Question about avbailable ZWave devices

[pete@malibubeach.com]

I am about to automate (or at least partially automate) a new vacation house we just bought. 20 or 25 years ago I fully automated my current house with UPB and at the time I chose UPB over ZWave (which was pretty nascent at the time) and I also did whatever was needed (cutting up walls to install larger boxes to replace 1/2 gang switches; running neutral wires; etc.). This time I am only doing what is easy. So I pose the following questions (and I will pose the same questions in a UPB thread as I have not decided between UPB and ZWave). As far as I can determine the answer to all of these questions is no but I would love to be wrong. My goal in this house is two-fold: to be able to monitor from afar and also to simplify control of certain devices such as outside lighting -- the back deck, for example, has four or five lights each controlled by a separate switch with the switches spread out the length of the house.

1. Are there any devices that control multiple loads from a single gang unit -- specifically two dimmable lights (there are several 1/2-gang light switches in the house) or a unit that can control a multi-speed fan and the light attached to it (there are about 6 fans with combination light dimmer//fan speed controls in single gang boxes)?

2. Is there any way to get ZWave to a remote building (through IP/WiFi)? There is an airplane hangar about 250' from the house---no need to control anything in the hangar but it would be nice to be able to monitor?

3

. Is UPB or ZWave (or something else) a better choice?

Thanks for any advice.

Pete Tompkins

[Wade]

1. There are dual switches but not dual dimmers as far as I know. Look at the small devices designed to fit in the box behind your switches: Aeotec Nano, Shelly, etc. There's a new dual control device - Zooz Zen30 - that almost meets your fan/light need, but only on/off for the fan.
2. Yes, the HomeSeer Z-net is essentially an RPi with a z-wave shield that connects back to your HomeSeer server via wifi and/or ethernet. I have two in my house and another at a remote site connected over a site-to-site VPN. There DIY instructions here on the forum if you want to build your own.
3. No experience with UPB so no comment.