I am building a new house, so I will be building a new Hubitat ecosystem from scratch.
So, I'm looking for best, yet economical paddle switches and dimmers. I currently use a mix of GE/Jasco and some Innovelli.
I'd like to keep it all zwave. I have been very happy with GE/Jasco, but I'm wondering if there's an equal solution that is simply cheaper.
If you were doing a new build, what switches/dimmers would you choose?
Inovelli will be releasing their new ZW switch this spring, so may want to look into that. But it probably won't be cheap.
Lutron Caseta's new Diva switches have a more traditional look, and Caseta is really bullet-proof, but again, not cheap.
If price is a primary concern, I'd go with Zooz Zen7x stuff -- it's a good compromise of price and features.
I no longer have z-wave switches but heard all the rave about the new Innovelli. Zooz is another popular for z-wave.
Since you are building a new house. I would consider Lutron as another option as well.
Zooz has always been the best bang for the buck, and they also have tons of settings to customize how the switch works. Mine have all been rock solid and reliable especially on the new C-8 hub.
The only disadvantage is there is no wired 3-way aux switch. If you want matching 3-way switches you need a second of the same model, and setup a virtual 3-way with the hub. In a new build setup for Home Automation though I would use far less 3-way switches than my house has now. Also the Zooz switches cost about the same as the AUX switch offered by other brands so really the only drawback is that the virtual switch would not control the light if the hub was down.
I must admit I am always jealous of the fancy light bar on the Inovelli, but honestly I have no idea if I would really do that much with it. Maybe in the bedroom it would be cool as a status LED for locks or such but otherwise I get alerts on my phone for anything pressing.
I would vote Zooz as well. When I started in home automation with my Iris system, it was all GE/Jasco for switches. Over the last few years most all of them have started to fail. Most are probably 8 years old or better, which is not bad but it's been a bit annoying. I can't say Zooz will be any better in that respect as I just started getting the Zooz stuff in the last couple years. The one good thing about the ole dumb toggle switch is they don't go bad.
I have a couple Inovelli switches as well and they are nice, but the Zooz stuff is more economical, I think.
I will be another vote for Zooz as well. I have the Inovelli Fan controller and though it is nice, the little led indicators don't really do much for me.
I have a bunch of Zooz switches already and they have been really good. The one I did have that failed they replaced even though technically I probably broke it. Also if you are doing a build out talk to them about bulk discount i know they will discount even further if you are buying more then 10 of the same switch I believe.
They seem to be very custom service focused as far as I have seen and really treated me well anytime I have had something come up.
GE/Jasco, just because everything I own is GE/Jasco and they "just work." I spend zero time troubleshooting, doing FW updates, etc. Plug and play for me. I use @JasonJoel's GE/Jasco drivers and that combination is perfect. They have 3-way easily available.
That said, they are definitely not as feature-rich as others, and agree that Zooz is an excellent alternative w/features like bulb mode that GE/Jasco switches lack, and can be found for more reasonable prices than Inovelli, Lutron, etc.
You can save a few bucks with the Ultrapro Z-Wave Plus switches. They are also built by Jasco and are, near as I can tell, identical to the GE branded ones as well as the Honeywell branded ones. All function identically, use the same drivers and are rock solid for me.
Not all lights work with all dimmers. You should verify compatibility before you commit to either the lights or the controls. More and more LEDs are requiring reverse/trailing/MOSFET dimmers (as opposed to older forward/leading/Triac). Even within brands there are different dimmers. For example, Zooz has dimmers with Triac and others with MOSFET.
Zooz is switching to all TRIAC dimmers now: ZEN72 VS ZEN77: What's the Difference - Zooz Support Center
I have one spot where I think I had an old ZEN27 (MOSFET) but I wanted to try the momentary 3-way setup so I switched it to a ZEN72. Was worried I would get flickering or something but it actually works better with the TRIAC it seems. They are just cheap FIET candelabra bulbs. I never seem to get that great of a dim range, only around 15-70% visually changes. Possibly because I usually get the less expensive bulbs.
I have wondered if there is a way to tell what type of switch is better for a certain bulb? They do not really say anything on the box or online. Very hard to find info about it anywhere really.
I do have one ZEN27 on a 5 bulb Chandelier that has a very slight flicker, I should try swapping it for a TRIAC and see if it helps. I have an extra ZEN72 in a box. More FIET bulbs, but a larger style of bulb.
Interesting. Inovelli is actually going all MOSFET. MOSFETs can be set to either forward or reverse phase. Their new Blue line had the programming set to forward phase and there were lots of complaints. They say they've got the issue fixed in at least their new new Red 800 Z-Wave line. These smaller companies don't have much/any electronics engineers on staff so they have to rely on their manufacturers' expertise. And they want to have every feature in a single SKU.
This is spot on. There really aren't any high performing dimming LEDs that are not also high cost. Especially in the recessed retrofit market.
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