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Updated December 26, 2006 06:00 PST
This time around, Mark Walters, vice president of the
Z-Wave Alliance and Chris Walker, President and Chief Software
Architect of ControlThink take on recent reader questions.
I'm looking at using Z-Wave for a basement remodel that
I'm working on, but I'm concerned about compatibility between
vendors. Can you mix and match Z-Wave products and controllers?
Absolutely. The Z-Wave standard requires all products
to maintain basic interoperability with all other products.
For example, you can rest assured that all Z-Wave remotes
that can control light switches will be able to turn on
or off light switches from any vendor.
With that in mind, Z-Wave products vary in their features
(just like with Bluetooth and other standards). This means
that some simpler remotes may only understand how to control
lights and blinds, for instance. Also, manufacturers may
add extra features that go above and beyond the basic functionality;
if that's something you need, simply buy a remote that understands
how to take advantage of those extra features.
What is the drain on power when you start adding multiple
Z-Wave devices on a mesh network? Has anyone tried to put
100+ in their home?
Unlike powerline carrier systems, X10, Insteon, HomePlug
CC, CEBus, and LON Radio Frequency systems like Z-Wave do
not suffer from Impedance Loading when additional transmitters
are added to a network. In fact, in an RF mesh network the
more devices you have the stronger and more fault tolerant
your network becomes.
There is a 232-device limit to a single Z-Wave network,
however it is not hard to tie multiple networks together
using a bridging device if more than 232 nodes are required.
This is similar to sub-netting in an IP network. I have
seen and installed Z-Wave networks with more than 100 nodes.
When establishing a network this large it is helpful, but
not required, to use a PC-based controller to configure
the network.
In what countries is Z-Wave locally distributed?
Currently in the United States and Brazil.
I'm looking for a remote fixture module similar to the
ZRF113 but smaller. I have an electrical box that measures
3"x3"x1.75". Currently I have an X10 device
in that space. Can you recommend a suitable product?
The plug-in module from Leviton is quite small so it may
be possible to use this with a female plug pigtail in your
application. Please contact Leviton technical support to
see if they would recommend this product in this application.
I'm concerned that I don't see any new Z-Wave products
on the market. What time-based metric can you offer to show
that the number of new products is growing? What new manufacturers
have joined the alliance that intend to offer products?
There are currently products readily available in North
America from more than 20 companies. As this is a new and
growing market most, if not all, of these products can be
found online and are still in somewhat limited brick and
mortar distribution. This is due to the time it takes to
build and distribute products to fill the shelves of large
national distributors.
The Z-Wave Alliance welcomed 42 new companies to its ranks
in 2006; most of them are actively developing products for
the North American market. Twelve are planning products
for the European market. As of today, there are over 60
products going through the Z-Wave certification process.
Those products are due out on the market in early 2007.
I can't find any Z-Wave products in local home improvement
centers, hardware stores, or electrical stores. What significant
retail outlet stocks Z-Wave products on its store shelves?
Is there a way to look them up by zip code and tell what
products they carry?
As stated above, your best bet is to purchase online, as
many of the available products have not made it out to the
large national chains yet. You can find Intermatic products
at Lowes and Fry's. Monster products are available in many
of the large national consumer electronic stores. ACT and
Wayne Dalton products are available online. Leviton products
are becoming available through electrical and specialty
distributors such as ADI and Worthington.
Your best bet is to contact the manufacturer whose products
you are interested in and ask them where to find them. Keep
your eyes on Z-Wave websites such as Z-Wave.com, Z-Wavealliance.org
and ZWaveWorld.com for more information on product availability.
Will the alternate route-seeking feature automatically
reroute commands through other neighbor nodes (devices that
are members of the same routing table) in order to reach
the intended device? For instance in the case that the RF
signal for a relaying node is blocked or the relaying node
is failed - or does the network need to be rediscovered
in order to use an alternate route?
Yes. Z-Wave automatically tries multiple routes if a transmission
fails (at any point along its route). Rediscovering the
network simply refreshes the available routes. While not
necessary for Z-Wave operation, rediscovery can be compared
with defragmenting a hard drive. It can get rid of dead
links in the system and find new good ones, potentially
speeding up your network in the process.
I have had no problems installing Monster iwd-600s switches
in a two-way arrangement. However, I cannot get the monster
dimmer and switch to work in a three-way arrangement. Can
you offer any instructions?
Chris Greene of Monster Software had this to say:
In a three-way arrangement, you need to use one of our two-way
dimmers (IWD-600) on the master, and a slave that runs in
series off the travel wire from the main. Our three-way
slave dimmers are being produced as we speak but are only
available in limited supply. The switches are made for Monster
by Leviton (http://leviton.com/vizia/)
which has its own branded version called Vizia. However,
Leviton only sells these products to home builders. Monster
will have more inventory on those dimmers in the next couple
of months.
