ACT or Leviton Zwave Switches - Which One?

[George M]

I have to decide on a brand of Zwave switches to buy. There will be about 85 in all so we are talking about a lot of money (for me anyway). They will be used along with ELK M1 Gold and CQC.

What is the opinion of the two brands mentioned. At Automate Outlet the ACT brand is a better buy cost wize, but I see a lot of use here of the Vizia brand.

One thing I cannot get a clear picture on is that the ACT brand clearly states the conpanion switches (AS101) are zwave and work with the ACT Zwave dimmers, but I do not see that for the Vizia brand.

Can the VZ00R be used in a three way configuration with the RZCZ1? Or are the VZ??? non Zwave?

Thanks in advance for opinions. I have let this go too long and I now have to get some ordered.

George

[IVB]

The ACT stuff i've gotten just feels a little cheaply made, but it might just be my consumeristic side coming out. I've never seen the Leviton stuff though.

I dunno about those questions, you could ask AutomatedOutlet directly on their cocoontech subforum

[George M]

Thanks IVB,

I thought you were using Zwave. Are you using something else?

Also I see that you are hosting a webinar. Will there be a signup sheet or will you be posting the connection information?

Thanks
George

[IVB]

I am using zWave, but i'm using the Intermatic stuff. Decent quality, but still cheaper than Vizia.

I'll post the connection info. It's for building templates and automated events, so it presumes you've either watched or attended the CQC 101/Intro webinar (in my sig).

[yourchef51]

watched or attended the CQC 101/Intro webinar (in my sig).

I would like to attend the webinar also if there is room. I am still a lurker so I will yield if space is needed for an owner/user. Where can I find the CQC 101 webinar. Thanks

DJ

[sic0048]

I cannot imagine that there will be a space issue. Although it has been a while since we have had a call like this, generally there are only about 6-10 people of the call and capacity is much higher than that.

The 101 class is available through the link in IVB signature. So look at the post above yours and click on the link. You do need the gotomeeting.com codex, so if you haven't been on one of the gotomeeting calls in the past, you will probably need to download it before you'll be able to watch the webinar. It is also available by link in IVB's forum signature.

[noworries]

I have to decide on a brand of Zwave switches to buy. There will be about 85 in all so we are talking about a lot of money (for me anyway). They will be used along with ELK M1 Gold and CQC.

One advantage of the Vizia is you can use the standard Vizia line throughout the house and swap in zwave devices as you wish, if you don't want to do the full monte all at once.

Make sure your electrician leaves a neutral and ground pigtail in each electrical box as some of the viziarf devices use a neutral.

What is the opinion of the two brands mentioned. At Automate Outlet the ACT brand is a better buy cost wize, but I see a lot of use here of the Vizia brand.

ViziaRF are identical to the standard vizia line you'll see in retail outlets and are high quality devices in my opinion.

Can the VZ00R be used in a three way configuration with the RZCZ1? Or are the VZ??? non Zwave?

The RZCZ1 is a controller, not part of a hardwired 3+way switch circuit, but can be used to create virtual 3+way circuits. You can use the VZ00R-10 with the RZI06, etc., scene capable dimmers to create standard hardwired 3+way circuits. The benefit is that the VZs are much cheaper; the downside is you don't get the LEDs on the VZs (you can't use the VZ00R-1 for example).

Thanks in advance for opinions. I have let this go too long and I now have to get some ordered.

I've got a collection of RZI06 (Incandescent dimmer), RZM10 (Magnetic LV dimmers), both types mated with VZ00R-10 in 3-4 way circuits, and one RZS15 (On-off switch controlling a CFL bulb). I've also got a RZCS4 (4 area scene controller). These you plan ahead on where you want scene control as they don't usually replace an existing switch. You will also want to use the Vizia Remote RZCPG for programming to take best advantage of two way communications and scene programming. I've also written a basic CQC driver for the Leviton RZC0P RS232 interface.

Check out http://www.ViziaRF.com.

[LesAuber]

Anyone have a feel for how the Vizia compares to Lutron RadioRA?

[klindy]

I cannot imagine that there will be a space issue. Although it has been a while since we have had a call like this, generally there are only about 6-10 people of the call and capacity is much higher than that.

The 101 class is available through the link in IVB signature. So look at the post above yours and click on the link. You do need the gotomeeting.com codex, so if you haven't been on one of the gotomeeting calls in the past, you will probably need to download it before you'll be able to watch the webinar. It is also available by link in IVB's forum signature.

watched or attended the CQC 101/Intro webinar (in my sig).

I would like to attend the webinar also if there is room. I am still a lurker so I will yield if space is needed for an owner/user. Where can I find the CQC 101 webinar. Thanks

DJ

I'm sure there wont be a problem with space my account allows for 25 concurrent users if I recall. Even if it 'fills up' it's typically first-come first-served anyway. By that I mean that if you want to participate, you're more than welcome.

The codec that Brian mentioned is to replay the video/audio file that IVB will produce (assuming it's substantive enough to warrant). I am quite sure that you don't need to download anything simply to participate. Of course I may be wrong since I have the full-client loaded and don't participate on the web.

So you should be just fine signing in the morning of the webinar. There will be a phone number posted as well which you'll need to conference in on to hear anything. There's no cost to participate unless you need to pay for a long distance phone call.

[rdf]

I'm sure there wont be a problem with space my account allows for 25 concurrent users if I recall. Even if it 'fills up' it's typically first-come first-served anyway. By that I mean that if you want to participate, you're more than welcome.

Keith,
Thank you very much for letting us use your account for these webinars. I tuned in for one and that's what convinced me to buy CQC even though I'm not ready to start building yet. It's a great learning tool, to see someone actually working thru something on the screen. I appreciate it.

Russ