Category: Home Automation

Smart Switches

Among our many recent purchases for the house was light switches . I’ve been a fan of smart homes since before they really existed. As a kid I read an article in the September 1990 issue of Popular Science magazine about the “world’s smartest houses” and have been incorporating automation and remote control ever since, first with “Plug’n Power” controls from Radio Shack (a rebranded X10 implementation) and eventually Z-Wave switches, a SmartThings hub, and Google Home assistants.

We have lots of holes in the walls like this

Smart switches and controls have gotten a lot more common in the past decade, with their technology typically falling into one of several wireless categories: WiFi, Bluetooth, Z-Wave, and Zigbee. WiFi is fairly ubiquitous and you don’t need a hub, but the more devices you add to WiFi, the slower it gets. Bluetooth can create a proper mesh, but a lot of the implementations don’t and it has some range limits. Zigbee and Z-Wave are very similar protocols where they can create a mesh network from one device to another, but they both need a hub and aren’t inter-compatible. I have a SmartThings hub that can do both Z-Wave and Zigbee, but my existing switches and other devices are all Z-Wave.

After reading that Amazon was adding Zigbee hubs to new Alexa devices, I wondered if the writing was on the wall for Z-Wave and I should switch up. Ultimately I decided that I’d invested enough in Z-Wave already, and that having a mix would make a less reliable mesh. I also found that even if SmartThings goes away (a real risk, as a lot of companies stop supporting their devices after a while), there are open source solutions I can build that will work with my Z-Wave devices without needing a company behind it.

The obvious solution was to buy more of the HomeSeer light switches we have in the basement, except for a few things. First, they don’t dim as low as I’d like when they’re used with LED lights, which we have exclusively. Second, they don’t make them any more. They were replaced with a new version that probably solves the first problem, but they’re quite expensive and now have programmable RGB lights on the side, which seems like a feature I really don’t need for money I really don’t want to spend.

I expanded my search and found that there were several different companies selling switches, but it turns out most of them are the exact same Jasco switch just branded differently. The reviews on those had some notable shortcomings, but the only other actually different model I found on Amazon had other shortcomings. Buzzing sounds, reliability problems, slow response, any number of annoyances that I don’t want to deal with when I’m paying ten times the price of a normal light switch.

Lots of new switches

Then, finally I came across Zooz light switches. I actually have some other Zooz Z-Wave devices and I know that they have both good company support as well as custom handlers for SmartThings to enable all their features. Best of all they were reasonably priced, especially compared to the HomeSeer switches, and in the case of 3-way and 4-way, you can use a regular light switch at the other end, where most similar devices have special companion switches. I walked around and figured out where we want regular switches, where we want smart switches, smart dimmers, fan control, and I even picked up a scene controller so we can have a switch by the door that can control a bunch of different lights and scenes. The order arrived a few days later, but we’ll have to wait until the electrician comes back to get this all wired up since he hasn’t put the circuits into the panel yet and while I could do that myself, I’m already paying the electrician so he may as well finish the work.

I’ll report in once they’re install on how they’re working. Just the pairing process will take a while, and we’ll have to figure out which switch is which. Eventually I’ll get scenes built in SmartThings and integrate triggers from the security system as well.

Smart Home Planning

Let’s take a moment to not talk about subfloor. I’ve been interested in home automation since I was a kid reading about “Smart Houses” in magazines. When I was a teenager I bought Plug ‘n Power (later X10) modules from Radio Shack to remote control the lights in my bedroom. The idea of having a house that responds to the people inside, the weather outside, the time of day, and any number of other factors to be more comfortable, more efficient, and more secure has been a dream of mine for a long time. Fortunately, Sarah discovered the convenience of the X10 lights I was using at our condo and is on board with my techno fantasies.

Several years ago Z-Wave was introduced. It’s a wireless mesh technology designed for home automation, meaning that devices can communicate with each other, pass along commands and status, and operate much more reliably and faster than X10. Z-Wave offers the same types of controllable light switches, outlets, sensors and controllers as other home automation technologies, but it’s more DIY and cost effective than most. As I read up on it, I found that the best way to implement it when you’ve got your walls opened up already is to install a wired security system, then connect that to the Z-Wave controller along with the other modules you want.

There’s a few reasons to do it that way. First of all, the door, window, and motion sensors for a wired system are much cheaper than Z-Wave sensors, and since they’re wired they are more reliable and don’t require batteries that need to be changed. Other components, like smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are similarly less expensive with more options than the smattering of Z-Wave enabled devices on the market. These sensors can then trigger Z-Wave devices, like lights or send alerts on your phone via the Z-Wave controller. Plus, while some Z-Wave devices can have a delay between when you push a button and when it happens, a wired security system can trigger events immediately.

DSC Security System

DSC Security System

With all that said, I bought a DSC security system, along with the necessary expansion modules, sensors, and detectors for the first floor. Eventually we’ll be able to use this fancy technology to do some cool stuff, but for the time being it’s just sitting in boxes. When we get a bit further along in the first floor build out, we’ll install the security system and connect it to the Z-Wave controller I got a while ago (the Mi Casa Verde VeraLite) and tie it into some Z-Wave light switches. The electronic deadbolts we bought shortly after we moved in are also Z-Wave enabled so we can remotely monitor and control the door locks.

What can this all do? Since we’re anticipating having several different lights in, say, the kitchen (ceiling, under cabinet, chandelier, etc), we could have a control that would toggle these between different settings with a single button. If it’s dark out, the motion sensor could turn on just the ceiling lights to a dim level when you walk in, but only if you’re not watching a movie in the living room. Using dawn/dusk data or even a light level sensor, it could only turn on the lights if they’re needed or only to a brightness that’s needed.

One button by the front or back door could turn off all the lights, unless the rooms were occupied. You can turn off the lights downstairs when you get into bed or have them turn off automatically at a certain time if no one is  up. The exhaust fan can come on automatically in the bathroom and run for ten minutes after you leave. We can forgo 3-way light switches in a lot of cases and just have a central bank, then use controllers where they’re convenient. These types of things add more than just convenience. In a lot of cases they can save electricity. It takes a larger up front cost in time and money, since setting all of this up will likely be an ongoing process, but the result should be really cool.