Inovelli Red Series Dimmer	Inovelli Black Series Dimmer

Overall Rating 

The Inovelli LZW31 comes in two flavors, red and black. The Black Series dimmer is the utilitarian little brother of the Red Series dimmer. It’s nice that they decided to provide a basic version (that’s still very capable) for those customers that don’t want or care about all the extra features.

Before you go crazy and purchase a bunch of either model, it’s a good idea to understand the differences to make sure you get what you need. The price difference is under $10, so when in doubt, spend the extra money (in my opinion). What you get as a result will be sure to please.

An important thing to keep in mind is that these switches require special device handlers to unleash their full potential. If you plan to run them on hubs that don’t allow custom device handler’s, you can set many of the options from the switch itself. However, many of the advanced scene capabilities that exist on the Red Series wont work.

This is the first switch that I’ve seen with a built in signal strength indicator. I’ve seen this feature in range extenders, but not a switch. This is a nice touch that shows attention to detail.

General Features 

The LZW31 switches are packed full of  my favorite features and many many more.

Scenes & Power 

The switch has a powerful feature set. My only disappointment is that without the custom device handler you get no scene control, including no double-tap. Also, the Black Series should at least offer double-tap in lieu of full scene control like the Red Series.

1. To take full advantage of all the capabilities in the firmware custom device handlers are required. Many cool features can be programmed from the switch itself, but those that rely on the hub will not be available without the handler.
2. Native Double-tap is not available. Once the custom device handler is installed on the hub, you’ll have access to full multi-tap scene control.
3. Scene’s are activated using the multi-tap feature of the switch. Five-up, five-down and one on the config/favorites button.

Dimmer Capabilities 

The LZW31 offers a wide range of control over the dimming aspects of the switch. A cool feature across several features is that you can create a different experience for hub-control vs. switch control.

1. The min/max dim level is a great feature. Since this switch is non-neutral capable many people will want to use it as an on/off switch in certain conditions. It would have been nice if the minimum and maximum could be set at the same level for on/off type behavior.
2. Feature can be set for both hub-control or switch-control.

Wiring Options 

 Being able to wire this in as either a neutral or non-neutral switch is an outstanding feature. Setup for power-type can be configured from the switch. It should be noted that for non-neutral installations, a load resister is required for lighting loads under 25 watts. In non-neutral installations you may notice that some lights ‘glow’ when the switch is off. This is normal for non-neutral switches since a certain amount of current must continue to flow to keep the Z-Wave chip alive.

1. Smart Load Sensing is a feature where the switch automatically determines the line and load regardless of how the switch was wired.
2. This switch has several options for 3-way control. Please refer to the Three-Way wiring option in the How-To section of the website.

LED Indicator 

This is probably the most configurable LED on the market. It has a unique solid bar that gives the illusion of the bar shrinking and growing as the dim level is increased and decreased.

1. The notifications feature (Red Series only) allows virtual switches to be created at the hub level. You can then add these switches to your automations to turn the notifications on and off based on rules.

Connection Reliability

1. Location marked “Lab” is within 6 feet (2 meters) of the hub. The lab hub also has a dedicated range extender.
2. Locations marked “3m/1m” indicate the following:
   1. The “m” is for meters.
   2. The first number (in this case “3”) is the total distance from the hub.
   3. The second number (in this case “1) is the distance from the nearest dedicated range extender (does not include z-wave switches)
   4. A Location of 3m/1m means 3 meters from the hub and 1 meter from a range extender.

END