Controlling your garage door remotely is one of the many blessings of home automation. Finally, you don’t have to look back when driving off for the long weekend. Instead you can set a time everyday for the device to make sure your garage is closed. Or create an event based on geofencing which will open the garage whenever you’re about to pull into the driveway.
Telguard teamed up with FortrezZ to create a Z-Wave solution which brings all of the above and more. Functionality obviously depends on the kind of gateway you’re using. But the greatest thing about the Telguard GDC1 is that they decided to go with the simplest command class possible, namely the binary switch you’ll find in any Z-Wave light switch. It essentially means that you’ll be able to get the simple on/off (which translates into open/close) control and monitoring under virtually any Z-Wave controller.
If you’re thinking about automating your garage door you have probably considered the DIY option, including a garage tilt sensor and a contact module, such as the Evolve LFM-20 or FortrezZ MimoLite. It can be cheaper but keep in mind that this solution is not certified by the UL for safety so potential liability is far greater than when you get the UL 325 listed GDC1.
You might have also looked at the Linear GD00Z-4 device which looks fairly similar but carries a few significant differences. First of all, Linear uses a different command class (Barrier Operator CC) which is not supported as widely as the binary switch.
In terms of installation, the Linear uses a battery-powered tilt sensor, while the GDC1 operates with a fully wired door contact sensor. I hate to worry about replacement batteries (they’re never around when you need them) so Telguard wins this round for me.
In case you need a bit more insight to make a decision, I put together a list of what’s already good about the GDC1 Z-Wave garage opener and what could be improved:
Let me know if you have anything to add to the list!
Do you have any garage solution recommendations that I missed? Use the comments section below to share.
We recently repaired our garage door/lift and was excited to add automation (zwave) to the mix. It came down to the GDC1 and GD00Z. I chose the former and now having the worst pair issue. Utilizing the Qolsys powered by alarm.com with updated firmware the product refuses to pair. Auto in addition to inclusion button yields same results. It it weird each time the inclusion buttn is selected gdc1 blinks rapidly then pairing process stops immediately. I have at this point (nearly 5 hrs trying) requested a replacement. Will post when more light can be shed on this.
You often ask us for recommendations: what are the best, most reliable Z-Wave motion sensors out there? The choice seems endless with new devices coming out every day. While we have our favorites, choosing the right sensor for YOU will depend on YOUR needs, lifestyle, and ideas on how to apply the product to your Z-Wave network and collection of devices. So we thought we should ask one of you to test and compare our best-selling smart home security sensors.
We wanted feedback from someone who has tested and programmed lots of Z-Wave devices but most importantly, from someone who has used them in real-life scenarios at home. The comments detailed below and the invaluable side-by-side comparison chart are by Kevin LaFramboise, an expert SmartThings user and the creator of some of the most advanced and stable custom device handlers for the popular platform.
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.
We get a lot of inquiries from Wink users trying to connect Z-Wave devices which should "technically" work with their hub but are not listed on the device list in the Wink hub.
You can include most on/off Z-Wave products to Wink and Wink 2, including light switches, plug-in modules, dimmers, and even multi-channel devices such as our popular Zooz Power Strip which allows you to control 5 outlets individually.
Since Wink's support is not very obvious on how to include these "generic" Z-Wave devices to your network, we created this step-by-step guide with easy-to-follow instructions and screenshots to make everything super clear.
We hope it helps you enjoy your Z-Wave system even more!
Jan (The Smartest House)
October 01, 2015
DB, I’m sorry you have experienced so much trouble trying to pair the Telguard with your panel. Sometimes, it’s a range issue and at time all it takes is to put the panel in exclusion mode first. Take a look at our blog entry on the easiest pairing fix ever:
http://www.thesmartesthouse.com/blogs/the-smartest-blog/17602860-no-1-z-wave-pairing-trick
Let us know how it went!