Question about inline (or hidden) control for lights

🎬 Get Started
1

New member with my first post, I poked around a bit, but wanted to verify.

Quick background, I go back to the X10 days and had a fair amount of stuff in the house controlled that way. Over the years, that morphed out and into a mix of various odds and ends systems (with a couple of X10 devices still running).

After some (too much) time researching, finally decided to switch to something centralized. I have started setting up Hub and playing around with a couple device types, to get comfortable with it.

Most of my needs are pretty straight-forward plugs and switches, however there is one item that I want to make sure I understand. During my X10 days, I added some gallery track light for artwork on the wall, I did it by installing ceiling boxes and pulling power in the attic. I did not mess around with running wiring through the wall, adding box/switch, etc., since X10 had inline modules that I just put in a box in the attic and use an X10 controller for them.

To replace that now, am I correct that I need something like this ENERWAVE Z-Wave Plus Relay:(https://www.amazon.com/Enerwave-ZWN-RSM1-PLUS-Wireless-Control-Required/dp/B01G7OD1F8) in my attic to replace the X10 devices?

Also if that is the device I need, I didn't see any that are dimmers (or maybe I'm just searching wrong).

Or would it be just as simple/or cheaper to throw a couple of Z-Wave wall dimmers in box in the attic (they would just never be used)?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

2

Welcome to the family @jaimelobo!

Yes you can replace your inline X10 dimmer with a comparative Z-wave device. Aeotec’s Nano Dimmer is one choice. They are others to choose from. The Z-wave Alliance oversees (sort of) the Z-wave protocol definition. They also maintain a list of certified devices.

https://products.z-wavealliance.org/regions/2/categories

This is always a good starting point for seeing what’s available. The second step in your process should be to search for comments on any device you are considering. Don’t just see it and run with it. Some categories of devices are more peculiar than others (remote and handheld controllers for instance), and you will find yourself adding more devices to your Hall of Shame box. :smiley:

3

Thanks for the welcome and advice.

There is no Hall of Shame -- I would never make mistakes, just "happy little accidents" :grin:

1 Like
4

I have three of these:

Sonoff Inline Switch Zigbee

And they work amazingly well. They even serve as a repeater.

and amazing price .