Leviton ZW4SF

Discussions about existing Z-Wave device and their usage with Z-Way/Z-Cloud/Z-Box
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lanbrown
Posts: 279
Joined: 01 Jun 2021 08:06

Leviton ZW4SF

Post by lanbrown »

Jasco (GE and Honeywell branded) switches don't last very long and I'm down to my last three. Their fan switches I never had an issue with...until now. I had one fail; the blinking blue light. In researching what was out there, the options were pretty slim. I liked the Inovelli products but their fan control used a receiver and I was not interested in re-wiring and dealing with an add on module. There have also been reports of some bugs that still haven't been fixed. A lot of dimmers are not capable of running a fan because of the in rush current when turning the fan on. According to the Z-Wave alliance list, it was Jasco (and the various brands they are sold under), Inovelli, Homeseer, Leviton and Vizia. With Jasco definitely out of contention, Inovelli out (for the issues other have experienced and they aren't available right now anyway) that left Leviton, Homeseer and Vizia. I never heard of Vizia and that left Homeseer and Leviton. Homeseer was just a Z-Wave Plus (500 series) and the Leviton was Z-Wave Plus Version 2 (700 series). So I went the Leviton route. One drawback was the installation. It was permanently affixed wires instead of the holes with a screw that most of the switches have. So the wiring took longer as it wasn't just a disconnect the existing wires and plug them into the switch. I had to get into the box so I had to remove the switch for the light and remove some wiring from the neutral and line (hot) circuits.

The good news, the device was included with S2 authenticated encryption and the interview completed without an issue. Z-Way also had this device in the database. If you control the switch locally, Z-Way gets the update. This switch also has four speeds where most just have three. The paddles just control on and off. There is a light bar on the left that shows what speed the fan is set to and on the right is a thin rocker that allows you to increase or decrease the fan speed.

Looking at the timing statistics in Z-Way, even with encryption the device is usually at 1 sometimes 2. The Inovelli is usually in the 1 to 8 range and it sits right next to this switch. So the 700 series is a big improvement over the 500 series. I was contemplating that all new purchases would be 700 series only and this just solidified that.

The point of this post is just to provide others that this switch works with Z-Way v3.2.3, Razberry 7 Pro and can be included without an issue.
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PoltoS
Posts: 7565
Joined: 26 Jan 2011 19:36

Re: Leviton ZW4SF

Post by PoltoS »

Thanks for sharing this. For many years we think about making a database of users feedback on real devices splited by their hw revisions and firmware versions. Would this be somehow interesting for you guys? Will it help guide customers across the huge variety of available products? With a simple button in Expert UI "make a device review"
lanbrown
Posts: 279
Joined: 01 Jun 2021 08:06

Re: Leviton ZW4SF

Post by lanbrown »

Hopefully Z-Wave Plus Version 2 fixes a lot of issues. I think manufacturers were given too many freedoms when releasing products. Examples are if they will support encryption or not. Plus the 300 and 500 series had very little storage. Not like the 700 series has huge amounts of storage either. I know Inovelli was limited in some of the decisions on what they could do because of running out storage on the device. The 700 series (Z-Wave Plus Version 2) that encryption is a requirement as well as other things now being standardized. So maybe things will start to work better since there will be less of Manufacturer A implements it this way and Manufacturer Q does it differently.

So while it can't hurt to have a list to help the consumer pick known good products to use, it would have to be maintained. If a new OTA firmware is released, it could fix or break things. So previous reports would need to be scrubbed. Having one person say it works and another saying it doesn't, won't help.
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