Z-Wave – evaluation
What is Z-Wave? – submission by Len Marten – Z-Wave is networking protocol established by Zensys. It’s not, as some may think, a concrete product, however a networking protocol established particularly with house Automation in mind. The concept is, that makers will utilize Z-Wave innovation to ensure that their gadgets as well as modules can interact with each other.
At time of composing there were two kinds of Z-Wave gadgets on the market (or about to be on the market). These were the gadgets from ACT HomePro as well as those gadgets from Icom-Technology. This evaluation looks at a few of the HomePro devices…
Ordering as well as shipment – If anyone has been complying with the discussions on the Automated house Forums will soon realise the difficulties I’ve had getting hold of some Z-Wave kit. The demands were simple; to remotely manage as well as dim my recently installed garden lights.
Through the Forum I found Automated outlet as well as the extremely practical Martin Custer had some UK modules. After putting the order on their website at 11.30am on the 6th July, I got an e-mail at 7.50pm on the exact same day stating that the order had completed successfully. I ordered two lamp modules as well as a remote, shipping for this order was a snip at $6.90. shipping was by us Postal service (USPS) Air Mail Letter Post. sure enough, on the afternoon of the 12th July – some six days later, the very first part of my order shows up – one lamp module as well as a remote control.
Nearly a month on from the original order, the second lamp module still hasn’t arrived, however as Automated outlet really seem to be able to get these modules from ACT I can wait.
The USPS don’t offer order tracking on what is essentially Air Mail, so if this is important, you may want to discuss upgrading the shipping. I discovered Martin at Automated outlet extremely helpful, getting timely reassuring actions to e-mails. I’ll have no problems ordering from these guys again.
First Impressions – No glossy packaging here! simple white box with the labels of the contents, showing up in a completely adequate padded envelope.
I ordered a ZTH100 (Remote) as well as a ZDP100 (Lamp Module) however specified that I desired the UK versions. Which really ended up being a ZTH200 (Remote) as well as a ZDP210 (Lamp Module). Both boxes suggest a frequency of 868.42Mhz, I’d presumed that the us remote wouldn’t operate the UK modules, I then had this verified when I eaves dropped in on a discussion at the Homeseer site that specified that 868.42Mhz is the European frequency for low powered units as well as the us is operating at 908Mhz.
There were no directions with either the Lamp Module or the Remote, which when they shown up was a bit frustrating since I had the units provided to work, I had nothing to checked out up on before having a play. There was a temptation to hook the lamp module as much as a colleagues rack install server he was testing as well as “dim it” to see what would occur – however believed against it. There didn’t appear to be much to read, the units seemed to be self-explanatory. The Lamp Unit, has a single button on the front (unlike X10, there are no dials or dip switches to set the house or gadget ID). All the intelligence as well as configuration is held in the Remote.
The Remote – The packaging corrects us as well as reminds us that this is not a remote however a “Homepro ZTH200, Radio frequency Wireless Controller”. The extremely very first thing you notice about the remote is its size. about the exact same size as a Palm/iPAQ 4150 however around 2cm thick! As mentioned, the remote didn’t include a manual, however after a quick Google on the web, I discovered this extremely useful site, which has the handbook in PDF form.
When you very first insert the batteries in the remote (supplied) it prompts you to go into the time, which was a simple affair utilizing the left, right as well as okay buttons.
Pressing the “Menu” button brings up the menu, pressing “OK” selects a menu option, whilst choosing “C” cancels or moves back with the menu. The full menu map for the remote can be discovered at ACT-Solutions. So here’s a summary of what each menu enables you to do.
Groups – Every system has to be assigned to a Group, as well as the remote can support as much as 64 units for every of it’s 64 groups. potentially that’s a overall of 4,096 units! In truth though I can’t see the point of having 64 units all doing precisely the exact same thing – unless you’ve got some multi-kilowatt illumination system as well as you’re having to spread the tons across several lamp units. So I believe for the typical house automation enthusiast, you’ll be looking at 64 units – each in it’s own nameable group. The very first six groups can be accessed quickly with the numbered buttons on the remote.
Scenes – This is where you can add a series of units, as well as set the level of those units. Unlike the Groups, righthere I can see the point of assigning a number of units to one scene. You can have as much as 32 scenes with 64 units assigned to each. So you might produce a scene as well as phone call it “GARDEN PARTY”, where the Lamp system controlling the fence Lights is set to dim as well as the Lamp system controlling the Patio lights is set a bit brighter. To can gain access to all of your Scenes by pressing the heart button on the remote. find your scene utilizing the left as well as right buttons. You can’t designate groups to Scenes, to produce a Scene you have to manually press the button on the unit, as well as then utilize the button on the system to set your illumination level. when I got utilize to this, configuration was straightforward.
Timer – The remote manage can have as much as 8 timers. This function alone should effectively do away with the requirement for a PC controller based house automation setup. only when the demands begin to creep into the realms of challenging scripts as well as logic flows can I see the requirement of utilizing the likes of the USB interface with something like HomeSeer. I did have some issues setting up a timer, with it repeatedly stating that it had produced the timer, however when I went to go back in as well as edit it – the remote continued to show it as “Free”. I ended up having to “Reset Remote to factory Default” (See Setup) as well as this fixed the problem. After performing the reset I had to go round as well as configuration my groups as well as Scenes once again – this obviously didn’t prove to be as well much of a issue with the one module! My tip right here is to inspect all the features of the remote before you begin adding units as well as producing several scenes – otherwise, like me, you’ll have to go back in a set them all up again.
Child security – This sets the units to a specify where to operate them you have to press the button on the units a couple of times. I can see they’ve added this function for those units that are down at “little darlin’ level”, where curious fingers want to understand what that solitary button on the front of the system does. In Z-Wave’s case, that button switches the system on as well as off, as well as it’s utilized for configuration. By changing kid security on it avoids your siblings from trying to reconfigure your Z-Wave configuration or changing the lights on as well as off.
Burglar Deterrent – between a set of times, this turns units on as well as off randomly, providing the perception that somebody is in. helpful I suppose, however I don’t believe it would deter any type of burglars in my area. If you truly want to deter burglars, save your money as well as invest in some CCTV as well as a Rottweiler. however seriously, if you are believing of integrating your burglar system into Z-Wave then you may be a bit disappointed, X10 has a multitude of Burglar deterrents, alarms, lights as well as sirens that integrate into your X10 system. However, Z-Wave doesn’t, so don’t spend as well long looking for that Z-Wave Alarm, or Z-Wave security Light – since at time of writing, they don’t exist – yet.
Setup – enables you to set Time, set the remote screen’s Contrast, include as well as Exclude Units for the All On/Off buttons, copy your Remote manage to another, Reset system as well as to Reset Remote Control. I discovered that all these functions worked well (didn’t test the copy Remote functions), be conscious that the “Factory Reset” still retains the time – so I’m not completely sure exactly how much of a reset this really does. I discovered that the “Factory Default Reset” solved my Timer problem, however would suggest eliminating the batteries also if a issue persists.
The Lamp Module – Again, the packaging informs us that we haven’t got a Lamp Module at all however a “HomePro ZDP210, Radio frequency Controlled, 300W 230VAC. Plug-In Lamp Module (UK).” The chaps at HomePro/ZenSys, almost to rub in the truth that this set most definitely doesn’t send any type of communications over the mains (aka X10), enforce the truth by labelling whatever with “Radio Frequency…”, as well as rightfully so.
Like the remote it didn’t include any type of instructions, however after my previous snoop I discovered the Manual – not that there was much to read.
The module appears to be well developed as well as light with a single button on the front of the unit. This button is utilized for both configuration as well as control. The button, without utilizing the remote, can be utilized to switch the connected lamp on/off as well as dim (by holding it in). To add the Lamp Module to the Remote manage you have to utilize either the group or Scene menu as well as when prompted, press the bit button on the Module.
The module does emit a extremely slight buzz when it’s plugged in, as this system is plugged into my workshop this didn’t present any type of problems. If you were putting this system into somewhere little as well as rather (the loo?) then it might be a bit irritating, however it truly is barely noticeable.
X10 versus Z-Wave – So, if you’ve got X10 as well as you’re reading this why would you convert to Z-Wave? Or if, like me, you’re new to house Automation as well as you’re a bit bewildered over the choice, where would you start? Let’s compare the two as well as you can make your own mind up.
X10
Pros
Very Mature, it’s been out for years!
It’s fairly cheap, particularly for big installations
X10 is offered everywhere!
Cons
Can be a bit fiddly setting up
Reports of intermittent signal issues
No module acknowledgement (so you don’t understand if the system got the direction or not)
Z-Wave
Pros
Very new, so long term reliability can’t be proven
It’s extremely simple to set up
Very well featured “out of the box”
All units act as repeaters, improving home protection as well as signal the more you get
Module acknowledgement, so there’s no more inspecting to see if your lights truly are off or not
Cons
It’s more costly than X10 (even when you think about you don’t requirement a Transceiver for the smallest of installations)
Availability is badly constrained in the UK (thanks to Automated outlet in the us for supplying mine!)
My suggestion is that if you want a completely featured, big house automation system right now, go for X10. If you’re just starting out, or if you’ve got rather a fundamental house automation configuration think about moving to Z-Wave. particularly if you’ve experienced a few of the signal reception issues connected with X10. It’s apparent that ZenSys have put together the Z-Wave common with X10 in mind, addressing a few of it’s key problems by utilizing some extremely clever RF communications as well as module acknowledgment as common (X10 does have module acknowledgement however it’s more expert as well as not as “plug as well as play” as Z-Wave). It will be extremely fascinating to see what the amateur house Automation market will look like in a year or two.
Resources
ACT-Solutions : Automated Outlet : Keen Gardner : HomeSeer : Lets Automate : Zensys
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