Today marks our 5th year of Inovelli and to celebrate we're giving away one Smart LED Strip Kit and a 20 oz Inovelli Yeti!
Here's how to enter:
Share your “how we met” story telling us how you first found out about Inovelli!
You must use the #HappyBirthdayInovelli
Each location you post to will be another entry (Max 4 entries)
Locations include
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
and right here in our community in the comments under this post
Make sure to tag us in the post or photo and use #HappyBirthdayInovelli so we can count your entry!
Eric will be drawing a random winner on Thursday, April 29th!
*Must be 18+ to enter
*Must tag @theinovelli in posts made on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
*Must Use #HappyBirthdayInovelli in posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
I was looking at smart switches and hated the ones from the “corporate” brands. Found out about Inovelli during a last-ditch google search before buying from a big box store. I read that you are community focused, and (unbelievably at first) actively provide firmware updates and accept customer feedback! It was a no-brainer which switches I was going to purchase.
I actually found out about Inovelli through their crazy story of their first manufacturer on reddit. I saw Eric H quickly jump in and be transparent and kind to everyone and also say that they were working on a completely new version with a completely new manufacturer, and hopped onboard with a pre-order. I believe I made the right choice, as my switches are one of the most-discussed items in my home with friends and family, and it’s a fun party trick to turn them all different random colors!
I stumbled across Inovelli on Amazon after trying a relay based solution to automate my lights. Shortly thereafter I found the community and was impressed with the support and transparency of the company.
I’ve been in home automation (as a hobby) for quite a while. Back when I first discovered the concept, X10 was ‘what there was’. Vera Lite was my first Z-Wave controller, and from that moment on I was hooked.
I first heard about Inovelli on Reddit- rough chatter about a manufacturer that was cool and very customer friendly but had some production problem and thus wasn’t actually selling anything anymore.
The then-new-now-current Red series came out and I was still on the sidelines. HomeSeer was my go-to ‘premium’ switch.
I ended up ordering the Holiday Bundle (2 RGBW bulbs and 4 Red dimmers) on a whim, it was a good value and I had zero interest in smart bulbs but the price worked out so the smart bulbs were free if you consider the dimmers at full price. So whatever. That then sat on a shelf for a few months and I paid it little attention. I figured they were a bit cheaper than HomeSeer dimmers so I’d use them in the basement or other low priority areas.
My first actual use was when we started doing up our guest room to be not-shitty. Like most older houses it has one switch and a switched outlet (in the wrong place). I didn’t have any spare plug-in modules. So I figured I’d give the Inovelli a try- smart bulb in the lamp, replace the light switch with the Red dimmer, and hardwire the outlet to be always on.
This ended up working way better than expected. The RGBW bulb was perfect for the application, and the Red dimmer performed beautifully. That’s around when this forum launched and I started to really get into Inovelli. The company’s openness and transparency is what really got me. I’ve been in tech for a long time, and very few companies have this sort of open-door policy for communicating with customers. That especially applies to discussing products in development- nobody else in the Z-Wave space does this.
Now the Red firmware is in a really good feature state, they are my go-to and HomeSeer is the one that goes in the basement.
We met when I was looking for new dimmers, and wasn’t happy with what I found in the big box stores. I saw the new (at the time) red series dimmers, and thought “these are awesome!” And I still do!
#HappyBirthdayInovelli We first met via your community support and direct comments on Reddit in 2020 and your CES 2020 interviews. Wanted a smart switch that worked with smart bulbs.
Alexa, turn on the living room lights. “I’m sorry, something went wrong for the 7,000 time”. Alexa, turn on the Wifi Switches! “Lights are not responding, try disabling the skill and re-enabling”. Why Alexa Why? “I’m sorry, I don’t know that”. Ok you win. Dear Reddit, how can I eliminate Alexa from my life? How about motion activated lights and automations? Sounds awesome! Where do I start? Well, pickup a Hubitat and some z-wave switches pronto! Ok, that sounds like a solid plan to me! What brand of switches should I buy? Well, anybody whos anybody buys Inovelli. Oh yeah? I wanna be somebody too! So do it! I will! Right now do it! Already did! Good job. Wow they are working great! And the company is pretty easy to work with. Hey Alexa, go unplug yourself!!!
I found Inovelli from a Slick Deals Frontpage deal for the upcoming Dimmer Preorder. I wasn’t even in the market for smart switches, but with the features and EricH replying to several comments on the deal page, I was hooked. I preordered 10 dimmers and was ecstatic that they were projected to be delivered by May; only a few months away! I eventually preordered 10 switches too. Well after many preorder updates and date shifts, I finally took delivery of my first set of on/off switches and eventually the dimmers.
Since then, I’ve ordered all the products (with exception of the Fan Switch, no fans in the house) and couldn’t be more pleased with the company and product!
I had my smart home in a spot. Smart bulbs everywhere, some limited ceiling fan controls, lots of security and cameras and temperature controls everywhere. But there was a HUGE GAPING HOLE in the whole thing - mains powered smart switches to control my smart bulbs and set scenes.
I knew I didn’t want any battery remote nonsense. I didn’t want to have to lock lightswitches in place or use ugly coverups. I just wanted to drop in switches I could control to use on my smart bulbs I had littered over the entire house.
I searched every day. I looked at Chinese manufacturers. Things got so desperate that I literally STARTED A PETITION to bring back the only fix I knew would work for me. It was sad, sad days.
But then, AHA! A literal light at the end of the tunnel. I found it on the SmartThings forums, which I perused daily in hopes of finding just such a fix. And there it was - the Red series dimmer and on/off switch. I could disable the relays and use them for scene controls. HALLELUJAH! I bought a couple at first to try them out, and then by the dozens, replacing virtually every switch in my house.
Now my wife and kids and even uninitiated visitors can control my smart lighting at home! And I have the power to set multi-clicks to scenes and actions via Hubitat, which I have now migrated to. And it is all locally controlled and reliable.
#HappyBirthdayInovelli, and thank you for saving my smart lighting investment from an annoyed wife, confused babysitters, and impatient visitors. Works great.
I remember it like it was yesterday… the first time I met the love of my smart home life.
It was a cold and stormy night in March, once again my service member of a husband was away. The kids all had colds, and I was rocking an awful migraine pulsing through my left eye. As if it couldn’t get any worse, the schools had just announced their closing due to Covid. On an instant I knew something would have to change if the kids, and I were to survive this.
As the kids watched some stupid show I resorted down the YouTube rabbit hole. Anything had to beat watching their show again. That’s where I met someone that would change my life forever, enter Reid. In a few short videos I knew moving to a smart home was the answer to my problems, or so I thought.
Turns out it was a big world out there, and for every question answered I ended up with 3 more questions. IoT, zigbee, z wave how to choose? Then I saw it, the Red Series switch and my questions had been answered. The possibilities felt endless of what I could do. I no longer felt limited by what other manufacturers were telling me I wanted. Time to take the leap and see if it lived up to my hopes and dreams.
When the box arrived I was blown away, wow the packaging was so personable. As I dug deeper and opened up the instructions I knew I had found my company, they had just my sense of humor. Our relationship has only grown from there.
I found about Inovelli products from the popular website Slickdeals. I had GE light switches in almost all my house but then they started failing and was looking at for an alternative. I saw all the good reviews and comments talking about this company. I decided to try them out and have fallen in love with the light switches. I haven’t tried other devices from Inovelli but I want to. Thanks for your hard work.
I was happy to come across smart home products that actually work, when I tried out one of your switches a few years ago.
This was after running 5-10 other brand smart switches (one of which caught fire).
Your switches are rock solid and never fail me.
I have expanded to replacing all my switches with your brand and am installing them in my vacation home that is being built. Great job and #HappyBirthdayInovelli
I’m honestly not sure how I found out about Inovelli, but my best guess is that I heard someone mentioned their gen 1 switches on the SmartThings Community forum back when I used SmartThings. The gen 1 scene switches were pretty appealing at that time: reasonable cost, supported “disabling the relay” (sorry! ), and supported multi-taps. I never did get one, but I was able to snag one of their dual indoor smart plugs before pretty much everything went out of stock. I have lots of the “gen 2” (and new) products and pretty happy with them, though! I love the notification bar on the switches and (especially) dimmers — still the only product I know of on the market where these are actually large enough to be visible (from across the room, so it’s actually helpful) and flexible enough (any color, effects, etc.) to be used for various purposes.
I was looking for a smart plug that had a lower profile 5 years ago or so. Came across the dual plugs with one on each side. I love that thing and wish you still made them! Time to bring it out of retirement?
My first house I went with all Ge switches, for the new house, it is 100% inovelli now. Not sure where I’m going to put new things like the 5 scene switches, but I’m excited!
I came across Inovelli on Reddit as what seemed like the most recommended brand for switches. Since I wanted to dip my toe into home automation I reached out and asked a couple questions about how they worked and what hubs Inovelli saw most of their customer base was on. After starting with a couple switches you’ve started slowly taking over the rest of the rooms in the house and I’m just waiting on the Blue series and Aux switches to launch and then I’ll work on swapping out the remainder #HappyBirthdayInovelli
In a nutshell, my first step into smart home tech was Hue light bulbs. I really liked controlling them from my phone and setting up simple automations via IFTTT, but grew frustrated when my light switches seemed to keep finding their way to the off position. That’s when I learned about smart switches. As I tend to do, I researched the heck out of the myriad of smart switches out there, much of the time reading through Reddit posts. The name Inovelli kept coming up. The features of these switches looked amazing, and I also kept seeing members of the company commenting on these posts, answering questions and offering help with issues. Wow!
Having now used my 21 switches for several months, I couldn’t be happier! The multi-tap scene control has especially been a hit with my wife, who isn’t able to use voice assistants due to being deaf. One of uses that really got her excited was using a switch to pause the Chromecast to get our children’s attention (let’s face it, they turn into zombies when that thing’s on). Being able to flash the lights when someone rings the doorbell is also something we’ve been able to incorporate. I know I’m just scratching the surface, so I’m very excited to see what else I can think up to do with these switches!
I was poking around the Hubitat forum, learning about the my new hub, when I saw these cool dimmers.
It didn’t take long for me to realize I needed about 8 of them so I could use the LED Status bars properly (they are my “house status” indicators: alarm status, weather alerts, attic light alerts, basement humidity/temperature alerts, door open/locked alerts). The coolest, most generally useful thing I’ve done!!!
), and supported multi-taps. I never did get one, but I was able to snag one of their dual indoor smart plugs before pretty much everything went out of stock. I have lots of the “gen 2” (and new) products and pretty happy with them, though! I love the notification bar on the switches and (especially) dimmers — still the only product I know of on the market where these are actually large enough to be visible (from across the room, so it’s actually helpful) and flexible enough (any color, effects, etc.) to be used for various purposes.