Zigbee or Zwave for outdoor lights

💬 Lounge
1

Hi, I would like to know what way should I go? Zigbee or Zwave for 2 wires outdoor light switches. one wired indoor switch that controls rear of the house sconces and also I would like to have a wireless switch that I can install in the mailbox, so if the mailman, mailwoman delivers my mail I can be informed when that occurs.

My Hubitat hub is pretty much in the middle of the house. Front of the house is about 324 linear feet.

Thanks

2

Do you mean 2 wired outdoor switches? As in the switches are hardwired and on the outside of your house? Or the switches control lights that are outside your house but are inside the house?

How far is the mailbox from the house and is it direct line of sight? What type of mailbox do you have (std US box)?

1 Like
3

I imagine your switches are all in protected housings or inside the house that control the outdoor lights? There are very few Zigbee switches to choose from make sure anything Z-Wave you get is Z-Wave Plus.

I put one of these in our mailbox and wired it NO (normally open) to the two screw terminals in one of these which is mounted under the mailbox which keeps the rain/snow off it but keeps the radio outside of our steel mailbox. This way the mailman doesn't need to do anything except put the mail in the box I have a rule to toggle on a smart plug when open and I have a night light without a light sensor plugged into that in out garage so when I pull into the garage I can see if the mail has arrived or not. The only time it gets out of sync is when we send mail or if the mailman forgets to put something in and comes back to open it again.

1 Like
4

Hi tterk1,

Yes, all switches will be in a protected housing. I already have some cheap WiFi to actuate the lights but I depend on things like Smart Life to turn them on and off, so I was told Zigbee or Z-wave is the way to go. Pretty cool setup in your mailbox. Too bad it is too late to run a wire to it. My house is a newly built house and I put a lot of attention to running wires in the house but totally forgot the mailbox.

So looks like I can go either way Zigbee or Z-wave, right?

5

Yes either will work fine you just need enough repeaters to get where your going. The Ecolink door/window sensor is used in place of wiring all the way to the mailbox. But yes that would have been ideal.

1 Like
6

This will be crucial to answering you question.

2 Likes
7

Hi Ryan780, I will measure the distance form Hubitat hub and I will get back to you on that. Thanks.