Whilst perhaps not immediately obvious to some people, it's actually possible to add devices to your VeraLite directly and without needing to rely on the Vera GUI. This is achieved by temporarily operating the controller on battery power and simply carrying it around the house to where your Z-Wave devices are physically installed. This is particularly useful in situations where you need to add or remove devices that are fixed and cannot be moved (eg a hard-wired relay switch) or when they are not within direct range of your Vera.

Step 1. Disconnect the power and LAN cables from the back of your VeraLite and insert a fresh set of 4x AA batteries (the battery compartment is located at the bottom of the device).

Step 2. Press and hold the "Battery" button for 3 seconds, then wait for the blue "Power" light to appear solid. Shortly after, the orange "Ready" light will start blinking once per second indicating that your VeraLite is in include mode.

Step 3. Before adding a device, we recommended that you first exclude it to ensure it's in its factory default state. To exclude a device, you will need to tap the "-" button. The orange "Ready" light will start blinking twice per second. Follow your device's exclude procedure and you will see the "Ready" light flutter briefly as a confirmation that your device was detected and successfully excluded.

Step 4: To include a device, you will need to tap the "+" button. The "Ready" light will blink once per second. Follow your device's include procedure and you will see the "Ready" light flutter briefly as a confirmation that your device was detected and successfully included. 

Step 5: Repeat steps 3 & 4 for any other devices you need to add.

Step 6. To save your changes and exit the battery mode, press and hold the "+" button for 5 seconds. You can then plug your VeraLite back into mains power and LAN and proceed to configuring your newly added devices via the Vera GUI.

Z-Wave Plus is fully backward compatible with the previous 300 and 400 Series Z-Wave chipset. Some of these new features though (such as improved range and bandwidth) won't be fully realised unless the entire Z-Wave network, or at least all routes between the controller and target device, are comprised of Z-Wave Plus devices. As more and more certified products emerge though, it will become easier to take advantage of this full feature set. 

RKM Smart home is working hard to bring you the latest products supporting this exciting new development in Z-Wave. To find out more, please subscribe to our mailing list.