I know this has been discussed before, but it’s been a while. Might there be any chance of the Red Series on/off switches getting the smart bulb mode that the Red Series Dimmers have? I have a 3-way with a GE Add-on and zigbee smart bulbs, and would love to be able to control them from both sides, but it seems that if I disable the local and remote control, the add-on switch does nothing. I know I can swap out the two recessed lights for standards, but I do like being able to change the white temp on the set.
If smart bulb mode can’t be done, is there another way to keep my existing smart bulbs and the 3-way setup?
I don’t think you quite understand what the Smart Bulb Mode (SBM) is. SBM, when enabled on a dimmer, insures that the dimmer always puts out full power. That way, a smart bulb can remain continuously powered, but the dimmer can still work like a dimmer to control a Zwave bulb via association.
A switch can only put out full power, so technically, switches are always in SBM.
I think what you are trying to accomplish is to be able to control your Zigbee bulbs from both switch locations. Basically, you need two scene controllers. So I would swap out the Aux with another Inovelli switch. Disable Local Control on the primary switch and use it as a scene controller. The aux replacement would be used as a scene controller as well.
But you might want to wait for the Blue series. That’s a Zigbee switch. I don’t know that much about Zigbee association, but you may very well be able to do what you are seeking with Zigbee bulbs, much in the same way you can control Zwave bulbs via association with the Red series.
That’s not completely true. There are three settings for the SBM mode (Parameter#52):
0 = Disabled
1 = On/Off only
2 = Smart Bulb
Setting 1 is what you described. But setting 2 (Smart Bulb) keeps power to the load on at all times … even when the internal switch logic state is ‘off’. In other words, its not just about disabling the dimming. It also keeps power to the smart bulb even when the switch state is off and the smart bulb itself is off via command but still needs power to communicate data
So when I was describing SBM, I was describing the traditional one where the purpose is to keep a smart bulb fully powered, a concept that only applies to dimmers, because switches always provide full power. I wasn’t referring to the recently instituted blended SBB/DLC where three settings combine the two.
Also, I think you’re confusing the dimmer with the switch. This thread pertains to the LZW30-SN switch, and the parameter you are referring to pertains to the LZW31-SN dimmer. Unless I’m totally missing something, the switch only goes to parameter 51, which pertains to instant on. Parameter 52 doesn’t make any sense for a switch, it cannot dim and it has DLC for the other piece.
Yes, fully powered ALL THE TIME. This goes beyond dimming and could apply to On/Off switches too. They wouldn’t need the separate “On/Off” mode (setting 1), but could have full “SBM” mode (setting 2)
That is not true. On/Off switches cut power to smart bulbs even though they don’t dim. Full SBM mode in an On/Off switch would keep power at the load terminal all the time … even when the logical state (reported in scenes and to the hub) is 'Off". This would allow the on/off switch to send an ‘off’ command to a smart bulb without actually cutting the power to the bulb. Automations work much better when the Smart Bulbs have power all the time … even when they are logically off (not lit)
Ummm…take a look at the first post…
He specifically asked if the Red On/Off could get the SBM functions that the Red Dimmers have. I believe my comment is very relevant.
I believe you are missing the difference between SMB setting 1 (on/off only) and SBM setting 2 (Full SMB - on all the time)
Currently that is true. The OP is essentially asking if Parameter 52 (or similar functionality) can be added.
OK, so it looks like that isn’t a function of the on/off switches. Basically what I’m looking for is this:
I have a 3-way circuit with two zigbee recessed lights on it. I’m looking for a way to send scenes from both sides of the 3-way. I can control the lights from the Red series I have in there, but the add-on switch does nothing. The only issue is that the line side of the circuit is on the wrong side of the 3-way (deck door vs main hallway). I have the Red series on, with local and remote control turned off, so the lights are constantly powered.
It sounds like (at lease until Blue series) the only way to do that is to have a switch on both switches, or am I missing something?
Correct. Parameter#52 - Smart Bulb Mode - hasn’t been added to the on/off switches …yet. But its coming. It was only done on the dimmers first to get the kinks worked out, but its looking pretty good now. @EricM_Inovelli might be able to give us an update on when we might see it added to the on/off switches.
Well, looks like I either add a second switch for now, or just wait until the blue series are out. I’m pretty sure I can find a home for these switches in the latter case.
figured I’d bump this thread up. I have a mixture of black series dimmers, red series dimmers and red series on/off. So I assumed that SBM would be in the red series since it’s the higher end switch (compared to black series). Since it was mentioned that this was coming to the LZW30-SN red series switch, is there a rough guess-estimate as to the ETA? What I liked about the SBM is that it set the switch state to on/off (obviously not cutting power). This is useful for other automations that use the switch state. Maybe there’s some way of doing that with the LZW30-SN and scene control?
Did this ever get implemented for the LZW30-SN? I’ve just run into the problem where I can’t control a couple of LIFX bulbs properly connected to one. I have mostly dimmers, but a few non-dimmers. I assumed since they were red series that the same smart bulb mode would be present, but have found that not to be the case, unless I’m behind on firmware.
I don’t believe that it did. Current firmware is 1.22. 1.22 contains a slight tweak for HA users. Otherwise, 1.21 should be fine.
You can accomplish the same thing as the smart bulb mode by turning on the switch and disabling local control.
What you are still missing after doing that is the LED indicator syncing with the bulb. Create a child device for the LED and keep it synced with the bulb using a rule.
Yeah, I can make it work, but it makes for round about automations and extra rules. With smart bulb mode you can sync the state of the switch and the state of the smart light without much extra steps. Without smart bulb mode, you have to make the switch always on, both physically and logically, so you can end up with a switch that’s on and a connected bulb that is off, or if you’re not careful with the switch control, a switch that’s off and a bulb that thinks it’s on because that was the last reported state before power was cut.
I agree, but unfortunately, that’s about as good as it’s going to get for the foreseeable future. I would not anticipate future Red series firmware updates unless there is a shift in the Matrix. Inovelli may expound . . .
Yea, I have 3 of the red lzw30-SN on/off switches, and I’d like to be able to use them in smart-bulb mode and see if the paddles could be used to execute scenes. I’ve got 10 of the new phoenix switches on order, but I think these could work well to handle smart bulbs. Above it sounded like the plan was to add parameter 52 to the on/off switches’ firmware - is that still possible? Thanks in advance!