I want to use an inovelli switch to bypass the current going to an outlet so that I can keep things like an echo dot and some lamps plugged into the outlet and it not turn off with he switch. I have some zigbee and wifi bulbs that I would like to control with the switch using scenes instead of the mains. I also purchased the aeotec bypass to make sure that I would have enough constant draw to power the switch.
The switch has a black wire and a white wire as well as a ground. The white wire was used as a load wire (not marked). The outlet has two white wires and a black wire. Could anyone help me figure how to wire this up, where to put the bypass, what settings, apps etc do I need for smartthings.?
I’m not sure I would trust a “dimmer” to provide constant power to the outlet. I would imagine it would be fine 99% of the time but in the event of a power loss I’m assuming that power would have to “ramp” back up to fully on state (even with the ramp rate set to 0 I’m assuming there would still be a “ramp” up)? You would also be limiting the wattage of the outlet severely as normal outlets can handle 1800w and red series dimmer maxes at 400w. I definitely wouldn’t put sensitive electronics on that circuit but maybe someone with more knowledge can chime in.
It sounds like you currently have a wall switch that controls a wall plug.
You wish to have the wall plug on 100% of the time (i.e. not controlled by any switch). And you would like to have the Inovelli in the place of the wall switch but only for Z-Wave control (i.e. not the wall plug).
That is 100% correct. I will continue to have the lamps that are currently plugged into the outlet in the same location however I want the switch to control the bulbs only and leave constant power to other devices plugged into the same wall outlet
I can’t add pictures at the moment, however, I can say that the box only has 1x white wire, 1x black wire, and 1x copper ground wire. There are no additional wires in the box. This is a single gang box with no additional switches.
From your description you switch box has no Neutral. But all may not be lost
The wall plug must have more wires than “The outlet has two white wires and a black wire”
There must be another wire can you check?
Also before you disconnect anything you should take photos and make a sketch of the exact wiring before any changes. You maybe should turn off the breaker for this circuit in case you need to remove the socket to see the wiring.
My thought is, based on the two wire in the switch box, power must come in at the wall socket box. Perhaps we can change the wiring to do what you want with what you have.
It would be best if you could make a quick pencil sketch. Solid = black, dotted = white.
Questions:
I see 3 blacks, are there two Romex cables coming in on the upper left?
On the outlet body. There are two whites, Is there a small tab that jumps the two whites together? See the green arrow, also look on the black side there must be one there.
