Help! I am getting ready to order a bunch of these switches, and I am seeing several different versions of the DZ6HD model number, with no clarity on how they may be different. This is particularly important and timely because the price seems to have just gone up, and I am scrambling to find the switches at a lower price. Can anyone help me crack the code on this?
The model I believed I was looking for was:
DZ6HD-1BZ "Leviton Decora Smart 600W Dimmer with Z-Wave Technology"
The best price I'm seeing for what appears may be the correct item is $44.97 at Home Depot:
R52-DZ6HD-2RW "Leviton Decora Smart 600-Watt Single Pole Dimmer with Z-Wave Technology, White" (it says single pole, but also specifies can be used in 3-way)
Also at Home Depot for around $50 each:
VB5-DZ6HD-HD5 Leviton "Decora Smart with Z-Wave Technology 600-Watt Dimmer, White/Light Almond (5-Pack)" (here, the VB5 appears to reference the 5-pack)
At Home Depot for $57 each:
R51-DZ6HD-1RZ Leviton Decora Smart with Z-Wave Technology 600-Watt Dimmer, White/Light Almond
And at Amazon for $57 each:
DZ6HD-1BZ Leviton Decora Smart 600W Dimmer with Z-Wave Technology, Ivory, 1-Pack, White/Light Almond
I have purchased over 200 DZ6HD dimmers from Amazon and Home Depot. Here's what I've learned:
If the base part # is DZ6HD (and that is actually what they ship - some Amazon resellers do not pay attention to part numbers, so I've had to be really careful to check when I open the box), then you are getting a 600W Z-Wave Dimmer switch. The prefix and suffix to that part number has to do with the way they are packaged and I still haven't figured out all of Home Depot's different ways of labeling them. For example, the VB5-DZ6HD-HD5 is simply their 5-pack. I looked through our purchase history and can't find any of the R52-DZ6HD-2RW, so I am not 100% sure if that follows the formula I'm suggesting (but based upon the 4 other iterations of DZ6HD, I would assume that it does). I have a few R51-DZ6HD-1RZ and they were the same as all the others. (DZ6HD Z-Wave Dimmer switches...) As far as Amazon is concerned, when I started my last project, the DZ6HD-1BZ started out at ~$44 and then went up to $57 like you're seeing. That's the way their pricing works, from what I have experienced. If demand goes up, so will their pricing.
90% of our DZ6HD install locations are in a 3 or 4-way configuration. For the remote/slave, we have many DD00R-DL. I can confirm, it all works as expected.
BUT:
I like their product, but I'm not 100% satisfied, nor am I sure I would be with any product, to be honest. I needed dimmers with slide or rocker indicators for the dimming level. While the DZ6HD does this, it can be "laggy" in terms of displaying level of dimming and pressing the dimmer rocker (there's a delay between pressing the rocker and the LED indication going up or down). I didn't want a single button dimmer/rocker, though, because that would confuse the heck out of my family, so this seemed the best way to go. The lag is frustrating, though. The whole reason why I went with Leviton is because of the mechanical side of the switch. I wanted the equivalent of haptic feedback to an action. The problem is that the haptic timing doesn't match the electronic timing of the LEDs. Big problem? NO. But, it is something that can matter if you're trying to set the dim level and end up always "over pressing" because the LEDs aren't reacting as quickly as you'd expect. This is NOT a Hubitat issue. This behavior was consistent with HA and Smartthings.
Wow, thank you so much, @snfettig, that is enormously helpful. I too have selected these for the comfort of my family, for the same reasons. I will prepare them re: the lagging. It is unfortunate, but hopefully we'll adapt.
Just in case anyone else needs this info, I also received (finally) a reply from Leviton, confirming @snfettig's reply above:
David Hatty ( Leviton Decora Smart Support)
Apr 5, 2021, 3:55 PM CDT
Hello Casey,
Thanks for contacting Leviton Technical Services. All of the DZ6HD dimmers you describe below are the same the various prefixes and suffixes only concern packaging. Some of the models may include various colors of the paddle assembly to allow changing the color of the device. All of them by default are white.
Best regards,
David
David Hatty
Technical Support Manager, Residential www.leviton.com
