That is true, but if you're using them with smart bulbs, my personal experience suggests not depending on the no-neutral option. The dimmers require at least a 25W load for no neutral, or less than 25W with a "bypass" installed in parallel with the load. Even with a bypass, I discovered problems using smart bulbs when they were dimmed to "too low" of a setting (via software, of course), which I assume is because even with the bypass the load was too low for the no-neutral dimmer to function (it would stop responding). Even with the bypass, I think I read somewhere that a 6W load is still required.
I'm not 100% sure that this is my problem, and if you have a neutral, you might avoid it (I'm not sure if I'm convinced of that, either--or I have a different problem in my other room, which I've posted about in their forums but haven't received much feedback on). But I'd probably recommend the switch anyway unless you want the dimmer for some reason. Plus it's cheaper.
FWIW, and for the record, I love Inovelli and have a bunch, but the Zooz dimmers work great in 3/4/5 way configs with dumb switches. Not sure if they work with smart switches though. They do this by having 2 relays inside the switch. I currently have a Zooz ZEN27 running in a 4-way with 2 dumb switches.
If I have to add the GE aux switch, I'm not sure what benefit I'd get my not using GE on both sides. I got the Holiday Pack with 4 RED dimmers and 2 bulbs. But if I can't get the 3-way working as advertising, I'm going to bail on them and go back to the tried and true GE/Jasco stuff that has been working as advertised for me.
That is my thought as well... And why all of my 3 way installs are all GE. I can't put up with/live with different functionality at each switch. I want full capability (dimming and on/off) at any location.
To be clear, are you saying that the inovelli switches can work without a neutral in some situations? Or that even though the dimmers claim to work w/o neutral, you've found that they don't work well?
I have recently installed a New Inovelli Red Dimmer switch in a 3 way configuration with a GE aux switch and I do have full capability to turn on/off and dim from the GE Aux switch the only things I'm unable to do from the GE Aux is the scene multi-tap commands that can only be done on the Inovelli Red. For my purposes that is fine since the Inovelli is at the bottom of the stairs and I have the notifications going to let me know when a garage light has been left on and the config button setup to tap and turn those off when I notice the notification. I also have a rule machine to turn off all downstairs lights with a double tap down when I'm walking upstairs to go to bed. The Inovelli did replace an old GE non plus(These are hell on hubitat) and the older GE Aux was already setup. My install preferences for AC and 3 Way are below.
AC Power Type: Neutral and Switch Type: 3 Way Momentary.
So I just want to say that I do have two Inovelli dimmers, both connected with neutral and both with a dumb 3-way switch on the other end. One is working with incandescents and one with LEDs. The incandescent version for a while had a problem (light stayed on only a short time) worked around by reducing the max brightness to 85 or 90 percent. The LED version has worked great since day 1.
I wish the community and Inovelli could figure out what was going on, but I just wanted to say that it IS possible. I suspect that there are just so many combos of wiring, bulbs, etc that some have a problem, especially when these switches have some requirements that totally dumb switches do no (for example having neutral and line both on the switch side). Not to mention getting them programmed correctly for the configuration (e.g. dumb switch+neutral). Good luck...
Mind sharing any special settings you might have to get the GE side to dim?
Initially my GE side wouldn't even turn on/off so I changed the switch type to 3-way momentary and power type to neutral but still can't get it to dim. All other settings are default
I chose the GE Aux well b/c I had one and besides, they are cheap if you need to buy one...
I had the same problem initially and was scratching my head. So I set it to like the picture below and started researching that maybe my Aux was too old or something and then I decided that I wanted to setup the notifications and the Scene control so I added the Switch Child Device app and played with those settings for a while and when I went back to try figuring out the Aux switch it was working. I may have rebooted the hub as well. There is a bit of a delay between the push and the light going off/on so make sure you only press it once to test and then wait a few seconds. I also had a some confusion on what version of the child device driver to use so I initially installed the 1 with "level" in the name and it was incorrect. The correct 1 is the one in the included screen shot below.
Inovelli has been on the top of my list for about two years now. Eric does a great job on the drivers. So far I have over 20 devices of their older line installed and working great. At my mom's house I am planning of removing the old "non-zwave plus" switches and replacing with Inovelli in January.
Ok.. might have gotten a little crazy.. Haven’t even gotten my first order in... I have already ordered 11 inovelli multi white bulbs, 5 red series dimmers, and 1 black series switch... I am replacing my ZigBee bulbs as they are starting to give my mesh hell
Now the switch won't dim at either end. I repeated the process a second time and now the Inovelli switch works upside down for on/off... no big deal I thought, i'll just flip the switch in HE.. no luck
