I know that Inovelli has decided to focus on lighting solutions for the time being, but I hope this is sufficiently in that ballpark.
Problem
My house has a lot of these stupid, pull-chain light sockets. We have them in closets, in our garage, and in our basement. I hate them. Groping for pull-chains in the dark is so much fun. To address this annoyance, I’ve historically used motion-sensing light socket adapters so that lights respond to my presence. This solution has worked… ok… for me for a number of years, but I see opportunity for improvement.
Why Z-Wave is the solution
A Z-Wave enabled motion-sensing light socket adapter would solve two issues I have with the currently available products: sensitivity and timing. Being able to adjust both the sensitivity of the PIR sensor (like via parameter 12 of the LZW60) and how long the light is activated (like via parameter 13 of the LZW60) would provide huge increases in usability. Right now I have a number of sensors I’d love to crank the sensitivity down on so they don’t trigger when the HVAC system starts blowing warm air. And I have others that I’d like to crank the timer up on to avoid them turning off at annoying times like when I’m trying to work on something in the garage and I’ve stood still just a little too long.
But, besides the ability to tweak settings from their potentially annoying defaults, Z-Wave also provides opportunities for new functionality. I would love to be able to group the three lights in my basement together in an association so that motion sensed by one sensor turns on all three lights, and motion sensed by another sensor resets the inactivity timer for all three. Further, it’d be awesome to have a button on my wall that tells all three lights to ignore the motion sensors and just keep the lights on (or off) no matter what.
Why not just buy a bunch of LZW60s and LZW42s and rig something together?
There are a few reasons why a LZW60+LZW42 combo isn’t a replacement for the device I’m proposing.
- LZW42s, while super nice, aren’t the right bulb for every application. For example, in my basement I have couple of super bright, adjustable flood lights. In my garage I have a shop light plugged into a socket via a light socket to outlet adapter.
- A combination of LZW60+LZW42 is obviously two devices where one could (hypothetically) do the job. It’s more things to either figure out how to run power to, or maintain batteries in, more things to keep firmware updated on, and simply more things to buy and set up. And if I don’t need the extra sensors of the LZW60, or the ability to place the light and the sensor in different locations, then one device is far preferable.
In conclusion…
I’d really like to see something like this come to market. I think it’d be a neat addition to Inovelli’s lighting products portfolio. I’m ready to preorder 6 of these things right now.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk.