Inovelli LZW31 Smart Dimmer Review

Automating Z-Wave/Zigbee Home Basics

Inovelli LZW31 Smart Dimmer Review

inovelli dimmer lzw31
Inovelli Red Series Dimmer Inovelli Black Series Dimmer

Overall Rating diy star 5.0

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.

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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 diy star 5.0

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

Capability

Black Series

Red Series

Invert Switch Yes Yes
Air Gap  Yes Yes
Disable Local Control Yes Yes
Swap LED On/Off Yes Yes
Auto Timer Off Yes Yes
State After Power Restored Yes Yes
Set LED Brightness Level Yes Yes
Switch Side Notifications No Yes
Configurable LED Default Color Yes Yes
Built-in Signal Strength Indication Yes Yes

Scenes & Power diy star 4.0

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.

Capability

Black Series

Red Series

Requires Device Handler 1 Hubitat: Yes

SmartThings: Yes

Hubitat: Yes

SmartThings: Yes

Native Double-tap 2 No No
Advanced Scene Capability No Yes
Max Scenes 0 11 3
Power & Energy Reporting No Yes
  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 diy star 5.0

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.

Capability

Black Series

Red Series

Min Dim Level Parameters  1-45 1 1-45 1
Max Dim Level Parameters 55-99 1 55-99 1
Programmable Ramp Rate (light turns on and off) 0-100 2 0-100 2
Dimming Speed Control 0-100 2 0-100 2
Default Level 0-100 2 0-100 2
  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 diy star 5.0

 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.

Capability

Black Series

Red Series

Smart Load Sensing 1 No No
Non-neutral Yes Yes
3-way Capability Yes 2 Yes 2
Load Control Type MOSFET MOSFET
Load Rating See Manufacturer See Manufacturer
Wire Connections to Switch Screw in Lugs Screw in Lugs
  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 diy star 5.0

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.

Capability

Black Series

Red Series

Dim Level Indication Yes Yes
LED Strip Color Yes Yes
LED Strip Intensity (when on) Yes Yes
LED Strip Intensity (when off) Yes Yes
LED Strip Timeout Yes Yes
LED Strip Notifications No Yes 1
  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

Test ID Hub Target Cycles On Success Off Success Mismatch Location Reliability
1 HE  100 50 50 0 Lab 100%
2 HE 250 125 125 0 Lab 100%
  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