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Impressed our electrician with Z-Wave . . . .

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    Impressed our electrician with Z-Wave . . . .

    We had been having problems with a certain outside light fixture. Two fixtures outside are controlled by the same switch (which I had swapped out for a Z-Wave switch, but that's immaterial). One fixture was giving us problems -- it would trip the breaker. Replaced the bulb. Still tripped the breaker. Replaced the fixture. Still tripped the breaker.

    I called the electrician, and he located a short in an inopportune place in the wall. His recommendation was to rip out a LOT of drywall to run new Romex from the switch to the fixture.

    I happened to have a wire-in appliance module handy. There is an outlet on the inside of the same wall where the fixture is on the outside, just six feet down or so. I asked if with a minimum of drywall work he could run new Romex through and down the wall to the outlet from the fixture, and he said that would be easy, with one small hole in the drywall (which nicely enough is behind a picture).

    I told him to do it, and said we could just control the fixture with my module. While he was doing the work (also added a two-gang box so that there was ample room for the module and the outlet), I added the module to my z-wave network, and associated it with the existing z-wave switch.

    Once the module was wired in, he was SUPER impressed -- couldn't believe how much work it saved him, and more importantly, how much drywall destruction it prevented. Asked for the name of the technology, and the control system I was using . . . .

    #2
    Nice. Just curious but what may have caused the short behind the wall? Some nailing into the wire?


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    Tom
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      #3
      Originally posted by TomTom View Post
      Nice. Just curious but what may have caused the short behind the wall? Some nailing into the wire?
      That's what we're thinking. It's pretty clear that when our townhomes were built in the last real estate boom that they rushed them along electrical wise. About half of the units have the same issue we have. And, when I was replacing a fixture in the backyard with a different one, I was shocked to discover Romex coming straight out of the siding, with no junction box! I had an electrician put one in, and was amazed how easy it was -- he just chipped out a hole, and put a shallow pancake junction box there.

      I'm also not convinced the house is well insulated in areas. I added an outside outlet opposite an inside outlet, and didn't get any yellow/pink insulation on the drill bit as I was expecting. It could be they used a different type of insulation (the homes were marketed as "green"), but I have my doubts.

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