Auxiliary Switch | Project Golden Rule (LED Version)

Yes, this would work well!

Associations should continue working without the hub being present, as far as I know. This is one of the reasons that I chose Z-Wave for my home, so that I can leave everything in place, working, when I move.

(Not moving any time soon, 15 years at the earliest.)

While that’s may be true, I would not feel comfortable leaving the next home owners with that setup. I could imagine 50 questions following closing. If they have to replace a switch or don’t know how to replace with another Z wave switch then I rather point them to the hub (which I will leave in place) in case they need to perform updates or schedules etc… I really hope my next homeowners are smart home users.

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Is there any way the aux switch will be able to trigger scene commands in the smart switch on the other side?

Yes, definitely. This is the goal.

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I have to say @harjms you’re nicer than me, I’m ripping every Inovelli switch out before it hits the market. The new homeowners can have dumb paddle switches.

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I thought for sure this was ending different lol. I got nervous a bit!

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Haha I love these switches, leaving them would result in me buying new switches but sanding down the config buttons is a pain!

I cannot wait! I’m swapping from the Leviton ZWave dimmer + companion switch to Inovelli for the significantly broader feature support (and the Levitons keep dying on me). I am sad that I loose the dim indicator at the companion switches and that my multi-switch wall plates have random assortments of GE companion switches and LZW31-SNs. Consistent look at feel is important :slight_smile:

For me:

  • Everything has a Neutral, so that requirement isn’t an issue.
  • Agree that LED bars syncing to the Load/Smart switch is ideal and way easier to reason about at the Hub
  • Latency is key. I had a 3-switch association setup working in my hallway but the family was not happy with the 0.5-1.0 second delay from button press to light activation when controlling the lights from the associated switches.

SUPER excited for this! Honestly I’d even pay full price for more LZW31-SNs if they could just communicate state over the travler.

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I’m hoping for Gen 3 switches. I’m leaving these to buy the new new ones. :). #Inovelli4life

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I bought the 3D printed ones.

All of the above examples show how and talk about using the aux switch in a 3 way scenario (i.e. one master and one aux. I have a few spots where I have a 4 way (one master to load and two aux switches with different scenarios: master is at the end and master is in the middle of the two aux switches). Will these aux switches be able to be used in these scenarios? That is, connect two aux switches to the same master and have the LEDs sync up and be powered, etc…? I didn’t see anything in the PRD for this scenario. Super excited for this aux though for at least all of my 3 way applications. I have the master switches but didn’t install them yet as have trying to figure out what I wanted to do for the aux. Now going to wait for these to put in…

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I think it would be beneficial (possibly necessary) to match the tap/hold functions on the auxiliary switch with the main switch. At the least, I think the switch should mirror the multi-tapping/hold functions of the main inovelli unit. I mention this because I currently have a four way configuration with one GE z-wave switch and I can use the 2x and 3x tap on both of my auxiliary switches. This is helpful because I don’t need people in the house to remember “multi tap works on this switch, but not these two.”

However, with that said… I’d like to switch gears from “I think it should have this capability” to “I think it would be a really awesome game changer if it had this feature” As you mentioned there will have to be some form of smart components for controlling the led bar etc, I would like to see the aux switches be able to have their own multitap/hold programming. The reason I mention this is because I think there would be situations where people might want to divide their banks of lights into sections. For example, I have a bank of lights that has one light at the top of the stairs, and four at the bottom. I would love to have my auxiliary switches (four way config) at the bottom of the stairs have different multi tap functionality than the top. For example, double tapping the top-of-stairs-switch might control the smart bulb at the top of the stairs, but the bottom switches would control the bottom smart lights. I think this capability would pair very well with the inovelli red series ability to control any smart bulbs. Ideally one could even control the single press functions for aux switches connected to a red series switch. Theoretically this capability would allow people to split up banks of lights in a whole new way when using smart lights - something they would usually need to re-wire for. For example, someone with a large hall on a three way configuration, could use a red series switch in combination with smart bulbs and now have half their lights controlled by the add on switch, and the other by the main. Another example would be someone with a three way switch in a bedroom with one switch by the bed (wired to control an overhead light), could theoretically make the switch by the bed have multi tap capability to control night stand lights while leaving the main room switch have multi tap controlling the ceiling light. By having unique tap functions on aux switches, there are endless possibilities that people could do in conjunction with the red series smart light capability.

If the multitap function couldn’t be programmed in through the add on switch itself (due to lack of zwave etc), maybe there could be a possibility of having the main switch do the heavy lifting? For example, if the firmware on the main switch could be updated to recognize which add-on did the multi tap/taps, then maybe the hub drivers could be updated to be able to use this info. This might eliminate the need to have z-wave in add-on switches while still providing the expanded functionality.

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Another vote for the switch to be able to support scene / multi tap somehow.

Right now I have several Aux switches that have switches on the other end that I activity use Double Tap on. Being able to use the Aux side to trigger the double tap button on the main switch really would be a game changer for me.

In my use case I don’t even need the aux switch to be able to be programed as a separate switch in my smart hub, if it can trigger any (or most) of the multi tap buttons on the main switch I would be happy.

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What about a aux rock out switch? That would be sweet. I recognize that’s a whole different animal, but… Just throwing it out there that it should be considered.

Super excited about this, and would be the tipping point for me to change over all my 3 way switches. The consistency would be such key for it.

I do wish the notification bars had an easier way to control how bright they are vs time of day.

What hub? Most every established hub has a circadian rhythm app that can be used to vary brightness to the time of day.

I think Ashley means the illumination of the LED strip, not the light it’s controlling. Unless you know something I don’t . . .

Realize this isn’t super on topic so can take it elsewhere if need to, but you can change the LED strip brightness if you want to. I don’t know if you caught that and just mean it’s definitely a more involved process?

Tool for determining parameters - (Inovelli Switch Toolbox)

And then using a circadian rhythm app like @kreene1987 mentioned and Rule Machine or an equivalent if you aren’t using Hubitat to maybe change mode based on time, with rules to change brightness per mode?

Taking this even more off topic . . .

@ashley.waltrip

You should be able to change the LED notification bar illumination lefel with any rule application, such as webCore and perhaps others.

SetColor … (hsl) is exposed, allowing you to enter Hue, Saturation and Level. The Level will vary the brightness.

So basically you need a piston/rule that changes the level based on the time of day.