Summary (TLDR)
If you find yourself in a situation where you do not have a neutral wire in your setup, have no fear, we got you. With the Inovelli Red or Black Series Dimmer, you can install your switch in a non-neutral setting in either single-pole mode or multi-switch mode. The article below will walk you through how to setup your switch in various scenario.
Wiring Instructions & Limitations
The first step in setting up your smart switch in a non-neutral setting is to understand your wiring as well as the limitations involved with this setup. For wiring diagrams, please use the following:
Non-Neutral Wiring Diagrams for Dimmers
Once you understand the diagrams, please remember the following:
- In a multi-switch (ie: 3-Way, 4-Way or 5-Way) scenario, you must have an auxiliary switch by GE/HomeSeer to have things work correctly. You cannot use a dumb/existing switch.
- If the total Wattage of your Load is under 25W, you must purchase a bypass and the bypass must be installed at the light
Programming for Non-Neutral in SmartThings
Once you've wired everything correctly, it's time to program your switch to work properly. As you may have experienced, if you don't program your switch, it will not work properly. This is because there's no auto-configuration that's built into this switch. You have to tell the switch that it's wired in a non-neutral setting and/or it's in a single-pole or multi-switch setup.
There are five (5) different scenarios the switch can be wired as:
- Neutral Wire - Single Pole (default)
- Neutral Wire - 3-Way Toggle (dumb switch = not possible with non-neutral)
- Neutral Wire - 3-Way Momentary (aux switch)
- Non-Neutral - Single Pole
- Non-Neutral - 3-Way Momentary (aux switch)
Single-Pole Setup
A single-pole setup means that there's one switch that controls the load. By default the switch is programmed to work as a neutral switch in a single-pole setting. So, we will need to program the switch to be set to a non-neutral setup. As noted above, the default is, "Neutral" and "Load Only" (Single-Pole).
In order to change the switch setting to, "Non-Neutral" and "Single-Pole" (Load Only) the easiest way is to do this through the SmartThings App. Before we go any further, it's important that you have the Device Handler installed. Please install the associated Device Handler:
Black Series Dimmer or
Red Series Dimmer.
Once the device handler is installed, please do the following:
- Open up the SmartThings App
- Select the Inovelli Dimmer
- Click on the three dots at the top right of the screen and select, "Settings"
- Scroll down to where it says, "AC Power Type" and select, "Non Neutral"
- Click < in the app and it will save the setting for you
Multi-Switch Setup
A multi-switch setup means that there's multiple (2x switches = 3-Way, 3x switches = 4-Way, etc) switches that control the load. By default the switch is programmed to work as a neutral switch in a single-pole setting. So, we will need to program the switch to be set to a non-neutral setup and, "3-Way Momentary". As noted above, the default is, "Neutral" and "Load Only" (Single-Pole).
In order to change the switch setting to, "Non-Neutral" and "3-Way Momentary" (aux switch) the easiest way is to do this through the SmartThings App. Before we go any further, it's important that you have the Device Handler installed. Please install the associated Device Handler:
Black Series Dimmer or
Red Series Dimmer.
Once the device handler is installed, please do the following:
- Open up the SmartThings App
- Select the Inovelli Dimmer
- Click on the three dots at the top right of the screen and select, "Settings"
- Scroll down to where it says, "AC Power Type" and select, "Non Neutral"
- Then click on, "Switch Type" and select, "Momentary"
- Click < in the app and it will save the setting for you
Test your switch(es) to work!