This is from the product page.
If used in a non-neutral setting, you will not be able to have Power Monitoring. In addition, you will not be able to use the High setting on your fan (only Low and Medium).
So, it is 3 speeds. I doubt the speeds would work well on a bathroom fan because the capacitors will be sized for a “typical” ceiling fan.
My stance is that the manufacturer didn’t deliver what Inovelli bought, but that ship has SAILED.
It’s a simulated switch at best, it’s not a “breaker” equivalent where line and load are connected/disconnected directly when the switch is toggled.
I wish I had identified this earlier in the process, but I don’t have an oscilloscope and it mimic’s this behavior with lighting.
Vernacular is hard here, truly. I’m not sure where I stand on that, but I hardly think this is MISLEADING people directly or indirectly.
This is a completely fair statement to make and can’t be argued. You are correct that the mass market would look at this switch next to the GE Switch and GE Dimmer and assume it does the exact same functions. In fairness, I do have a few old GE dimmers in-use buried in some outbuildings. The GE dimmer does not implement instant on/off behavior like the Inovelli does. You are able to control transition time and steps and get it close to instant, but not the same as the Inovelli does. But all of that is besides the point.
The point that I still feel you’re missing is that to 99% of the general consumers, the differences between a true on/off and a simulated on/off will not matter. Think within your own home. Say you’ve got 50 switches. How many NEED a true on/off? Bathroom fans, fluorescent lighting soooo 2 or 3/50 which would be at most 6%? Then consider not every home has the need for that. Maybe 1 in 5. So that brings you down to around 1.5%. But that’s still assuming everyone is replacing every switch in the house. That may be 5-10% of the customer base. The rest will be buying 3 or 4 switches to turn on their outside lights at sunset. So you’re now at around 0.1% of your target market. Should the switch really truly be marketed towards this small subset of users? Or should it be marketed towards the other 99% with a disclaimer that’s visible for the remaining 1%?
I get you may be biased because you bought a switch and can’t use it in it’s intended location. But think of it from a business perspective without the emotion behind it.
There is all this talk of the “mass market” and “general consumer” and what they do or don’t want. The truth is the “mass market” and “general consumer” are NOT buying smart switches, especially not Inovelli switches. If they are, they are buying whatever is at home depot or the cheapest thing on Amazon. In both cases, they are not reading disclaimers on Inovelli’s website and will assume an “on/off” will be able to handle any on/off switch it is replacing in their home.
I agree with this statement:
if one person dies or loses a home b/c of a fire from the misunderstanding, they (Inovelli) may win the court case but lose the battle due to court costs and the reputational damage that would be generated.
I just don’t understand how we have multiple power users coming here and saying this is a bad idea and they were confused by the name. Yet, there is still a stubbornness to assume people with less knowledge and inclination to seek out information on the product will quickly understand the limitations and inherent dangers possibly associated with using this product in applications it is not supported for.
If anything the lesson for Inovelli should be there are a LOT of people out there that need a REAL on/off switch for things other than lights. Put that product in development. I understand the roadmaps and plans were built when you thought it wasn’t going to be necessary because the 2-1 would be able to reduce SKUs, but you didn’t get that. It’s time to adapt. You got a dimmer with a simulated on/off mode and if a full product lineup is desired, building an on/off switch should be high on the list (maybe even before the button controller.) If that does end up being the case, wouldn’t it just make more sense to go back to the old way of one SKU for dimmer, one SKU for on/off? If you are planning on doing that, does the 2-1 name have any value?
The Blue Fan Switch has no power monitoring capability in any mode/settting
@Eric_Inovelli , did you try multi speed with your bathroom fan or just on/off mode?
The use case that I see being a problem is replacing a switch that controls an outlet. Every new home I’m aware of has one or two in each bedroom. A typical customer will not know the difference and assume a switch is a switch. The 2-1 will work fine for their intended purpose of controlling a light, but as we know the installation is not to code and could present a fire hazard. Here’s to hoping they read the disclaimer.
I honestly thought switched outlets were an old house thing, didn’t realize they were that common in new homes. Regardless, even a true on/off switch would typically not be rated to control a switched outlet. The majority of smart switches are rated at 10a and code states that anything controlling the outlet must be rated for the full load of the entire run which is typically 15a or 20a.
Yep, I had this exact case and I ended up wiring some outlets on the load side because why not? It sounds like there’s nothing to shut the switch down if it becomes overloaded, which honestly is a bit surprising and of course concerning.
I’m trying to follow the technical discussion in this thread, but I don’t understand why there is even a relay in these switches if they are never actually fully off.
That’s going to be true for ANY smart switch, Inovelli or otherwise. If you are in the US, the NEC requires that a switch controlling a receptacle be rated for the full capacity of the branch circuit, i.e breaker. So generally, that means 15A for all load types.
I don’t think there is a smart switch made . . GE Jasco, Zooz, etc that meets those specs. So it’s just not Inovelli, it’s ANY smart switch. If there is one that can carry those load, I’d love to know which one it is.
I know you’re in Canada so it may be different there, but in the US, the NEC requires a switched lighting “outlet” in every habitable room. “Outlet” is a bit misleading to the layman. It can be a light or a receptacle. So in a lot of newer construction, partcularly with cookie cutter builders, there may or may not be overhead lighting in bedrooms. So the “solution” there is to install a switched receptacle to meet code.
But TBH, most newer construction will have switched receptacles in bedrooms because a lot of people use nightstand lamps for their primary lighting.
Yep. Unfortunately 8A incandescent and <8A for LED. 
I saw. Does that mean NEC wouldn’t approve it to control an outlet?
Technically NEC is just a set of guidelines. The AHJ is the final say.
I can only weigh in by stating what the NEC requires and give you my interpretation of it. IMO, the switch must carry 15A (if that’s the breaker) across all loads to be code compliant. The NEC isn’t specific regarding load type, so my presumption is that it must be for all.
That being said, that switch’s specs are reasonably strong, but I wouldn’t say they’re complaint.
Going to throw out here that even with a switch loop-wired receptacle, it’s generally easy to re-wire a receptacle so that it can be used with smart switches and a smart device at the receptacle and be completely code-complaint.
*** Of course, local codes may vary . . .
But incandescent is resistive…?
Good point. 
I think it’s because the resistance of the tungsten filament is (quite significantly) temperature dependent. Resistance can be 15 times less at room temperature than at operating temperature - so the inrush current can be 15 times higher (for a moment),
Oh, sure. I just mean that in terms of smart switches, I’ve always seen “resistive loads” include (and probably primarily refer to) incandescent lights.
Leviton’s smart switches are rated at 15A.
