I really like these bulbs. In particular I like that they will restore after a power loss to their previous state. That makes them perfect to use behind a physical switch where you want them to come back at a previously selected color or level. Unfortunately they are repeaters which means you can’t use them that way because it would interrupt the mesh. If it is possible I’d like a non-repeating option in the bulb preferences.
Im pretty sure that mains-powered devices are required to act as repeaters to pass zwave certification.
Also, if you cut power to the bulbs your hub may eventually mark the node as dead, which could cause additional problems down the road.
Generally speaking, your hub will always prefer to communicate with devices directly, and will only route the command when necessary.
If you are really intent on preventing the bulbs from repeating though, you may be able to “cheat” by cutting power to the bulb, then performing a zwave network heal, then reconnecting the bulb. If the bulb is not reachable while the hub is rebuilding the zwave network, it shouldnt assign any routes to it. Of course, this would only work until the next time your hub tries to heal itself (you can turn periodic network heal off on some hubs) or you add a new device.
Note: I am still testing this theory (for an unrelated issue), but it seems to work so far)
I’d +1 this request.
Of course it would require an exclude/include, because the device’s status as a repeater is determined on inclusion…
Looks like this is a no go. I’ve sold four of my bulbs, two more to go.
I guess I’m confused as to why you wouldn’t want them as repeaters?
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He’s planning to shutoff power to them with a dumb switch which will pull that repeater out from under whatever was going through it. I’d suggest using a Red Series switch which can leave power to the bulb but send the command still working like a physical switch without interrupting the repeater function of the bulb.
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What I really liked about these bulbs is that they remember their previous settings at power on. They can go in a lamp or fixture that is controlled by a dumb switch and not effect the mesh when removed at power off. Much like the Sengled zigbee bulbs except these remember what they were doing.
Ah got it – yes, I believe what you could do to fix this is use a smart switch in smart bulb mode as @Terk mentions.
Smart bulbs are meant to have constant power to them so that they can communicate with the hub (so you can control it remotely). If you use a dumb switch and turn the bulb off, it will lose all communication to the hub (and in Z-Wave’s case, ruin your mesh as you’ve noticed).
This is a common problem with all smart bulbs, regardless of protocol.
We solved for this by implementing, “Smart Bulb Mode”, which keeps full power to your smart bulb and you can turn it on/off/dim from the light switch. What happens is instead of cutting power to the bulb, the switch instead sends a signal to the hub that tells the hub to turn the bulb on/off/dim. This allows you to still be able to control the bulb remotely as well as maintain your Z-Wave mesh.
Hope that helps?
I know how to do that. If I could turn off repeat I wouldn’t have to buy a couple of hundred dollars worth of switches to control a couple of bulbs. I have numerous 31-SNs that I like and know how to use.
I guess my question is (I’m likely missing something here, so apologies) – what’s the point of a smart bulb if you want to turn it off and cut power to it (thus, it losing signal unless the bulb is turned back on)?
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Exactly! IMO, smart bulbs should remain on. If you really don’t want your bulb to repeat, then buy one that doesn’t have a repeater, like a Sengled. It’s Zigbee, but that shouldn’t matter. You can’t argue you want Zwave for associations since you’re turning it off.
I would like to be able to set the bulb color and level and have it turn on to same. If I use Sengled they come back on at 100%. Think about a simple table lamp controlled by its switch or possibly a wall switch. Actually I just went into my bathroom where the vanity lights are Sengled RGBW and played around a bit and to my surprise they are retaining their previous state if I set it from the device. I’ll be curious to see if that holds after a prolonged disconnect.
These were originally the Inovelli RGBW controlled by picos in Hubitat. I could never get them to sync quite right. In that case they were always powered.
Do your Sengled bulbs work remotely when you cut power to them?
That’s rhetorical, right?
Exactly like my Inovellis.
I’d actually use this. In the bathroom there is a 3-bulb fixture, controlled by a dumb switch that’s part of a switch outlet combo. Replacing this with a smart switch would mean cutting tile to make the box a 2-gang or install another box. Neither of which I want to do right now.
If I could get RGBW bulbs that didn’t repeat (or non-repeating firmware for RGBW bulbs, or a way to otherwise program then to not repeat) I’d put those bulbs in the fixture. They’d go on and off when the normal light switch is toggled. But I also have a Hank Z-Wave Controller stuck to the wall, it could have a dim scene button.
Not exactly a huge market, but still a useful option to have maybe as a config parameter. That’d need an exclude-include to make it stop repeating I think…