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Updated May 21, 2007 01:00 PDST
I am wiring a dedicated home theatre room right now
and want to do lighting control through some sort of universal
remote. It is my understanding that the Harmony
890 works with your devices. What will I need from Z-Wave
is to control the lights. I have three separate switched
lights to control. Will I need to do anything special for
the wiring of these lights or have additional wires of some
sort?
The Harmony 890 will send lighting control commands, On/Off,
Bright/Dim, to Z-Wave lighting devices. It will let you
set up groups and scenes that will coordinate with the A/V
functions of the remote. Z-Wave lighting devices come in
plug-in and in-wall configurations, switch and dimming functions.
You will need to select the proper device for your application
taking into consideration the type, wattage, and bulb (incandescent,
low voltage, florescent) you want to control. You will simply
need to replace the existing (or would be existing) normal
switch or dimmer with a Z-Wave enabled version of that same
device. No special or additional wiring required.
I have a dedicated home theatre, and have a Dalite motorized
screen with a manual switch. I would like to use a Logitech
Harmony 890 to control lighting, screen lowering/raising,
and components. Can the screen trigger be attached to a
Z-Wave transducer?
Yes, there are standard Z-Wave devices that can be used
to control your screen using the Harmony 890 or another
Z-Wave remote control. The first question is does your screen
require a simple contact closure that just connects the
two wires together without sending power. This is called
a "dry contact" type trigger. Or, does your screen
require power, voltage, and current be applied to the wires
to activate the screen. This is called a "wet contact."
For dry contact try ESI
or Boca
Devices, for wet contact there are many choices for
120V solutions just pick out a lighting switch. If you need
a wet contact at some other voltage than 120V what is typical
is to use a 120 lighting switch to drive the coil on a relay
and use the relay contacts to supply the proper power to
the device. This solution can also be used to fake a dry
contact using a standard lighting switch and a 120V coil
relay.
I have a potential client who wants a motorized roller
shade with a timer. We can accomplish this using a Somfy
plug-in hardwired system with a radio remote. He wants to
put in some lighting and wants it to also operate off of
this timer. Is there a Z-Wave device to help us accomplish
this? We are getting more and more demand for integration.
At this time to integrate with a Somfy shade you would
need to use a Z-Wave dry contact switch to trigger the shade.
See the previous answer. You can also get Z-Wave enabled
shades and shade motors from Techniku
and ESI.
I am trying to find a way to remotely (wirelessly) control
RGB led strips (in different locations). The strips can
handle wired DMX or plain wired voltage dimming (three lines
per strip, one for each color). I know WiFi-to-DMX receivers
exist but they are way too expensive. How would I do this
in the most economical way using Z-Wave technology?
At this time there are no specific three channel Z-Wave
LED dimmers, however, we are working on some. Today you
would use three separate Z-Wave light switches, plug-in
or in-wall design to drive each line. You can use inexpensive
300W devices as the power draw on the LED strips do not
require a lot power. It is then fairly simple to create
groups or scenes that you can call up for different color
schemes.
Mark Walters, our resident Z-Wave expert, is vice president
of the Z-Wave Alliance.
