Z-Wave's mesh networking capabilities are one of its most powerful features, but blindly throwing together a bunch of devices in an effort to achieve smart home greatness is not a very realistic expectation. Knowing a little about how Z-Wave mesh networks work, and the ways you can assist the technology in performing its magic, can bring significant speed and reliability improvements to your whole smart home solution. 

​In this article, we want to explore some common mistakes we see people make when setting up their Z-Wave networks, and the simple steps you can take to avoid them in your setup.

Whilst it’s true that remote control (or "home control" as it’s known in this context) is an important part of any home automation solution, on its own, it is not home automation. The real advantage of a smart home is realised when all your devices can operate as a unified system, without any need for human interaction. This is home automation!

Now, we will admit, the first time we experienced switching our lights on and off from a smart phone was a truly memorable event. The benefits were instantly recognised but we soon found ourselves wanting more than just a high-tech remote. Of course, it’s nice to know we can monitor and control things from a smart phone when necessary (and more recently, through voice recognition thanks to Amazon Alexa and Google Home) but this is only part of the story.

Home automation is not about pushing buttons. It’s about employing technology to take care of the day-to-day operation of your home automatically. When implemented properly, it will go about its business unnoticed, quietly reacting to your needs while improving you and your family’s comfort and safety.

If you'd like more information about home automation and how it can benefit you, contact us today!

Home security is something all home owners worry about, especially when we’re away and unfortunately, a vacant home can often spell opportunity for burglars. However, with a Z-Wave home security and safety system, you can dissuade potential intruders through the automatic control of lights and window coverings at random times, creating the appearance that there’s always someone at home even when there isn’t.
 
Smoke and carbon monoxide sensors form an important part of any home safety system but when connected to a smart home, they can deliver several important benefits. For example, if you have elderly relatives you worry about living alone, they can simultaneously trigger other Z-Wave devices in an emergency and flash room lights, unlock doors or send an alert to family and friends. 
 
Automated lighting offers many benefits in and around the home but perhaps one not so obvious use case is that it allows its occupants to be guided safely between rooms at night without ever needing to fumble for a light switch. This can reduce the risk of falls and other injuries caused by poor lighting conditions.

With a Z-Wave key-less door lock, you can centrally manage unique access codes for every member of the household and trigger an event whenever someone gains entry to your home. You can also remotely lock and unlock your doors from anywhere in world and provide temporary access for house guests or tradesmen.
 
These are just a few of the many security and safety features of a Z-Wave smart home system and if you have any questions about how to best make use of this exciting technology, feel free to contact us anytime.

Click here to see our full range of Z-Wave home security and safety products.

We've been running with the new version since its beta release about two months ago and we’re very pleased to announce that this is the most stable and performant UI7 ever! The list of bug fixes and enhancements is vast and you can get full details here. A worthy upgrade for sure.

​From our perspective though, the most exciting Vera news in recent memory hasn’t been about company acquisitions or UI7 improvements, it’s been about the amazing contributions made to the platform by Patrick H. Rigney; a.k.a. rigpapa (as he’s known in the Vera community).

​Patrick has single-handedly redefined the way we use Vera through a collection of ingenious software addons (plugins) which will transform your humble controller into a home automation beast! All of his excellent plugins are available via the Vera app store and directly from this github repo. However, without a doubt, the one plugin every Vera user needs to know about is, Reactor.

Reactor is the most essential plugin Vera has ever known. It can help you build powerful smart home logic effortlessly and without needing to write a single line of code. After setting up your first Reactor device, you will wonder how you ever lived without it.

​The kinds of things possible with Reactor are limitless and we are yet to encounter a home automation scenario it couldn’t handle. You can read more about its capabilities in this wiki and there’s now also a dedicated YouTube channel of instructional “how-to” videos to help get you started (with more promised in time).

1. PRODUCT AVAILABILITY

Perhaps the most compelling reason for choosing Z-Wave has to be the sheer variety of products available. Quite simply, there are more Z-Wave enabled products in use around the world, from more manufacturers, than any other competing technology. Better still, new products are emerging all the time. If you're looking for an easily expandable solution for an entire residence, it doesn't get any more comprehensive than Z-Wave.

2. DESIGNED FOR THE HOME

Z-Wave was specifically designed for the residential home automation market. This is an important distinction because unlike most other wireless solutions, Z-Wave has been purpose built from the ground-up to deal with the needs of the average home owner. Z-Wave enabled products are designed to be compatible with commonly used appliances and fixtures found in and around every home, which makes integration simple, seamless and affordable. 

3. COMPATIBILITY

Z-Wave licensing imposes strict rules on product manufacturers to ensure they adhere to the Z-Wave standard. This means when a product is Z-Wave certified, you are guaranteed it will be compatible with all other Z-Wave devices both new and old, protecting your investment for years to come. 

4. RELIABILITY

Z-Wave operates in the sub-1GHz band which makes it impervious to interference from most wireless technologies. This, in turn, provides improved range possibilities and also uses significantly less power. Messages routed between Z-Wave devices are repeated and acknowledged to ensure utmost reliability which is essential for home automation applications. 

5. MATURITY

Z-Wave is new, right? Well, sort of. In actual fact, it was first developed over 10 years ago which is a heck of a long time when it comes to technology. The point here is, Z-Wave has been through many revisions and enhancements in that time to get it to where it is today; a stable, secure and resilient home automation technology. 

Well, there you have it. This is by no means a complete roundup of Z-Wave's features or capabilities but we think it represents the most significant aspects of the technology that most people starting out will be keen to understand. If you need any help in taking those first steps into Z-Wave home automation, feel free to contact us.

Unlike most other home automation technologies, with Z-Wave, you won't need a Master’s degree in Engineering to get things underway. You also won't need to invest loads of cash on a complete solution up-front as Z-Wave scales to your individual budget and needs. This means you can buy just a few components initially, and expand your system at any time in the future; enabling you to build some experience in the technology, and understand its capabilities, before embarking on a whole-house solution.

​Getting started is as simple as choosing a Z-Wave controller and pairing it with a device to control. A basic setup like this gives you the necessary building blocks for a complete home automation system, without slowing you down in the beginning. Once established, you can then add countless other devices whenever you choose such as sensors, thermostats, door locks and security cameras.  

In the quest to reduce our own energy usage and save some cash in the process, we initially focused on automated lighting. Our household is notorious for leaving lights on all the time so this seemed like an obvious place to start. The solution was to install a number of Z-Wave motion sensors in certain areas of the house coupled with one or more Z-Wave in-wall light switches.

When someone enters a room, and it’s dark, a motion sensor will detect movement and trigger the lights to turn on. Here’s the best bit though. When motion is no longer detected (after 10 mins) the lights automatically turn off. The trick is to target the high traffic areas of your home - anywhere lights are frequently turned on and off (or left on, as the case may be). Spaces like hallways and bathrooms are logical choices.

Triggering certain lights at low brightness levels can also help to reduce power consumption. For example, we use a Z-Wave in-wall dimmer in our ensuite to automatically set the main lights to a comfortable 50%. This not only saves energy but it also means we’re never blinded in the middle of the night when nature calls!
 
Intelligent climate control is another way to save. Our home has a mix of electric split system A/C's and gas central heating and we use individual Z-Wave thermostats to control them as a single logical device (very convenient!).

​The first thing we did was to ensure the heating/cooling system is only ever enabled when there are people detected at home (thanks to the same motion sensors employed for our lights). In addition, through the use of contact sensors mounted on our main external doors and windows, the system is disabled automatically if any of these are left open for an extended period. Last, but not least, automated window shutters are drawn when the ambient temperature reaches a certain point, keeping the whole house cooler for longer naturally, which is especially important as we start approaching the summer months.
 
We’ve obviously only just scratched the surface here but hopefully this gives you a feel for how smart homes are helping people to save money. Thanks to home automation, your home will automatically react to things like occupancy and climate conditions without you ever needing to think about it. It’s not only good for your pocket but the planet will thank you too!

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.