Now that the alarm system is working (GC3), I am slowly starting to move into the automation side and have some questions:
I have an exterior light over my driveway and an exterior light on my patio. There is a switch by the interior garage door as well as a switch by the front door. When either of these switches are activated, both the lights do the opposite of their current state. So if both lights are on, I can toggle either switch to turn both lights off.
My goal is to:
have the garage switch operate the driveway light independently
have the front door switch operate the patio light independently
have both lights come on at dusk and go off at dawn
I have been looking at the WS15Z-1 switch to accomplish this task and have a few questions:
one of the requirements of the WS15Z-1 is that it is required to be wired to the same line (or
neutral) which is also wired to the load being controlled, and not wired to any other neutral. Is the way my lights are currently wired mean they share a similar neutral? If yes, what are the possibilities of changing this so both lights work independently?
Can the WS15Z-1 be setup to work with dawn/dusk parameters?
I have an exterior light over my driveway and an exterior light on my patio. There is a switch by the interior garage door as well as a switch by the front door. When either of these switches are activated, both the lights do the opposite of their current state. So if both lights are on, I can toggle either switch to turn both lights off.
From your description, those lights are wired in a 3-way configuration.
There are a couple physical barriers to prevent isolating the lights and having them switch independently. Depending on how the 3-way circuit is physically laid out, rewiring will be needed to bring 120VAC line voltage to the second switch location (only one switch will be getting voltage from your electric panel) and possibly to physically re-route cabling from the first switch to one of the lights.
I would very strongly recommend consulting an electrician regarding breaking a 3-way circuit into two independent circuits.
Can the WS15Z-1 be setup to work with dawn/dusk parameters?
Yes, sunrise/sunset rules can be set up in Alarm.com.
The WS15Z-1 can be used, yes. You would need a WT00Z-1 transmitter for the other switch location to perform as a 3-way circuit. This would be able to give you Z-wave control over the circuit as it is now with both lights controlled by both switches.
I was speaking to the stated intention of splitting the two lights and switches into two circuits. I would recommend contacting an electrician regarding this. Simply replacing the switches cannot achieve this, and what is needed would be determined by the physical wiring of your circuit.
Gaining Z-wave control over the circuit as it is would be possible with just the WS15Z and WT00Z. The WT00Z is a transmitter which does not directly control the load (the lights) but wirelessly tells the WS15Z to change state.
The neutral issue is another you shouldn’t see any problem with unless you try to split the circuit. You’ll have that circuit’s neutral bundled in the back of the switch boxes. Neutral does not get tied to basic on-off switches, so you will just tie into the bundle.
Ok, I have been looking hard at the HS-WS100+ Wireless Z-Wave Plus Wall Switch. It seems that a lot of their benefits is based on Z-Wave “central scene” command class. Does the GC3 support Z-Wave “central scene” command class?
Unless the device’s functions are learned in as individual nodes, I do not think you would have much luck. 2GIG does not publish compatible command classes, but I would bet strongly on that not being compatible.
It looks like it has different modes based on the location or length of the button press, is that right?
What is the use case in this scenario? What kind of functionality are you currently looking to add?
Nothing specific right now but I am always interested in the most options available especially when prices are comparable. The example given was a single tap for porch light, double tap for landscape lights, and triple tap for flood lights. Opens up huge options when z-wave device only need power.
Keep in mind this would still require individual Z-wave light switches for the individual circuits you want to control with the HS-WS100. At the same time you could use the ADC scenes feature to control these devices.
If you only need remote control (or only Z-wave control) of a circuit, Z-wave bulbs may be a good route. Power can’t be manually turned off via a switch, you would be setting up ways of controlling the bulb directly through Z-wave.
I installed a primary switch and an add-on switch in a 3-way circuit. Do you learn in both the add-on and the primary or only the primary switch?
I was able to program the switch to come on during an alarm event through alarm.com. Is it better to add this at the panel or through alarm.com or does it matter.
I have one circuit with 4 different switches. Is this setup the same as the 3-way switch. Meaning, once I identify the primary I just add three add-on switches?
I installed a primary switch and an add-on switch in a 3-way circuit. Do you learn in both the add-on and the primary or only the primary switch?
You’ll learn in both. The accessory transmitter switch will then be associated to the primary switch afterward with a minimote or by the controller under Device Association.
I was able to program the switch to come on during an alarm event through alarm.com. Is it better to add this at the panel or through alarm.com or does it matter.
I would recommend using Alarm.com in order to set and maintain rules.
I have one circuit with 4 different switches. Is this setup the same as the 3-way switch. Meaning, once I identify the primary I just add three add-on switches?
Yes, you should be able to add three Transmitters, and keep in mind the primary must be the last in the circuit (just before the lights)
Ok, I keep hearing about the minimote and it being a necessity to add z-wave devices to scenes. I can add any z-wave device to a scene through alarm.com can’t I? I guess I am trying to understand the need for the minimote outside of a remote control.
Also, I have started shopping for other devices (thermostats,garage door opener, ect). Do all these devices connect to the GC3 through Z-Wave? All life saving devices (smokes) seemed to connect to the GC3 through some other method. Am I correct in my assumption that intrusion and fire devices are the only thing that use the other connection method? I just want to make sure I should be adding z-wave devices over the connection method used by intrusion and fire devices.
Also, z-wave plus devices seem to be limited. Am I correct in doing the best I can to keep the mesh network devices all z-wave plus?
Ok, I keep hearing about the minimote and it being a necessity to add z-wave devices to scenes. I can add any z-wave device to a scene through alarm.com can’t I?
This used to be true. The minimote was required to associate Transmitter Switches with the primary switch, and was the only way to complete 3 way switches with certain Z-wave switches.
The minimote also has 4 scene buttons you can program scenes into.
However, the requirement is no longer a thing with GC2 as of 1.14 and GC3, both of which have device association capability built in.
Alarm.com also now supports scenes (and even home screen widgets to place scene buttons on your phone’s home screen for immediate access)
Do all these devices connect to the GC3 through Z-Wave?
Automation (lights, T-stats, Locks, etc.): Z-wave is the method used by GC3.
Sensors and security (doors, windows, motion detectors, smoke detectors, CO detectors, etc.): 345 Mhz Honeywell is the communication RF.
Z-wave sensors will not work with the GC3 (or any other ADC alarm panel). This may change in the future now that Z-wave was certified for security purposes, but as of now, no.
Also, z-wave plus devices seem to be limited. Am I correct in doing the best I can to keep the mesh network devices all z-wave plus?
This will likely be difficult to do as of now, and the Z-wave radio will not have trouble communicating with non-Z-wave plus.
The biggest gate to get through is GC3 command class testing and device compatibility. The GC3 is still on launch firmware, and the Z-wave compatibility list (at least an officially tested list) is a bit smaller than other panels, but it will no doubt catch up and likely surpass.
My lights are not reacting according to my settings on ADC. Is it possible someone can look at my settings and history to see what I am doing wrong?
To clarify:
Are you referring to triggered rules, schedules, or both?
How are they failing? Are they not turning on at all? Are they turning on in some cases and others not? Is a specific rule failing differently than another?
Typically the best first step to take in a situation where an automation rule does not act as expected is to recreate that rule in Alarm.com. This will force the rule to be re-saved at the panel to be run locally. Have you tried this with no effect?
I have attached a screen shot of my setup for the porch lights. Looking at alarm.com, I guess we currently have both triggered and scheduled. the triggered seemed to work although I only tested them once. I think it is the scheduled, or the bottom section that doesn’t seem to work.
They are intermittent. Sometimes they work, like the night time rule was working great for a while. the morning one has never really worked.
We have tried modifying the rule, and I think even deleting them and starting over. Today I removed the lights and added them again which resulted in the node being changed from 3 to 4.
Considering there are minimal devices connected, how far is the Z-wave switch device from the alarm panel? What kind of construction is between them?
Z-wave networks strengthen the more AC powered devices are present (battery operated ones do not repeat signals) so if there is only one or two, distance or interference issues can be amplified.
Can I setup up scheduling/rules locally?
Scenes can be set up locally on a GC3 but Automation programming for rules would be through Alarm.com.
They are intermittent. Sometimes they work, like the night time rule was working great for a while. the morning one has never really worked.
That is strange as the morning one looks to be a simple time-activated schedule. If all are intermittent, I would lean toward a Z-wave network communication concern, but you could test by creating an easy rule to trigger, something like “when front door opens, turn on light for one minute, then turn off”
Test that rule every few minutes for a little bit and make sure it is working 100% of the time. If so, your other rules may not be saving properly. We can have ADC rebuild the rules to see if there is a positive effect.
The Switch is literally about 1 foot from the panel. The switch is just outside the interior garage door and the panel is just inside the interior garage door. I will try a couple of the things you mentioned and get back to you.
The Switch is literally about 1 foot from the panel. The switch is just outside the interior garage door and the panel is just inside the interior garage door
Well then it is unlikely to be distance related
Still not a bad idea to test the sensor trigger rule. It is a good way to create a reliable trigger and make sure the switch and panel are communicating 100% and verify issues with the schedule processing.
However, at 1 foot it rules out a chunk of possibilities. Interference from other devices is still possible, but I’ll have ADC push rebuilt rules first and see if you notice better performance.
