How do companion switches work?

[abdiel2000]

So, I'm planning on replacing a 3-way switch I have in my hallway with the Z-Wave 1800-Watt Relay (Vizia RF) and the Z-Wave Companion Relay Switch (Vizia RF).

I notice that the Companion Switch is A LOT cheaper. Why is that? How exactly does it work with the master switch? Will it still help grow my Z-Wave network?

Thanks for any help!

Alex

[abdiel2000]

Hmm... No responses. Maybe the answer to this is more complicated than I thought...

Does anyone know if you need a neutral wire for these companion Vizia relay switches?

[kaldoon]

Hope this helps

[abdiel2000]

Thank you, Kaldoon. So from this it seems like one of the switches will NOT need a neutral connection.

[abdiel2000]

Actually they DO require a NEUTRAL and no RF

Put in a help desk ticket before I purchased one. Seems like the Leviton Vizia companion switches work off some kind of powerline protocol. Here is the reply I got from Rick Tinker:

Here is the product page for what you are interested in: http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ibeCC...:US&item=22335

On that page, there is a link to the specifications (Product Spec Bulletin) and it shows how it is wired. It has 4 terminals, but only 2 are used! The two terminals used are for the yellow wire, which is connected to the master switch, and for the WHITE wire, which is NEUTRAL. So, it would appear that Leviton is using their proprietary signaling method on the companion switch as they do with X-10, and so it does not have a Z-Wave chip in it, which is partially why it is much less expensive than the Cooper. However, the neutral is indeed required to meet the needs of their signaling system.

I hope other folks will find this useful.

Alex

[zgebones]

If you are using Vizia and buying from somewhere other then Homeseer, you make sure to get coordinating and NOT matching slave switches.

I found out the hard way that they don't work and awaiting my correct switches.