April 09, 2017 7 Comments
It’s easy to be wary of claims of long-lasting battery life, as so many products out there promise reliable and worry-free battery power and then fail to deliver. So when the Sensative Strips Door/Window Sensor arrived to the market – a sensor thinner than two credit cards stacked together, and featuring a brand-new kind of battery that lasts for 10 years – some of us were skeptical.
Sensative recently turned to Sony to put their product’s power consumption to the test with the help of Otii – a new energy-optimization tool that measures and analyzes the power consumption behaviors of battery-powered devices. Of its many useful features, it allows the user to pinpoint the cause of a draining battery by syncing the software’s debug output with its power readings. Otii’s findings confirmed that the battery in Strips can last much longer than 10 years with optimal configuration and network conditions.
September 14, 2016 2 Comments
The Fibaro Dimmer 2 has been available in Europe for quite some time and listed on the Fibaro US website as “coming soon” for too many months to count. Fibaro has made several of their Z-Wave devices available in the states (RGBW controller, Motion sensor, Flood sensor, etc.) and all of them have generally been well received. The company really does set a high standard for quality home automation devices. So, with that being said, does the Dimmer 2 live up to the Fibaro name and was it worth the wait? Read on to find out if this device stands out in the crowded IoT market.
The size of the Dimmer 2 quite a bit smaller than the Aeon Labs Micro Dimmer (the competing US in wall dimmer). This will make it a little easier to fit into your switch box. One thing that sets this device apart is that it has two switch ports (labeled S1 & S2). There are a couple different uses for the second switch port, so it is a great addition to have. Read more
March 20, 2015
Looking at the new retail smart home series from GE, you can tell the technology giant is taking Z-Wave more and more seriously. Besides updated versions of their best-selling models, they added a whole new switch to their home automation family - the GE 12730 Z-wave In-Wall Smart Fan Control.
It’s the first intelligent ceiling fan switch since Leviton’s overpriced Vizia product. The good news is that you’ll easily buy the GE Z-Wave switch under $50 and it will most likely work with any kind of Z-Wave gateway. Aside from the usual suspects, VeraEdge and SmartThings, the device is supported by Staples Connect, Wink, and ADT Pulse to name just a few.