Installing and configuring the ACT ZRW230 Z-Wave light switch

November 10th, 2008

The ACT ZRW230 is the European equivalent of the ZRW103.  It is a Z-Wave wireless home automation light switch with a single paddle.

It looks like this when installed:

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From behind:

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Before going any further please note that I AM NOT AN ELECTRICIAN.  I strongly suggest that you use a qualified electrician to install these switches for you, and in any event make sure you obey local regulations.

Before you buy a load of ZRW230s, check your light switches to make sure you have three wires: the live wire, the load (which connects to the live when the switch is ‘on’) and a neutral.  If you don’t have a neutral then you won’t be able to use the ZRW230 unless you get a neutral wire installed.

All is not lost however, since you may be able to use an ACT ZRW232 dimmer instead.  The ACT ZRW232 dimmer does not require a neutral, so you may be able to use that.  Note however that it is a dimmer, meaning that it might not be suitable for all lights (fluorescent lights for example).

When I opened up my light switch this is what I saw:

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As you can see, there is no neutral.  I got the additional neutral wire installed and wired up:

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The Live wire goes into the "L", the Neutral goes into either of the "N"s, and the Load goes into "1".

"2" and "3" are not used for this installation.  You’ll destroy your switch if you put the Live wire into "3".

Once installed I used my controller to add it to the existing Z-Wave network:

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If you have more than one switch controlling the same light

If you have more than one switch controlling the same light, then you replace one light switch with a single ZRW230 to control the light, and where you have other switches you should use a ZTW230.  The ZTW230 is purely a transmitter (it has no load).  You can configure it using the controller to send a message to the ZRW230 when it is switched on, and the ZRW230 will then switch on the light.  I’ve found that the ZRW230 can also be set up to act purely as a transmitter, with no load attached.

Conclusion

Once I got a Neutral wire installed I found the ZRW230 easy to install and configure.  It is extremely configurable.  For example I found it handy to make the switch send a signal to a second switch so that when it is pressed, two lights go on.

Posted in Reviews | 3 Comments »

Programming Z-Wave

October 21st, 2008

As a developer one of the main reasons for going with Z-Wave was to try out some software product ideas I had around controlling Z-Wave.

There is a standard C-language Z-Wave Development Kit, however it costs at least US$1,500.00, which is way beyond what most hobbyists/bootstrapping startups would be willing to pay.

The main alternative is currently the ControlThink SDK, which is a .NET based API.  It costs around US$70, which is much more affordable.

The ControlThink PC SDK comes with a USB Z-Wave controller, which works for North America.  Of course if you are based in Europe (as I am) then this USB device will be useless.

I have however managed to get the ControlThink SDK working with the ACT ZCU201 USB controller on Vista.

There is an XP driver available for download here on the ACT web site.

For Vista however, I followed the instructions in this thread in order to use the driver for the Intermatic controller, which I assume uses the same underlying chipset.

I downloaded the ha22vista2.zip file from http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=121133&referrerid=55149 then I edited the DriverSetupForVista\DriverSetupForVista32\SPC825.inf file and replaced the existing [Sunplus] section:

[Manufacturer]
%Sunplus%=Sunplus

[Sunplus]
%DeviceDesc%=ComPort, USB\VID_04FC&PID_0204

[DestinationDirs]
ComPort.NT.Copy=12

with:

[Manufacturer]
%Sunplus%=Sunplus

[Sunplus]
%DeviceDesc%=ComPort, USB\VID_04FC&PID_0204
%DeviceDesc%=ComPort, USB\VID_04FC&PID_0003
%DeviceDesc%=ComPort, USB\VID_04FC&PID_0201

[DestinationDirs]
ComPort.NT.Copy=12

I then right-clicked on the SPC825.inf file and clicked Install.  Once it installed properly I rebooted (IMPORTANT!).

After rebooting I went to the device manager and saw that the USB driver was installed as COM port 4 (it may be different in your case):

image

Having installed it, I was ready to write my first program.  I created a new Console Application project, added a reference to the ControlThink assembly (in my case under C:\Program Files\ControlThink\Z-Wave PC SDK\Bin\.NET Framework 2.0\ControlThink.ZWave.dll)

I change the main program to look like this (note the use of COM4 matching the port in the device manager above):

using System;
using ControlThink.ZWave;
using ControlThink.ZWave.Devices;

namespace ZWaveTest {
    class Program {
        static void Main(string[] args) {
            ZWaveController controller = new ZWaveController();
            controller.Connected += ControllerConnected;
            controller.Connect("COM4");

            Console.ReadLine();

            controller.Disconnect();
        }

        private static void ControllerConnected(object sender, EventArgs e) {
            ZWaveController controller = (ZWaveController)sender;
            foreach (var controllerDevice in controller.Devices) {
                ZWaveDevice zwaveDevice = (ZWaveDevice)controllerDevice;
                Console.WriteLine("Found device with ID = {0} and type {1}",
                                                     zwaveDevice.NodeID,
                                                     zwaveDevice.GetType());
            }
        }
    }
}

This is the result when I ran the program:

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Frankly I’d much rather have access to the lower-level API — there are things that I can’t do with the ControlThink API that I can’t help but wonder if I might be able to do with the proper Zensys C SDK, but at over $1.5K I guess I’ll have to make do!

Posted in Programming | 8 Comments »

Review of ZIR010 / ZIR000 Z-Wave Motion Detector

September 7th, 2008

The ACT ZIR010 is the European version of the US ZIR000.  It is an infra-red motion sensor device that supports the Z-Wave protocol.

The box

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Inside the box

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Inside the box there are four batteries, some wall mounts, an instruction sheet, and the ZIR010/ZIR000 itself.

Inside the ZIR010/ZIR000

To physically configure the ZIR010/ZIR000 you need to take the lid off of the device, using a single screw at the base:

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Batteries

The really cool thing from my perspective is that theZIR010/ZIR000 is battery powered, which means you can plonk it anywhere in your house, without needing a power supply nearby.  The down-side to it being battery powered is that the ZIR010/ZIR000 will not relay Z-Wave messages to other devices.  When it detects movement it wakes up, sends a message, and goes back to sleep again.

It comes with the four AA batteries that are required to power it.  It is supposed to work for "up to" two years.  I’m always wary when I see "up to" … I’ll report back here when the ones I’ve installed expire.

Once the lid is off you’ll see where to install the batteries.  It isn’t immediately obvious, but you need to insert batteries on both sides of the battery holder.

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Jumpers

Inside there are a couple of sets of jumpers on the circuit board.

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The first set (to the right of the brown switch) define how sensitive the ZIR010/ZIR000 is.  You should double-check this when you receive the device to make sure that it is as high as you wish.

The second set (below the brown switch) turn the LED on and off: when it is off the device does not light up when movement is detected.

Positioning the ZIR010/ZIR000

Before you configure the device to be part of your Z-Wave network you should position it in its permanent position.  This is because when it is added to the network it works out its location relative to other devices.

I used some double-sided adhesive fixing tape rather than using the screws.

Configuring the ZIR010/ZIR000

Assuming you have a hand-held Z-Wave controller then you just need to go through the standard procedure to add a device to your network.  You’ll need to press the brown button on the ZIR010/ZIR000 when prompted:

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My controller (the ACT ZTH200) simply reported that the ZIR010/ZIR000 was added to the network, and that it couldn’t do much else with it. 

Modes

One thing I could do was configure what mode the ZIR010/ZIR000 should run in.  It can run in Lighting Mode, in Alarm Mode, or in Sensor Mode. 

Since I wanted to have the device tell my PC when it detected movement, I selected Sensor Mode.  I did this using my hand-held controller by sending the value 2 to parameter 17.  Send 0 for Lighting Mode, and 1 for Alarm Mode.

Groups

If you’ve played around with a hand-held controller, then you might be familiar with grouping Z-Wave devices into groups in order to control them simultaneously.

The ZIR010/ZIR000 has a different concept of groups.  When it needs to send a message (such as motion detected) it needs to know to which Z-Wave devices it needs to send the message.   It does this using a group (list of devices) stored inside itself.

There are actually three different groups in the ZIR010/ZIR000.

The first group (group 1) is the set of devices to which the ZIR010/ZIR000 sends a message when it detects motion (when in Sensor Mode).

The second group is the set of devices to which the ZIR010/ZIR000 sends a message when the top is taken off (yes, it has a tamper-detection mechanism).

The final group of devices (group 3) is the set of devices to which the ZIR010/ZIR000 sends period updates about the level of the batteries.

In order to configure it, you need to "wake it up", since it spends most of its life asleep to preserve battery life.  To wake it up, press the brown button on the circuit board.

Pressing this button wakes the device up for fifteen or so seconds, giving you time to configure it.

To add my PC into the ZIR010’s Group 1 (motion detection), I used the excellent xPL ZWave Configuration tool (note it requires a ControlThink SDK license which I have).

In use

I used the ControlThink SDK to create a program to display simple messages whenever movement was detected.

If there has been movement, and then for two minutes there is no movement then the ZIR010 sends a message to say that there is no movement (after two minutes).

In other words in order to save battery life it only reports no movement after two minutes of no movement have elapsed.  If it then detects movement it sends a single message that movement has been detected (it doesn’t continually send ‘movement detected’ messages).

This saves battery, but it was initially confusing my tests.  I was getting no messages displayed in my computer program , until I waited two minutes (and kept very still).

I also wanted to add my PC to both the "motion detected" group in the ZIR010, and the "battery life" group.  This worked fine, however when my computer program received these messages there was no way to discern whether the message that I’d received was a "motion detected" or a "battery life" message – not very handy.

Verdict

This is an excellent device that I found very easy to configure, install and use.  I especially liked the fact that it runs on batteries, since running new wires through my old Swiss house that is largely made of concrete is not a simple proposition.

The only downside was the issue of differentiating "motion detected", "tamper" and "battery life" messages when a PC is added
to all three of these groups.

I’ll report back on battery life.

Posted in Reviews | 5 Comments »

Ordering Z-Wave devices in Europe

August 30th, 2008

When I first started looking at Z-Wave, I saw the ControlThink PC SDK Starter Kit and immediately placed an order.

Then I started doing some more research, and realized I’d made a stupid mistake.  It turned out that there were two versions of Z-Wave, one for Europe and one of the US.  They are incompatible since they use different radio frequencies. 

I live in Switzerland.  Guess which version ControlThink sells?

Fortunately ControlThink use Google Checkout, which has a grace period during which you can cancel your order.  So I canceled my order and decided I needed to do a lot more research.

Switzerland is in the middle of Europe, but is not part of the European Union.  We also have funny shaped sockets here.

European Vendors

I first went looking for a European based Z-Wave vendor (I could find none in Switzerland).  These are the ones I looked at:

  •  Elekhomica.nl are based in the Netherlands.  They seem to have a good range at reasonable prices, however when I tried to order I found out that they did not ship to Switzerland, since it is not in the European Union.
  • zwave4u.de are based in Germany.  I got as far as placing an order with them however they use Paypal, and my Paypal account was out of date.  I had a very nice email exchange with Christian Paetz, who is the chap that runs zwave4u, and had no problems canceling my order – turns out he’d been shipped a batch of US devices anyway so I couldn’t have bought from him – I expect that will be resolved soon.
  • letsautomate.co.uk didn’t have the appliance modules (that plug into sockets) for European style sockets listed.

Most of the vendors are reselling devices made by ACT Solutions.  Their range includes motion detectors, socket devices, switches, controllers and PC Interfaces.  These were the initial devices I was looking for.

Over the pond

Having exhausted the obvious European options I went looking abroad, and came across HomeSeer.com.  They sell the full range of ACT devices, including those made for EU frequencies.  The prices are OK, however the shipping costs are steep.

I placed my order for a USB Interface, a Dimmer switch, two motion sensors and a socket switch.  The total came to about US$315, and but then the shipping cost was added at US$110!  Ouch.

Within an hour or so of placing my order I was contacted by Mark Colegrove of HomeSeer, explaining that I might need to add a hand-held controller device too.  Although I planned on controlling everything using a PC, I thought it might be easier to do the initial setup using a controller, so I ordered one too.  It turns out to have been the right decision – setting it all up from the PC would have been a pain.

The advantage of paying over a hundred dollars in shipping was that the devices arrived within a few days.  I had to pay an additional US$45 in Swiss Import Duty when the package was delivered.

I was up and running within an afternoon, and was convinced that Z-Wave was the way for me.  I needed to place an additional much larger order to automate the whole house (instead of just my office), and asked both ACT Solutions and HomeSeer whether they offered discounts for bulk orders.

I never heard back from HomeSeer, but ACT did reply indicating quite substantial savings — so I placed a new order with them.  I’ll post when I receive the newer devices from them.

Conclusion

If Homeseer offered multiple shipping options to reduce the shipping cost (with a consequent delay in the order arriving), I’d not hesitate to recommend them … the customer service was excellent.

If you are looking to place a large order then you might want to contact ACT directly — you might save substantially.

If you are based in Europe then check out the vendors I listed above if you are based in their home country,  You’ll probably save substantially on shipping costs, although the products are more expensive at current exchange rates than those from HomeSeer.

Posted in Vendors | 7 Comments »

Welcome

August 30th, 2008

I’ve been interested in Home Automation for several years, although that interest has never actually extended to doing anything until now.

ZigBee first sparked my interest.  The idea of having lots of devices spread about your house, each relaying information to each via radio other is very appealing.  I have a house built in 1969 by an architect that was seriously into concrete.  No easy way to run new wires throughout the house.

Having a mesh of devices means that each devices does not have to broadcast a strong radio signal, which in turn means that each device does not have strong power requirements.  Some devices could run for years off of a couple of batteries.

While ZigBee is interesting, I wasn’t able to find any consumer devices available for sale to me in Europe.  While doing my latest batch of ZigBee research I came across Z-Wave,  which is a similar technology, but is available for use in the real world.

I now have several Z-Wave devices installed and running in my home office:

A couple of Motion Sensors (ACT ZIR010 / ZIR000): A picture of the ZIR010 

A dimmer switch (ACT ZDW232 / ZDW120):A picture of the ZDW232 

A plugin-in switch (ACT ZDP200 / ZRP100):A picture of the ZDP200

… all purchased from HomeSeer. I’ve bought the European versions, since I live in Switzerland, however I’ve also shown the US versions (Z-Wave in Europe operates on a different radio frequency to the US).

I have ordered a bunch more devices to install throughout the house.

In this blog I intend to talk about how this goes, from the initial purchase experience, reviews of the devices themselves, how I installed them, and how I configured them.

Since I am also a developer I intend to control some of the devices from my home computer and I’ll explain how I went about this,

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments »