tldr; I need help making an older Z-Wave dimming switch into a simple on/off only switch.
Good morning all! This is my first post and I’m an HA n00b so please be gentle.
I’ve been using home automation (mostly Vera/Casa Verde or whatever they call it these days) for over two decades now. I recently migrated all of my devices to a new HAOS install (VM in Synology) and have most of my previous functionality up and running in terms of automations and such. There’s still much to be fine tuned but I think I’ve got the foundational building blocks in place so that if my wife calls out a command to Alexa she won’t be met with silence but the expected action instead.
Now I’m trying to advance a things with the newly found functionality I didn’t previously have. As I do, I’m sure I’ll have questions along the way. I’ve used lots of resources to get me to this point but some of these items are a bit more specific so I may need to ask the community along the way.
To that end, one such improvement I’m looking to make is permanently make one of my dimmable Z-Wave switches a simple on/off switch. Due to the lights it’s connected to and how the work, I don’t want it to dim ever to include the ramp to off it has even when I toggle/trigger a simple “off” command.
The “configuration” options within the Z-Wave device details are pretty limited:
Hoping that a simple modification exists to limit this device’s capability to just being a simple on/off switch for basic functionality. If anyone has any help or can point me in the direction of “learning to fish” I’d be happy. So far, searches I’ve tried haven’t yielded much help though.
Looking forward to my time here and thanks for the assist!
IF you can change it, ‘functionally,’ look under configuration at the dimmer rates and crank them down to mins. I THINK that’s how people used to change this device’s dimmer ramp, BUT.
You are only modifying the speed of the dimmer. It is NOT making this a switch. It’s just a VERY FAST dimmer now. But it’s STILL a dimmer.
VERY IMPORTANT If you are putting an induction load (like a fan) in do NOT do this and change the switch, you should NEVER - LIKE as in EVER ‘dim’ an induction load. Fires happen.
Create an automation that monitors for ANY change to the brightness level of the switch, and if it changes toggle the device.
It won’t dim any more, but if you try to dim it it will flash on and off very fast and the person will know they are doing something wrong.
Seriously though, if you are trying to disable dimming because there is a device it’s controlling that will be damaged if it dims, like a fan, then it would be a safety hazard if you didn’t follow the very first answer.
Hey all, thanks for the ideas. Too bad there wasn’t a simple parameter change I could modify as this was the exact solution I was looking/hoping for.
I’ve been in the home automation game for quite some time so I’ve still got a lot of these older devices. Heck, my outgoing hub was a Vera Plus that was an ancient version of Z-Wave. Little to no benefit would have been realized from newer devices. Now that I’m on HA and have an 800 LR Z-Wave radio as my controller, I can start upgrading to newer Z-Wave devices. I’m not one to throw away perfectly good devices though so I’m trying to keep as many of these older devices functional as possible. I even spent almost an hour trying to repair an inside door/window sensor that I’ve had mounted outside on a gate that I knew would fail eventually. Got two decades out of it so not too bad, really. I digress.
This particular switch has been in a basement for quite some time. A few years back I replaced some lights with LED flat panels for better lighting as we have a home gym down there and wanted better lighting. I’ve got my better half trained to make sure that she only taps the switch up or down and doesn’t hold either one for any period of time at all.
So, from that perspective, things have been fine mostly. The lingering issue is that the switch still wants to ramp down when you tap the off button. Since these LED panels aren’t meant to be a dimming “bulb” they flicker before turning off. It’s more annoying than anything and something I’ve wanted to correct for some time now. I’d also like to eliminate the ability to dim completely from the chain so I don’t have to worry about it. If I could modify the attributes of the switch itself to just being a simple on/off switch with no dim/fade capabilities at all it would allow this switch to continue functioning in this position for many years to come.
Since it doesn’t seem like this is going to be possible I’ll likely have to replace it with something that is. I can probably repurpose this switch for another location with less exacting requirements of simplicity though so it’s not like I’ll be throwing it away.
Will do. I swear the first time I turned off the light after adding it to test it seemed like it flickered even worse. I’m sure that was just my own insecurities shaping my perception of things and it was no different.
I tried that before I posted above and it wouldn’t let me. It only gave me positive integers as an option, nothing with a zero. I even tried to manually type a “0” but it also wouldn’t let me. shrugs
I like the “ignore” idea offered above as the best solution since I’m trying to wrap my mind around enough as a first timer to HA with an all new HA build w/over 50 devices to invest resources in items where “simply ignore” is an option.
This one is now checked off of my rather lengthy “to do” list of items to add or address since it was of relatively low priority. If I want this switch to function as I’ve described I’ll simply buy a new wall switch and replace it now that I know that the desired solution of editing this one with a few keystrokes isn’t an option.
