Basic Aux Switch (Non-LED) Design Poll

Switches General Discussion
1

EDIT: Poll closes next Friday (August 7) at 6pm as we need to pass this onto the manufacturer.

Hey all – you may have seen the announcement earlier that we are moving to create a non-LED based aux switch (I know, boo/hiss, pitchfork) for now (reasons listed here) and we wanted to start a poll to see what everyone thought about a few different designs.

NOTE: I’m not sure if we’ll keep the air-gap or not as I don’t think it’s required as the load is connected to the smart switch, but I kept it on there to match our current switches.

Option #1
This option removes the config button and LED bar, while widening the paddle to be consistent with the GE/HomeSeer options out there currently.

Aux Switch - Option #1

Option #2
This option removes the config button and LED bar, but maintains the same paddle width as the current Inovelli switches.

Aux Switch - Option #2

Option #3
This option keeps the config button, removes the LED bar, and maintains the same paddle width as the current Inovelli switches.

We don’t believe the config button will be able to do anything as there’s no, “smarts” built in – so please vote on this as if the config button is just there for aesthetics (to match Inovelli switches)

Aux Switch - Option #3

Option #4
Same as option #3, but pretend the config button could do something minimal like if you tap 1x, it will trigger a, “favorites” scene from the smart switch’s config button.

Voting instructions:
Only vote for 1 switch unless you vote for #4. Since we’re not sure if we can accomplish #4, we’d love to see what the backup options are.

In other words, if you prefer options #1 and #2, please just vote once. If you prefer option #4, please vote for that one + one other option.

Poll:

  • Option #1
  • Option #2
  • Option #3 (config button cannot be used)
  • Option #4 (config button can be used)
0 voters
2 Likes
3

I voted for #2 even though I think #1 looks just little bit nicer.

I chose #2 over #1 because I’m assuming it can use the same COLORED paddle replacements that are available for the other Inovelli switches where they would not work with #1

2 Likes
4

I think without config hole these would have to be a new sku for colored bezels.

5

Ha, well I really chose #4 as first choice and #2 as the backup :wink:
So #4 would have the ‘config hole’ and should be fine. Changing the color on #2 would basically make it look like #3 with a non-operative config button.

#1 or #2 would probably be better with its own sku for colored bezels but I know creating more sku’s is a whole other headache of its own so just trying to keep it simple

My main point was for Inovelli to remember we need the same color options for the Aux Switch as the Primary switch

2 Likes
6

I think #4 is the best option, however, #1 I believe would also be good as you could potentially take some of the market from GE/HomeSeer and hopefully draw more people in to your other switches.

2 Likes
7

I choose #4, followed by #1, without a dummy airgap.

Remember, there are already different SKUs for the paddles as the light pipe is different on the dimmer paddle vs the on/off paddle.

They should be able to design the aux base to accept either the original #1 paddle, or can swap with a dimmer paddle sku or an on/off paddle sku.

The #1 paddle, while wider, can have the back posts offset to the left, so they are in the same spot as the back posts on the narrower dimmer and on/off paddles.

The #1 paddle doesn’t need the dummy airgap either, so long as the aux base has the corresponding holes to still accept the airgap and config button on the dimmer and on/off paddles.

You can also add the white dimmer and on/off paddle SKU to the store so that folks can swap the #1 design out if they really want to match their other dimmers and/or switches.

8

The only option that would encourage me to swap out my GE & HomeSeer auxiliary switches would be to somehow support a status LED for continuity across all switches.

2 Likes
9

But, why?

With all the struggles you have had in getting new products built, I don’t see the point of making a aux switch that looks nearly identical to ones already available (cheaply) from other manufacturers. It seems like there are better places to spend that money.

Just wait until you can work out the engineering issues to do it right (with LED bar) or forego it completely.

Is there something I’m missing here?

4 Likes
10

100% agree. I’d pay a premium for an aux switch that had the led bar to match the primary. I get it isn’t easy and you probably don’t have a way for the primary to communicate with the aux… That said, those of us using certain home automation systems can sync them that way…

1 Like
11

I agree completely. I already have GE aux switches so won’t be changing to these, but I would if it it had an LED. The only thing I can think of is that they may be able to sell them a dollar or two cheaper than GE to get some money for future investments? Not sure otherwise.

12

Eric already indicated that they could sell their non-led aux switch for 17.50 with acceptable margins in the other thread, so that would still be 20% cheaper than the cheaper homeseer and ge aux switch alternatives.

Obviously, it won’t make folks that already bought an alternative aux to buy a new one, but which one would you have bought if this was an option? Would you buy the non-led aux from Inovelli for 17.50 or would you buy a homeseer or ge aux for $22, or would you just buy a dumb 3 way switch?

2 Likes
13

@cba123 – Can I get an amen lol – thanks, I was typing up a similar response but you took the words out of my mouth :slight_smile:

@grooves12, @7rdr7, @whoismoses, @BrenenP – kidding and amen’s aside, I completely see your point and yes, we still plan on hopefully coming out with the LED version. The point here is that we constantly lose out on easy sales to GE/HomeSeer, bc we have to recommend their brands for people who want an aux switch. Now, we can just recommend ours. In addition (and I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this or not) a lot of the larger B2B accounts prefer to purchase from one vendor, so we’ve lost out on some fairly decent sized opportunities.

I truly do hope to come out with a solution that’s right around the $25 price point with the LED bar and one that is easy for mass market to install and figure out. Until then, our thought process is to at least win where it’s easy and right now that’s offering a similar (but less expensive) option to HomeSeer/GE.

7 Likes
14

Thanks for explaining it. You were simply losing out on super easy money, seems like a no brainer especially when selling in large B2B sales.

2 Likes
15

Makes complete business sense, and what ever makes Inovelli stronger is better for its customers.

2 Likes
16

Good news, preliminary feedback from the manufacturer is that they can get the config button to report to the main switch so that it can trigger the, “favorites” button on the main switch.

In other words, if you have a favorite scene programmed onto the config button on your smart switch, if you press it on the aux switch, it can trigger the scene.

If we can confirm this, we’ll move forward with Option #4, and Option #1 as the backup as the poll reflects.

Thank you everyone for voting!

8 Likes