3-way: Switching from smart+dumb to smart+smart

Switches Wiring Discussion
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Hey, all. I have a 3-way switch (have neutral, line/load in separate boxes I think), and the box with the always-hot line is downstairs in the less convenient place. I put an LZW30 (black-series on/off) switch in that less convenient place a couple years ago, and left the dumb switch in the other (upstairs) spot. But I’m starting to get annoyed that I don’t have scene control upstairs, so I was thinking of replacing the dumb switch with another smart switch (red 500-series or 700-series on/off).

My question is: If I do this, would I need to rewire the existing black-series switch too? The diagrams seem to imply that I would (comparing https://desk.zoho.com/DocsDisplay?zgId=691830694&mode=inline&blockId=k4wwh5d6bfcdd498a4f65bd232517fc6c61f3 to https://desk.zoho.com/DocsDisplay?zgId=691830694&mode=inline&blockId=k5bzm577b12d333f24125a87897f6fc79e253), but since there’s no single diagram covering this situation (all diagrams imply that you’re starting with no Inovelli switches at all), I wasn’t sure.

If so, I guess I’m not sure that option 1 is better than option 2 or 3, since we’re talking about the same amount of work:

  1. Keep black switch downstairs, replace dumb switch upstairs with red on-off switch
  2. Replace black switch downstairs with wite-series add-on switch, replace dumb switch upstairs with red on-off switch
  3. Replace black switch downstairs with red 800-series 2-in-1, replace dumb switch upstairs with white-series add-on switch (note that while this option would add dimming to the circuit, I don’t care about dimming on this one)

What would you do in this situation?

Thank you!

2

If I undertand correctly, you have a Line downstairs and the Load upstairs.

Any of your options would work, but #1 using two Inovelli switches would require you to use associations to sync the two. IMO, that adds another layer of complexity that you may or may not want.

With a Line and Load in separate boxes, you can use an Inovelli/Aux combo and put the Inovelli in either location. Communication is wired, so no need for associations. Scenes will work in both locations if you replace the Black with a Red. (No scenes with the Aux with a Gen 2 Red.)

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It’ll need to be a Red 800 series though. The 500 couldn’t do Aux scenes.

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Sure. If I use one of the older red ones, I’ll put the smart switch in the place where I care about scenes (i.e. upstairs), and the add-on switch in the other place.

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All options work. If you were dimming I’d put dimmers in both locations so the led bars were in both locations. But for on off, Red switch upstairs and aux switch downstairs would do what you want. If there is a chance you’d want scenes in both locations then the new Red set in on-off mode.