Incorporating zWave devices

[kjaerligkatt]

Ok, so I'm making some further changes to my current devices.

The most significant change is swapping all of my Rako lighting for Philips Hue lighting.  My key goals are to : 

• Focus on devices that are UK friendly i.e. well supported, match UK form factors and don't require power transformers
  
• Where possible, use devices that have official CQC drivers (or at least well maintained community drivers) - which is one reason for dropping Rako
  
• Select devices that support┬áwell established, broadly supported┬áinteroperability
   
  

The main obstacle to installing the Hue lights has been the desire to retain wall switches that broadly behave like conventional light switches - something that the Rako do well for UK wall socket form factor.  This led me to looking at combining the Hues with Devolo switches, which are perfect for UK ergonomics.  The Devolo are ZWave, so play well with the Hues, and whole array of other devices.  So far, so good.  This will also integrate relatively well with CQC for the Hue lights (since there is a CQC driver to talk to the Hues directly)  BUT with the Devolo controller/hub I have no direct interaction with CQC.  Devolo also do not seem to have an API for the hub (not that I want to write a CQC driver - I no longer have the time for this).  I could limit my use of zWave to just the lighting, but this would be a shame with all the other devices it allows access to.

So, from what I understand, I then need a Leviton VRCOP for CQC to be able to access the zWave connected devices - but Leviton appear to have a very limited presence for home automation products outside of the US, and there is no 220/240v VRCOP.

Are there any other options for interfacing ZWave with CQC?

Thanks, and happy holidays,

Neil

[jkmonroe]

Welcome to hell. I have spent thousands of dollars and a hundred hours trying to figure out how to best do this - all to end up with Hue Dimmer Switches and Hue Taps on my wall.

In the new house, I am going to see if I can integrate the Lutron Caseta Pico remotes to control my Hue since CQC has a driver for the Caseta Smart Bridge Pro.

[kjaerligkatt]

I'm don't mind the time or cost in experimenting, I just need something to work with ? Once the USB Zwave support arrives, I'll be all over it.

The Rako lighting served me well for years, and I got a reasonable 2-way driver hacked together for it, but the nature of the system was always going to limit the state awareness of the devices. This is what eventually drew me to the Hues.

[Dean Roddey]

The ISY 994i supports Z-Wave and Insteon devices. Dunno how good they are for 220/240 though. And it would be a lot to bite off for the short time until the new Z-Wave driver arrives.

Definitely check out Caseta if they have the format support you want. That would be a solid system.

[kjaerligkatt]

Caseta appears not to be available in Europe, unless I'm missing it. I've looked at Lutron in the past (firstly over 20 years ago), but like many, their European product range have always been limited.