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Z-Wave Lighting on ELK

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    Z-Wave Lighting on ELK

    For decades, I have been using X-10 for lighting, controlled by a schedule on a hardware controller - first Stargate and now the ELK M1G. I prefer my lighting control via a hardware controller because they have always been dead-on reliable every day - not subject to Windows or HS software failures. But my X-10 switches starting to fail after many years, and I'm considering Z-wave light switches to replace them.

    Does anyone use the ELK-M1XSLZW serial z-wave interface on your ELK for lighting control? Any issues? Does it play well with Ultra's plugin? Can I run the Z-Wave interface and the built-in X-10 interface simultaneously (I.e., and mix of X-10 and Z-Wave during transition)?

    Any insight, experience or advice is welcome. Thanks.
    Mark

    #2
    When I first installed my Elk panel I included the z-wave interface for a few devices I have. Just my experience/opinion, but I found configuring z-wave directly within Elk to be a bit of a hassle. I was able to create the z-wave network with a z-wave controller and load it to Elk but I could never get it to actually function and I suspect it was due to where the Elk panel and z-wave interface were located in relation to the actual devices I was wanting to control (distance or signal interruption issues). I have since added HS because I wanted to expand my system capabilities and when I did, I included the HS z-wave stick. Setting up the z-wave network within HS was extremely simple. My HS controller is more centrally located and the z-wave configuration has been working without any issues.

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      #3
      Mark,

      Skip the Elk M1G Z-wave control (and any M1G Automation) and use HomeSeer. I use M1G PIR sensors to turn on lights all over my house. Yes, you need to have HS running but I always do. I let HS do all the automation tasks and let Elk run the alarm system (and use the inputs and outputs of the Elk as part of my triggers and actions).

      Regards,
      Vector

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        #4
        I agree with the above. I used Elk-based Zwave for many years. It is a hassle because you need to use a Leviton VRC0P, which needs to be properly understood by your Z-wave primary controller for proper configuration. This generally means using a Leviton primary like the VRUSB and the Leviton Installer software.
        The HS3 Zwave implementation does not recognize the VRC0P so you can't have a "hybrid" system with HS3 as your primary and the Elk still doing some Zwave automation.

        Skip all this and use HS3 to run your Zwave network and automation. The only downside is that HS3's support for Leviton multi-button controllers (if you have any) is not great.

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