I placed an order to replace most of the switches at home. I am about to place a second order for remaining dummy switches and some more threads switches, excited to get them. I have few questions I want to clarify. Apologies if I am repeating questions already discussed.
Will these switches work with hue lights? Any functions that won’t work with Hue because they are not matter? I want the power to be continuous to hue bulbs. Will that work with these switches?
If I purchase fan switches can I configure time to stop the switch when it’s turned on(like turn off after 30 min when pressed once)
You wouldn’t need a skyconnect if you already have a something running Matter and Thread. You would just need the Matter Add-On in Home Assistant and then add the thread device to home assistant via your iphone. (Iphone only for Apple thread networks, ecosystem crossing is buggy right now) Your iphone does the majority of the hard work commissioning it to your thread network and would use your already existing one. After that, you should be able to see your Apple thread network in a Thread section in Home Assistant under integrations and you can control it from there.
I have a house that has a number of Jasco/GE Z-Wave switches and lets just say I have had a number of them fail after power outages (standard outages with no surge or anything like that). In my setup I have the switches connected to LEDs in florescent bulb housings, bathroom fans, standard LED lights, etc and the Jasco/GE On/Off switches have worked for several years.
With Matter and Thread being deployed I’m thinking it is time to swap out these devices with something that is going to be more reliable and supported by a company that stands up for their products.
Given this I have a question regarding the potential differences between the Thread 2-1 Switch (On/Off & Dimmer) VTM31-SN as well as the Thread Smart Fan Switch (3-Speed Ceiling and On/Of Exhaust) VTM35-SN. In looking at the specifications it appears that the VTM31-SN can handle about 5 amps of output power (600W/120V AC = 5 amps) while the VTM35-SN can handle 2.5 amps of output power. The VTM31-SN has an explicit call out that it should not be used with a ballast and I’m assuming that the in rush current/arc needed and the internal circuitry that is used in each device.
My question will their be a Thread/Matter switch that will support a ballast configuration or am I SOL?
I am in the same boat. Two of my Jasco Z-Wave switches like to drop offline. A ping or physically touching the paddle brings it back. While I wait on the canopy module, thinking of testing White series 2-1 smart switch. Get some matter in my home assistant setup. Unless someone screams that is a bad idea.
@EricM_Inovelli In looking at the Digital Manual and Wiring Diagrams for this product I feel like I should offer a suggestion in the interest of safety. The suggestion is that is when the switch is program in Smart Bulb mode the line from the breaker box should go in to the line for the switch and the load should be going to the smart bulb in question (if not connected to another receptacle or device). In Smart Bulb mode the firmware could just allow current to pass from line to load but there is a benefit that the air gap switch can be used to inhibit current from the switch to the Smart Bulb.
The example configuration would be as follows. If someone is retrofitting their recessed lighting with Smart Bulbs such as the Nanoleaf Downlight they would need to make sure the Nanoleaf has constance power but if something fails and they need to replace a fixture they may not want to cut off the entire circuit breaker to do so. In this case using the air gap on the switch may be a good option and it was one of the reasons why it was a requirement to be added to smart switches.
Just a thought. This concept may be buried in the details already but it did pop out to me from reading the materials online.
@Bry I didn’t necessarily see any wiring diagrams for wiring the switch in Smart Bulb mode so to my it was ambiguous. There were references to Multi-Way Smart mode but I interrupted that to be different than Smart Bulb mode.
Regarding the receptacle comment I could see a use case for a Inovelli switch on a wall without any connections to a load. For instance a Table Lamp plugged directly into a wall with a Matter Smart Bulb installed being controlled by a dead end switch on a wall.
@EricM_Inovelli A follow up to my prior post regarding Wiring Diagrams for Smart Bulb mode. In thinking of safety and someone inheriting someone else’s house wiring I would think the following diagram would be the safest configuration for Inovelli switches in in Smart Bulb mode. In this diagram the feeder switch is feeding a downline switch from the load as opposed to the line. For this I am assuming once the switch is configured in Smart Bulb Mode it is just a pass thru. I would think that in this configuration any switch in the chain can have their Air Gap pulled and the fixtures being safe to handle (no live voltage).
Just a thought as consumers are being trained to pull a Air Gap switch on a smart circuit prior to replacing a light bulb or working on a fixture.
How does Inovelli recommend a consumer to wire the switch on smart bulb mode? There is no code for such a configuration so we are to wire per manufacturers recommendation and direction.
That’s not recommended because if the switch leaves smart bulb mode for any reason, it will cut power to the downstream switch or apply dimming to it which can break the switch.
@Rohan I thought the whole point of Smart Bulb mode (Smart Bulb Mode) was that the Binding/Association would take over dimming as it would be controlled by the Binding/Association (via direct communication over Matter rather than via voltage control on the load). Thus the Smart Bulb would need to be powered all the time as opposed to switched/dimmed. I guess I’m confused as to why one would think the switch would leave Smart Bulb mode once it has been properly configured. The way I interrupted the documentation was that if the switch is placed in Smart Bulb mode then the Load of the switch should be full voltage.
In the Wiring Schematic referenced I believe you are referring to a Multi-Way configuration which I agree is a valid configuration but not necessarily optimized for safety as one still needs to know what switch is feeding the fixture. Best practice with Smart Switches is to pull the Air Gap tab prior to handling the fixture itself and in this case one needs to know what switch out of X switches is feeding the load. Unless you are the one who wired the house there is little chance that someone will instinctively know which switch is feeding the load.
I guess it gets back to my original point that there is no recommended Wiring Diagram for the switches to be used in Smart Bulb mode leading to ambiguity. Most consumers are being trained to pull the Air Gap tab before working on a fixture. If anything I would also recommend/suggest that a company develop an electrical product with safety in mind.
That’s also correct in normal operation. But when wiring it you need to make sure to handle non ideal situations as well. Since Smart Bulb mode can be turned on/off via a parameter, it’s possible for a user to accidentally disable it, for a firmware update to accidentally disable it, or for a bug in their hub’s driver that could disable it. In any of those situations, if it’s wired the way you described, you are not providing the full voltage to the other switches and can damage them.
You don’t need to know which air gap is connected to the load as long as you know all of the switches that it could be. You can pull all of their air gaps before messing with the fixture safely.
Your suggestion is misguided and inherently dangerous.
The purpose of an air gap is to cut power to the wired LOAD . . . typically light bulbs, so they can be changed safely.
Air gaps are not intended to protect downstream switch devices. The only reason to cut power to a switch (with the exception of rebooting it) is to work within the box. If you cut power to a switch in a multi-gang box, then you present a false sense of security that the box is not energized, which would not be the case. Relying on an air gap as you describe here is ill conceived, uninformed and just plain DANGEROUS.
@Bry My comments regarding the Air Gap were always focused about the safety of the downstream fixtures and never regarding the switches were are protected by a faceplate and when the faceplate is removed the circuit breaker should be switched off. In the Wiring Diagrams that were references in the prior posts by others (Multi-Way Smart Switch) only the Air Gap switch that is directly connected to the load has any impact. This means that the consumer needs to either know what switch is connected to the load or pull out every Air Gap switch connected in that series. The consumer could be left with the false sense that pulling just one Air Gap that is connected to the series removes power to the fixture when in fact it does not. I’m thinking about people that move into a house that did not wire the fixture themselves. They typically will have no knowledge of the nuances of the wiring performed by the prior owner.
My point is simple there is no Wiring Diagram for Smart Bulb mode and that I would suggest that one be created to remove the ambiguity and confusion.
Right now they’ve done as much of the production as they can without flashing the final firmware on it as that firmware is still in Matter Certification (which is taking a little longer than we thought – it was our first time doing it, so we didn’t know what we didn’t know). Once Certification is complete, they can finalize everything and get these shipped.
I’m hoping it’s just a matter (pun intended) of days before it’s done, but I haven’t heard anything yet other than they’re waiting.
Everything looks great though! Love how the packaging and product turned out.
I was just looking through the online manuals; I wanted to let you know that the short code for the “White Series 2-in-1 Switch” digital link is incorrect (“https://inov.li/lvtm31sn”). Instead, https://inov.li/vtm31sn looks like it links to the correct page.
I very much appreciate the excellent work you and your company are putting into these products. And I’m looking forward to experimenting with these soon!
