FIBARODimmer 2, Z-Wave Plus Light Controller, Smart Rheostat, FGD-212, Doesn't Work with HomeKit

This is my second attempt to put a relay in a light fixture over my kitchen sink. The first relay I purchased was the Aeotec Nano Dimmer. I have other Aeotec devices, even my SmartThings hub is an Aeotec hub. It worked, until it didn't. Problem is, when a relay that embedded in a fixture doesn't work, you have to reset the relay with the circuit breaker. Both of these ZWave relays are compact and wire up virtually in the same fashion. I fought and fought with my Aeotec Nano to keep it from disconnecting from my network. I went as far as moving the relay to another location that had line of sight to my hub. Still, after about 24 hours it would be offline. I contacted Aeotec support, and pretty much was told, ZWave is hard to troubleshoot. I bought this Fibaro Dimmer relay to hopefully remedy the issue. The installation was identical, it paired with SmartThings on the first try. After about a month now, it's never disconnected from my network. Getting the dimming feature to work was a chore, but it was also with the Aeotec. Now, I can turn the light on and off above my kitchen sink every time. I have this working in conjunction with a Zooz Dual switch (ZEN30), I have the relay portion of that switch running my garbage disposal and the upper toggle switch I disabled the relay function and have it working to signal the Fibaro Dimmer that controls the light. Maybe, if I get brave one day, I'll try and sync the Zooz switch directly to the Fibaro so that it will work like a regular dimmer instead of a scene controller, which is what I'm doing now. Thank you Fibaro for saving the day and making a great ZWave dimmer relay.

From a feature comparison, I like the similar Aeotec dimmer module better.

This device is one of very few dimmers that work without neutral wire. I liked that it's configurable from SmartThings without need to install special device handlers. It's rather small, but it's still impossible to put it behind a switch depending on how much wires you have in the switch box. Currently I have it behind a blank wall plate connected to another switch which used to be 3-way switch. I plan to add a push button in the blank plate to make the dimmer controllable from 2 places. Note that it's best to use it with a momentry switch as that allows one-button dimming - that feature works great!

Headline says it. They have firmware updates for this device. But, they don't release them unless you have one of their hubs.

The unit works well, but isn't compatible with a lot of LED bulbs. Calibration fails and the module won't work at all if calibration fails.

I'm using this with Home Assistant and my Aeotec Z-Stick Gen5, which utilizes Open Z-Wave.I had a little trouble getting going due to issues on my part. I decided to go with this Dimmer specifically because I live in an older house and my light switches do NOT have a neutral wire in the box.First mistake was that my specific Dimmer was not fully supported by Open Z-Wave. My device was giving an id number of 2000, which was not in the manufacturers list, so I added it and pushed my change to the Open Z-Wave project.My second mistake was trying to use CFL's, which didn't work so well. Once replaced with 5 43W Halogen bulbs, it worked as expected.Installation wasn't difficult, but it was kinda tricky. There are so many different wiring methods, so you have to know exactly what you want to do. Each terminal would accurate a single 12 gauge wire, but I had to use a jumper between the Sx and N terminals, as required in the documentation. I had to use a 16 gauge piece of wire to achieve this, and have had no issues.I am not using this for dimming functionality, but simply on and off for my kitchen. There were a couple specific parameters that I had to set in order for everything to work as expected, and it's been solid since. Price is a little on the high side compared to an actual Z-Wave switch, but this was the only available option I had since I had no access to a neutral wire.Based on cost alone, I would recommend a cheaper option. If this is your only option, it is a good option as the device itself is solid. I considered giving 4 stars because of the price, but I don't think that'd be super fair. If I could, I would give 4.5 stars.

i bought this because the switch I wanted to replace with a smart switch did not have a neutral wire and I didn't feel like having an electrician come in. The device is more expensive than the switch I had purchased, but I figured if it saves me on an electrician so be it.the documentation isn't the best. I recommend going to the web site to see the full documentation and handily enough, a few videos too.In my case, my old non-smart switch had two screw posts on the side and the wires connecting direct to them, so I needed to dig up some wire. If you're also doing a 2-wire setup, you'll need a jumper between N and SW. Because the holes to jam the wire in aren't the biggest, it can be tough getting them in. No matter how hard I screwed it in, wires kept popping out, which was frustrating. I'm not a fan of those connectors! Once I managed to get it in, I set it up with Smartthings, installed a custom device handler (someone posted earlier as to its location) and now am dealing with it blinking and throwing a voltage error when the bulbs are 'cold'. I have two dimmable LEDs in the lamp and after not starting for a bit, they blink a few times then never start up unless I flick the switch on and off a lot. Not ideal, and I realize its something in the settings plus the LEDs that need tweaking, but I really wish it just worked. I don't know if I'd buy this again due to the headache of it all, but there's really little choice if you don't have neutral wires.

Works as expected, great switch for installs that have no neutral wire.