Hi all,
I'm sure a few of you have gone thru this and wanted to get some lessons learned before I do it. I have a few ZW switches/outlets that I'm going to eventually upgrade to ZW+. These devices are currently in automations in HE and in Node Red thru the Maker API. When I do the exclusion, replace device, then inclusion of the new device is it possible to include the new device in such a way that it will just drop in and replace the old one without the need for reworking the automations? i.e. Can I simply give it the same label and name?
What I did was remove the existing Z-Wave switch from Alexa/Google, then rename it to old, then remove it from the wall and install the new Z-Wave +. Then after pairing the new switch I'd go to the old one and click each in use by line to move them all over to the new switch then once the old was no longer in use by anything I'd pop it into a spare electrical box on my workbench and power it up again and exclude it from the hub.
No, apps and devices on Hubitat use a Hubitat-assigned ID (visible in the URL and a few other places) to associate device selections with the actual devices. The name and label don't matter--you could name everything on Hubitat the same for all it cares, and they'll still be separate devices.
For Z-Wave devices, the "DNI", or device network ID, corresponds to the Z-Wave node ID. This is different but unlike the above is editable if you know what you're doing. Following the instructions linked to above is one example of knowing what you're doing--it basically swaps the old DNI out for new DNI from the new device, keeping the Hubitat device ID (as seen in the URL and ultimately used by apps) the same, so most apps will keep humming along like nothing happened.
However, my hunch is that this would really only work if it's the same device or at least one that has the same Z-Wave command classes. Replacing a classic Z-Wave with a Z-Wave Plus device would definitely not fall under that category (and if you have a C-7 hub or an S0 device on any hub, then pairing with S2 or security vs. no security is also a case where this is likely to not work). I'm not sure anyone has tried this to confirm, nor have I heard comments from staff about it (other than that the above procedure was intended for a situation where the devices are the same and you are, for example, restoring a backup to a different hub).
It's definitely the most tedious way, but the best way to replace one device with another is usually to go into each app that uses the device (check the "In use by" section on the old device page) and swap them out manually. Then, when the old device is no longer in use by anything, you can remove it. In some apps/integrations you will need to do additional work--I imagine Node Red probably uses the fixed Hubitat-database-assigned ID and you'd need to redo everything on that side, too, though I can't say for sure since I don't use it.
You can definitely still try the above, but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't work in this case (my concern is that the device details will not be accurate for the new device and may cause problems). So that last thing might be what you need to do, after all. Take backups either way. Good luck!
Thanks all
Yea, I kinda figured there wasn't a 'drop in' method but I had to ask. I'll probably go the tedious, for sure, route to keep things running smoothly.
