When will lzw36 be available
Moved to new thread.
Long story short, we had to discontinue the LZW36 due to a dispute with our manufacturer as well as the ongoing disconnection issue that was never resolved.
We plan on recreating this switch this year with a target of starting it in Q2. It will start with Zigbee and then depending on its success, we will also do a Z-Wave version.
Instead of the RF communication, it will use either Zigbee Binding or Z-Wave Association to better improve the communication between the switch and canopy.
In addition, this switch will also be a dual switch in that it will be able to control two loads. So you should be able to use it for a bathroom fan and bathroom lights.
In other words, the base switch will be a dual switch and if you want the canopy module for a ceiling fan, you can buy that separately and Z-Wave Associate or Zigbee bind them together.
12 Likes
If the wall switch will have two loads, for a canopy configuration it will only use one load in smart bulb mode then? Seems like additional cost for that use case, but the ability to cut power to the canopy would be an improvement over the current model.
Would the canopy module sell separately? There are plenty of ways it could be controlled using standard dimmer switch scenes. I think the hardest problem to solve with this as a native Z* device would be how to engage inclusion/exclusion mode without opening the fan (the separate RF of the LZW36 seemed to solve this problem with special paring commands that could be sent by the switch.)
__
1 Like
Duh! I misread that.
Yeah this is a great question/point. I guess the way we looked at it was that we could kill two birds with one stone by offering a dual switch for those that want to use it for their bathroom setup or for those that have separate loads coming into the same box for their fan (ie: one fan load and one light load). Then if you didn’t have two loads coming down, you could buy the module separately and only use one of the loads in the dual switch (or honestly you probably could just use line/neutral like the current setup).
We would be able to get a better price on these since we’d be dual purposing them and would be able to buy more at a time, there would be a better communication from the switch and canopy by using bindings/associations, and it would be easier to offer replacements as we wouldn’t have to send both the switch and canopy when someone’s switch or canopy is broken since now they’d be sold separately.
I think it’s possible because they would technically be two separate units (although we would have to figure out the UX on that as that may be kind of a pain to have a switch + a canopy showing up when they control the same thing) and you could Associate or Bind them via your app. But as a back-up, we’d need to create a way to do this without a hub via some sort of button combination like you suggested.
2 Likes
I like the convenience of controlling fan/light with out additional wiring
1 Like
Is it still possible to get just the canopy module for the LZW36? I have a working switch, but the canopy module got fried.
2 Likes
Out of curiosity, does using Z-Wave (or Zigbee) in the canopy module require some sort of air-gap functionality as part of the approval process like it does for switches???
1 Like
Nah. My canopy module yeeted itself a couple weeks ago and there were no replacements available.
Multiple loads with one switch is interesting. I’m surprised that is possible considering how cramped the inside of the defunct Blue 2-1 I disassembled is.
Is the Blue LZW36 replacement being discussed likely to support dimming (on the light component) and/or fan speed control? I’d put that in as a nice to have but truthfully I’d take even just basic on/off switching.
I’m contemplating a hacky workaround similar to the 2-switch-bound-canopy being discussed, shoving a dimmer module and another relay module above the fan, using multi presses to control the fan relay, just haven’t gotten the energy mustered to disassemble the fixture (12+ step process).
Sad news, but thank you for the updates on this. Understand the issues with the canopy module, etc. but have based several solutions around my house on this and have a canopy module that really needs to be replaced. Hopefully there will be some sort of replacement in the near future, preferably in the ZWave category. I don’t really want to have to retool everything for Zigbee.
That said, if it was discontinued, would ask that it be listed as such on the products page. It just says “Sold Out” implying there will be more at some point. If there isn’t going to be any more - ever - then it would seem a better message could be published on the storefront, than just leaving us to dig into the forums to find this.
4 Likes