I have an outdoor light on a detached garage that I can only control from inside the garage. I would like to be able to control it from inside the house. I tried a zwave switch but I couldn't get it to include. I guess it is too far away, but the funny thing is that there is a zwave smoke detector in the garage and it adopted and works just fine. I have 2 zigbee outlets in the garage and they work OK so maybe a zigbee switch will work but I can't seem to find one. I have wifi in the garage so maybe a wifi switch will work. I would like one that does not need too much finagling to get it connected to HE and controlled via the Home app.
Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Is the switchbox metal or plastic? If metal, that's probably blocking a lot.
Have you looked at Inovelli’s Blue Smart Dimmer?
I have those all over the house and have been very satisfied with them.
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Edit - sorry Sebastien -- this was intended as a repsonse to OP
My only caution about the Blue (or any of Inovelli's other newer switches) is if the garage is detached & unconditioned, and you have either hot or cold weather extremes.
Inovelli somewhat recently added Overheat Protection to their switches, but that feature also disables (and totally takes offline) the switch at around freezing temps (<32 F). That was a hugely disppointing new surprise to experience this past winter.
I've replaced that Blue with a good ol' Zooz Zen71, which is far more dependable.
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Pair the device on a temporary power cord (close to your hub) then install it in your garage. I do this 90% of the time when installing a ZWave device. Then do a repair on the node to refresh its route tables.
If it doesn't work try a ZWave repeater in main building closest to garage to cut the distance down.
You could also pair the device as a ZWave LR if you buy a newer switch.
I have several regular ZWave devices in bunkhouses in my summer cottage. They work fine with the hub in the main building.
To specifically respond to the request for a recommendation I use unfrighten z-wave switch with no issues. They ware old technology (eg 700 instead if 800) They are made by Jasco Products Company, who also makes them for GE. But that said, there is way too much that you have not shared to recommend that you buy more hardware. yes, knowing if the box is plastic or metal is relevant, as is knowing if there is a ground in the box or not and if there is, is the switch wired correctly so that it there is power to the z-wave logic all the time. In certain circumstances,, I would recommend taking the Hubitat hub to the garage long enough to include the switch and then taking it back to the main structure when that has been completed, but in this case I do not believe that should be needed because you have a z-wave smoke detector in the garage that is already paired. My logic is that all z-wave devices that are wired into "mains" power are all "routers". That means that your new wall switch only needs to communicate with the smoke detector and the smoke detector will relay the data between the hub and the switch. If the switch can make it to the hub directly, it will chose that route, if it can not it will chose to go through the smoke detector. I could tell you about Z-Wave long range devices which support distances measured in miles, but I do not see the point of spending that kind of money when you only need to go a few feet to get to the smoke detector. There is looing in the hub where you can watch z-wave devices try to get included. I have seen it but do not know how to use it to trouble shoot failed inclusion attempts. Perhaps instead if taking the hub to the garage, bring the switch to the hub temporarily wire it up with a grounded pig take that you plug into a grounded outlet and wire it to a grounded outlet that you can plug a trouble light into. Make sure the switch turns the lamp on and otf before you try to include it in the hub. Use a VOM if desired to make sure all connections are correct. Then perform that inclusion with the test set up right next to the hub. If it pairs correctly, then take the switch back to the garage and reinstall. In several cases I have had to have the hub near the device during pairing and then I was able to separate them after they knew about each other. If anyone can point me at a tutorial on how to use Hubitat logs to trouble shoot including a device, I would be very appreciative. I am most interested in knowing about the neutral wire situation with your installation. 1) is it required by the device, I find that in most cases, it is. 2) Do you have it? I find that in many switch boxes, it is not there if there are only 2 wires plus a ground which is often all there are, than you do not have it and the device can not communicate with the z-wave mesh. If it is not there it should be easy to run one in most garages as often the walls are not finished. and 3) Is it wired into the device using the correct terminal.
It's in a plastic box.
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I will give this a try. I will let you know what happens.
The smoke detector is not a repeater. I do have a neutral wire in the box, it is a plastic box. I will try including the switch near the hub and then taking to the garage and see if it works. I will let you know what happens.
I will try what others here have suggested, but if that doesn't work I may try Inovelli. Thanks for the info.
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The garage is heated and cooled so this will not be a concern. Thanks
Weird. Good to know.
I tried including the device inside and it included OK. I put it back in the garage and did a refresh from the zwave details page and all I get is Not responding. So I guess it is a lost cause.
You can still try a ZWave repeater. How far away is the garage switch from the hub? Is the hub located in the closest portion of the home to the garage? If not put the repeater there.
I often just use a plug in switch as a repeater like the one below.
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Perhaps the best autocorrect ever.
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I for one am quite frightened of these devices. They die like fish you win at the county fair. You never know when they might just go belly up.
This would be the thing to try with the switch you have been trying to use. It might even take multiple repeaters, but one in a strategic location might be just enough.
Alternatively, is there another light switch you might want to automate in a hallway or kitchen or someplace nearer to the garage? Any Z-wave dimmer or switch can be a repeater, so maybe kill two birds with one stone and put in a switch that can boost the signal to the next switch and get a new toy you can automate.
Tapo Matter switch I think should work if you want to go Wifi.
Example Only. I only have one older TP-Link Kasa switch and some plugs, do not own any of these Matter ones.
You currently may need to have another smart hub to commission the device (like Alexa or Apple) before you can add it to Hubitat. Hubitat has Matter commissioning in beta testing right now though, the mobile app is public beta, but the HE platform needed for it to work is a semi-private beta.
The garage is about 50ft from the house and maybe 75ft from the hub. I tried putting a repeater outside the house. The repeater would connect but the switch would not.
May take a bit of fenagling to get it to go through the one repeater. Also may be unreliable that way. Repeaters are supposed to give options, not be the only path.
Sounds like a perfect place for a Long Range device if you really want to use Z-wave. Assuming you have a hub that can do LR? Check out the line of Zooz switches, I think they are all LR at this point. I have links in my driver post: [DRIVER] Zooz ZEN Switches Advanced (and Dimmers)
