Features not currently available that I'd like to see in switches

I have Red Series & Black Series dimmers, on/off switches, and fan/light controls throughout my house. I have a few instances where I had to install Zooz switches or GE/Jasco switches because there were no Inovelli switches that would work for me:

  1. I have a high-amp incandescent pool light with no neutral. I need close to 1000W of power handling, so the Inovelli dimmer is out of the running; and with no neutral, I can’t use an on/off switch. If Inovelli offered a high-cap dimmer, I’d get one.
  2. I have two gang boxes, each having two devices powered from a single gang: interior & exterior lights, for example. As far as I know, there aren’t any 2-button Inovelli switches for powering things (other than the fan/light switch, which isn’t what I need). If the upcoming 5-button switch has two relays or dimmers built in, that would work… but I don’t think it does. In the past, I’ve gutted the gang box and cut a larger hole out to add a gang, but in some places (e.g., next to a door) that’s not always an option.
  3. Fan speed control - I have three GE switches for fan speed control only. A direct replacement would be a single switch for fan speed control. Using a Red Series fan/light control is a reasonable approach–relegating the light button to scene duty–but I’m still having issues with the ones I have now.

EDIT: I’m hoping this post doesn’t cause people to pick up their pitchforks. I’m enjoying my Inovelli switches. I like that guests are amazed by them, but more importantly, it they make my family’s life slightly easier… or at least, they don’t complicate things for them. My wife has mostly had a hate/hate relationship with my home automation hobby. She hasn’t complained (as much) in this house, and I count that as a win. Things that Inovelli has made simple like “purple chase LED light strips when rain is in the forecast” are a huge boon to WAF.

I post the info above only to say, ‘this is what it would take to make my house a 100% Inovelli home,’ at least in terms of switches… there are still appliance modules, outdoor plug-in modules, and 40A relays that I need to get from other manufacturers. I haven’t tried Inovelli sensors yet, and I might do that soon.

Lol, I hope not either – this was a very constructive post, thanks for sharing it!

Hmmmm… yeah this is a tricky one for sure. I’d be curious to see what the demand is for the higher wattage option. Would you settle for an on/off switch or does it have to be a dimmer?

I can check the specs on the ZigBee version of our switch that’s coming out. I don’t think it’s that high, but you never know.

Good news is this is on the roadmap: 2021-2022 Roadmap (although in Q3 2022, so there will be a wait unfortunately).

Unfortunately, you’re right about the 5-Button – just controls one load.

There has been a lot of requests for this switch, so I’m looking forward to kicking this off!

Yeah… this has been super disappointing to have to put on hold with our Z-Wave manufacturer. Good news is we’re making one with our ZigBee manufacturer, but I know it’s important to have a good Z-Wave mesh and to not combine protocols all the time. I’m hoping to pick up the project with Z-Wave in the next couple of months if all goes well.

Thanks again for the suggestions and hopefully we can hit most of them for you! It kinda sucks having to walk a fine line with all these great ideas and balancing whether or not we have enough money to innovate or stay in stock lol.

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A Red Series On/Off Switch would be great, but it would have to work without a neutral. I even installed a Red Series On/Off switch in this box the first time, and pulled a new neutral through the wall from a neighboring box… but this is a pool light on a dedicated GFCI-protected breaker, so that kept tripping due to current bleeding away through another path. This is one of only a few boxes that I have with no neutral wire.

I’ve never gone the Zigbee route and would prefer to stay on one protocol, as you mentioned. This light is in an outbuilding and using my existing mesh is important as range is an issue if I don’t.

That’s good to hear.

I can think of a few use cases for them in place of some existing Inovelli switches. I haven’t pre-ordered, but I’ll be near the front of the line.

I’m sure. You guys are doing as well as can be expected in delivering on the hype. It’s really great to see a company pushing home automation forward and I’m happy to ride that wave.

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Just so you are aware, you should not be “borrowing” a neutral from another branch circuit. It’s a dangerous practice that is specifically prohibited by NEC (in the US). The danger is that you may overload the neutral conductor resulting in an issue you don’t even want to think about. You are correct that is why your breaker was tripping, but the real issue is the danger presented, which is why it is a code violation to do so.

Even if you get a proper neutral to that box, the Inovelli switch is not rated for that load. The Inovelli has a max of 600W incandescent, and your pool light(s) draw 1000W.

A proper solution would be to implement a high wattage smart relay at the light. Then using the 2-wire between the light and the switch box, send the hot and the neutral to the switch box. Use that to power a LZW30-SN, no load. That makes it a scene controller so you can address the smart relay via scenes and the switch’s multi-tap capability.

Could you replace the bulb with an LED? A quick glance at Amazon shows several high lumen pool lights that use less than 100W.

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Yeah, sorry, I meant to explain my rationale here – the new ZigBee version will be non-neutral and allow you to use it as an on/off if you want. But sounds like you’re wanting Z-Wave (which is ok lol) so yeah, we’ll have to wait a bit on that one.

:+1:
I was going to say the same thing. In the big picture I believe this is the better solution. High-wattage incandescent pool lights are dinosaurs :sauropod:

Plus the new LED pool lights typically offer a bunch of cool multi-color options that the old-syle lights don’t offer

I’m aware. I considered not posting about it for this reason, but I wanted to see if it would work. As I expected… it did not.
Also, I’d check the use of the word, “illegal,” as it doesn’t apply here. In any case, I don’t want to detract from the original intent of this post.

Yes, that’s the long-term solution. I have no plans to drain the pool anytime in the next year or two, so until that time I’ll be keeping the incandescent. When I install an LED I’ll want to add a bypass just in case, because it’s not a fixture I can just pull out and work on whenever I want to.

I completely agree. Drawing over 5 amps for a pool light is ludicrous, but it’s what was here when I bought the place.

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You typically don’t have to drain the pool to change the light. Its in a sealed enclosure that removes from the niche as a sealed unit. There is supposed to be (but not always) enough cord coiled up in the niche to lift the light unit up on to the pool deck for service.

Thanks. I’ll check into it. I know the builder, so they should be able to confirm.

It usually does, it would be “illegal” as in against the law. NEC regulations are codified into many state and local laws. Obviously check your local laws, but it is definitely something to pay attention to.

Most pool lights are installed in such way to be serviceable without draining the pool. That would be silly, especially in the age of incandescents.

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Another thing I have to consider with the pool light is compatibility with an LED down the road, should I go that route. It’s a 120V bulb with no transformer between the switch and the fixture and needs to be dimmer-compatible, if not dimmable.