Z-Wave 800 Series 2-1 Switch (On/Off & Dimmer) | Project Phoenix

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https://products.z-wavealliance.org/products/4764

Oh yeah, it’s official!

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One big problem I had with the Red Dimmers was fitting them into 2 gang metal boxes. (I live in a condo and cannot replace the boxes). I’m not 100% sure if it is the depth vs the width being a tiny bit too much, even with the heat sinks removed, but I thought one of the significant changes would be that the Blue and now 2 in 1 (800 series) were going to be physically smaller (at least the depth, per the below quote)

However in looking at the technical specifications for all 3 it seems the Blue and 2 in 1 have the exact same width and depth and height, as the Red Dimmers, i.e. Depth = 1.2" (3.0cm), Height = 2.8" (7.1cm), Width = 1.6" (4.1cm).

Is the 2 in 1 and/or the Blue series exactly the same HWD as the Red Dimmers?

Including the heat sink tabs or not?

Not exactly. The blue dimmer is smaller, but not much. Blue Dimmer on left (Red 800 series 2-1 should be the same), Red (500-series zwave)) on the right. Ignore the one in the middle

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Wait, so the measurements on the product page are incorrect?

  1. As I understand it, the 2 in 1 will have the same body as the Blue series, correct? (I’m saying this as I recall seeing somewhere that Inovelli was able to get the 2 in 1 out so fast as it will use the same body but just use different firmware).

These all assume the Blue and 2 in 1 are the same size
2) I’m certainly glad it looks less deep and the body itself appears less wide.
3) Will the total width of the Blue/2 in 1 be narrower than the Red was with the Red’s heat sinks removed?
4) Since the Blue (and 2 in 1) is clearly less deep why is the depth listed as the same as the Red Dimmer on the products pages?
5) I’ve notice that a significant # of my slowest Red Dimmers are in 2 gang boxes and the other one would be faster (e.g. 9.6 vs 40 or vs. 100). I’m guessing the size might have been blocking the Z-Wave path and/or causing interference. Will the smaller body help with those issues? (Plus, BTW, I will be getting the new Hubitat C-8 in a few weeks to replace my C-7, so I’m hoping the external antennas will also help with that.)

As mentioned above, it didn’t seem like the depth was so much the issue for putting 2 Red Dimmers into a 2 gang box, as the width seemed just a tiny bit too wide, even with all the heat sinks removed. While I can see the body of the Blue is significantly smaller than the Red Dimmer, if the total width of the plate they are mounted on is the same I’m wondering if I would still have this same problem?

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That is my understanding, but I’m not 100% certain

my guess is that @Eric_Inovelli typically does copy/paste from old product to new product and then edits the changes and in this case, the dimensions didn’t get updated

Mine shipped next day. The external antennas make a huge difference. Almost all my devices are direct connect to hub now :slight_smile:

I would ignore the Red depth posted on the product page. I just measured a Red and got a rough 1.3125 for the depth. Don’t have any loose Blues.

Here is @mamber’s pic with the middle, unrelated switch removed.

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Curious are you guys in this thread mainly running majority red rather than blue? Asking as I’m a bit undecided myself. Prefer the operation of zwave more than zigbee. Potential Thread/Matter upgradability of the blue switch sounds interesting, however it will probably be a while for that to mature and I guess it won’t make much difference for low data switches.

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Seems like the new Reds and the Blues will be very similar overall (performance, look-&-feel etc), so it more comes down to preference… If you have strong meshes for both ZB and ZW, then you can mix-&-match as you please.

I have one use-case where binding a switch to a couple Hue bulbs is a really huge win, so I need a Blue for that. Since most smart-bulbs these days are ZB, binding becomes a compelling argument for going Blue vs new Red.

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they should be virtually identical except for the radio … Red is Zwave and Blue is Zigbee. Most features and functions will be the same with a few exceptions due to the different radios. As you pointed out, the Blues have ‘binding’ functions that the Reds won’t have. Likewise, the Reds have ‘associations’ that the Blues don’t have.

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I’m running virtually 100% Red Dimmers, either Red Dimmers or Red Fan + Lights with 5 Black Series. The Blues didn’t exist a few years ago when I converted all of my switches to smart switches.

I have a Hue hub and 2 Hue bulbs that I control with a Red Dimmer

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I’d highly recommend you swap that 1 dimmer out with a blue dimmer. You’ll be able to ditch the hue hub, and control the 2 hue bulbs through association. Your control of the bulbs will speed up so much. Near instant.

Bonus, there’s such a high demand for used red dimmer’s you can probably sell that one for a similar price to what the blue will cost you.

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Thanks for the info. The RD has been working almost instantaneously. (I do have some Hubitat rules that a single tap does the upper light, a double does the lower light and a triple does both, so I have to leave the time gap turned on).

The only weirdness is that for some reason a few months ago at times the led is turning off (it goes black) and I can’t find any rule I changed to make it do that. But as soon as I turn it on, the led comes back to life.

My only other concern is that the only other Zigbee device I have is one Hue motion sensor. Although it is further away from the hub than where this switch is, it is working fine. So maybe that won’t be an issue, especially as I plan to get the new Hubitat C-8 in a few weeks. (To let them work out some of the inevitable glitches they’ll discover).

As soon as I can verify they work as expected on LR (have 1 on pre-order) I need 40 of them. So hurry up. :wink:

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What hub are you using? The important thing about Long Range is that while our switch supports it and has been tested on a couple hubs (there aren’t many that support it right now), the hub needs to also support it.

Very excited about it though!

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Hubitat C-8. So you need to get them their samples too. :wink:

That said, I have a few LR devices I am testing on “other platforms” than Hubitat, so I am familiar with the requirements.

But for production use, Hubitat C-8 is the target hub for me.

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I thought I recognized your name from the Hubitat community, but I didn’t see the avatar I was used to, so it threw me off lol.

I think we sent one to Bryan when we first got samples, but I would need to double check and I think Bobby pre-ordered one as well, but we’re happy to help in any way we can!

Excited to see what the C-8 brings :slight_smile:

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I am a victim of Insteon :slight_smile: Have 60 dimmers and switches. I am using Homeseer, but in the process to transfer to HA. I have a LOT of 3 way (4 way even 5 way) configurations without traveler wire, so need to find solution. Like your dimmer very much. Now I need to make decision to wait for Red 2-1 and pull the plug on Blue 2-1. I have Hue bridge and motion sensors (Hue), ecobee thermostats (all zigbee), but with Homeseer use to have Z-wave devices. I do not have much experience with HA zigbee interface. What will be your recommendation: wait for Red 2-1 or jump on Blue 2-1? :slight_smile:

Thanks