Using Inovelli switches in (southern) Japan

Switches General Discussion
1

Hey guys,

Japan’s power grid does 100V / 60Hz which is a bit different from the 120V / 60Hz in NA.

Have the switches been tested on a 100V circuit? Would they still likely work fine or would there likely be issues?

The newly-announced mmWave Occupancy Smart Switches are of particular interest.

Cheers

2

Potentially could work. I don’t think anyone has tested on 100v/50hz power. Probably a better chance of it working on 100V than 230V.

I didn’t check for fitment while I was there but will a normal decora sized switch work in the switch boxes?

3

Fitment normally isn’t the same but it would be in a fully reno’d home with US outlets in this case.

The south is 60Hz not 50 so that’s likely helpful here.

The only difference would be the voltage.

1 Like
4

Hmm this might work honestly. @Eric_Inovelli can you ask the manufacturer the voltage input range?

I’m not too concerned of the 50/60hz as I don’t think there’s any oscillator installed.

1 Like
5

Yeah it would be great to know for sure.

We’d be doing all of the switches in one home and then possibly replacing the switches in another home. We’re currently all-in on the LIFX ecosystem but reliability has been an issue so we’re hoping ZigBee is the answer.

Having the occupancy sensor in every room would be perfect for a Japanese home though where it’s standard to have a seperate AC unit in every room.

1 Like
6

Very interesting! Let me ask the manufacturer :slight_smile:

Ping me (or respond to this) if I don’t give an update by Tuesday.

1 Like
7

Thanks Eric!

8

Just got the update from them and this is what they said (direct quote):

  • In 100V 60Hz, in the case of Neutral, the switch can be used. In the case of Non-Neutral, the compatibility of AUX will be worse a bit, and adjustment is needed according to the actual test.
  • In 100V 50Hz, at present, the dimming does not work normally, the AUX switch can’t be recognized. This requires additional development to target 50Hz.
  • It is necessary to re-do safety / RF certification for Japan market.
  • The installation method of the switch box also needs to be re-evaluated for Japan market.
9

We’re just about to close on the property that we’d be doing the installation in but it’ll be probably 12-18 months before the renovation actually starts (to hopefully line up with the new mmWave blue series).

I’ll follow up sometime around then and if there’s anything we can do to help then we’d be happy to.

10

Are the NA frequencies used for Zwave and ZigBee the same for Japan?

I thought they were different.

1 Like
11

Japan: 922.5 MHz, 923.9 MHz, 926.3 MHz
USA: 908.4 MHz, 916 MHz

1 Like
12

Assuming you’re not using a US spec’d hub.

1 Like
13

Yeah honestly our plan is to just buy everything in North America and have it shipped so less likely for there to be any weirdness but it would be good to know about regional hardware incompatibilitoes ahead of time.

14

The point I was trying to make is that you can’t just buy these and use them in Japan as they use illegal frequencies not authorized nor licensed for transmitting in that country

It would be the same as buying a European hub and devices and trying to use them in NA.

They would work but would cause interference with whatever is actually authorized to use those European frequencies here in NA and the FCC or IC would eventually trace those unauthorized signals and come knocking on your door.

15

The 2.4ghz band for zigbee frequencies is global. So there would be no issues with using the blues assuming they can be made to work with the power delivery over there. Zwave is where things can get a bit sticky.

1 Like