Z-Wave is a wireless technology that lets you control and monitor typical household devices such as power sockets, thermostats, boilers, motion sensors, blinds and window shutters, garage doors, IP cameras, power and water meters, and similar. Z-Wave devices communicate with one-another using a wireless signal at a frequency of 868.42MHz (EU).
Individual devices can be controlled by a Z-Wave control unit (with PC, tablet or mobile phone based access), remote controller, wall controller or even another Z-Wave device (for example a temperature sensor can send a signal to switch air-conditioning on and to close the blinds).
To create a smart home and control it really couldn't be simpler. To control Z-Wave devices in your home or flat, so creating a SMART HOME, you will need:
Z-Wave devices are simple to install, frequently Plug-n-Play. It depends on the type of product. A sensor installation is different from a wall socket module installation, a boiler switching relay or power circuit switching relay installation. With all Z-Wave devices the DIY (do it yourself) installation is of vital importance.
Should you have problems installing or setting-up a device, the user manuals are on our website, or you can request assistance by e-mail or phone.
Of all the home automation solutions, Z-Wave has the best selection of products. At present there are over 900 products supplied by some 250 manufacturers. Z-Wave is simply the best and most suitable home automation and smart home technology of all available wireless technologies. All available Z-Wave products for Europe can be found here.
Z-Wave technology has been optimised for power efficiency. A Z-Wave device can be powered either from the mains 110/230 VAC, 12/24 VDC or from a battery (average battery life is more than a year). For example, the Fibaro Z-Wave relay module uses less than 0.8W.
The range of the Z-Wave signal is up to 100 meters out in the open, and 30 to 50 meters inside buildings.
Z-Wave uses mesh topology, i.e. all devices can communicate with one-another. Z-Wave devices can also forward and route signal intended for other Z-Wave devices (routing). So the range and coverage of the wireless Z-Wave network grows with the number of devices in your home.
Basically, as many as you want. However, a single Z-Wave control unit (IP Controller) can control a maximum of 232 Z-Wave devices.
No, the Z-Wave standard specifies that the maximum output power is 10mW with a duty cycle of about 1%. To put this into perspective, the output power of a mobile phone is around 2,000mW. So the Z-Wave devices emit 4,000-times less power than a mobile phone.
No, the Z-Wave frequency used within the EU was set to 868.42 MHz. Typical home WiFi networks use the 2.4 and 5 GHz frequency band.