of things, so it's pretty much guaranteed to work as long as the switch/dimmer isn't defective. (If you do this, I'd make sure the dimming speed and on/off speed is set to ASAP, which enabling the "smart bulb mode" parameter should also do, at least in its current implementation.)
I also wouldn't be me if I didn't say that you should look into why the smart bulbs aren't working in the first place, unless you're just trying to get ahead of any curveballs.
Thanks, great information and details. I really want an Inovelli for all the cool stuff it can do - never tried on yet.
I'll have to talk to my wife about the 8 taps...she has a low threshold for "Too difficult!" so not sure how she'll react to that as a backup. I may move to something simpler since I can't use the Inovellin in both modes at the same time (local and remote control)...put a pico on the wall next to the Inovelli, and have her use the pico as the primary wall switch in case the motion automation isn't working to her liking at the moment, and then she can use the Inovelli (local control enabled) to toggle power to the lights if she need local control for some reason (mesh/hub down or I installed a beta FW version and blew things up. )
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