That’s the gameplan moving forward with all projects. They’ll typically start with a Zigbee version (unless it’s a B2B project) and then a Z-Wave variant will come shortly after.
We have some favorable minimum order quantities with our manufacturer so it’s easier to execute this strategy. Before it would cost so much as we’d have to order 10k units each time + all the certification fees. We’ve gotten it down to 3k units (although cost per unit is higher - but it at least helps if the product flops).
We’re definitely paying attention to how well the Red Series 2-1 sells as that’s kind of the litmus test to see how well this strategy of leading with Zigbee and following with Z-Wave works.
If it’s a matter of hitting a certain threshold to order the initial run, maybe a time limited pre-order could work (sorta like a self-hosted Kickstarter to avoid paying the KS fees). You could open pre-orders for 30 days with a set goal and show a tracker of where we are, if we don’t hit the goal in 30 days, then everyone is refunded.
Completely agree – this is the pitch I’ve been using – if you could only afford to produce two switches, it should be the 2-1 bc that covers lighting and a fan switch bc it covers the remaining gap of fans (exhaust or ceiling).
Is there much (any) difference in the hardware of the fan and 2-1 switches? What would be awesome is to have 1 sku that could handle all use cases. Maybe for the new Red series?
There’s likely someone who can explain it better than me as I’m not an engineer, but from what I understand, the relays/capacitors are much different when it comes to inductive/fan speeds than it is for bulb dimming.
I believe there are actually three different relays for the fan switch alone to account for the various speeds (making this switch larger in depth then the 2-1).
We definitely wanted an, “all-in-one” switch when we first looked into the 2-1, but were told it was not possible due to space and cost constraints.
I had a good discussion with our operations guy today about this and we’re leaning towards opening up pre-orders either next week or the week after.
I was hesitant because of the 2-1 issue with the manufacturer, but now that they’ve agreed to fix all the issues, I’m more inclined to kick off pre-orders officially.
My best guess for production would be sometime in Q1 (hopefully early, but if you know us by now, we’re like 0-4 on timelines, so to be conservative, I’ll say mid/late Q1).
Tell you what, I’ll build the page on the site this week to show you guys I’m serious lol
