How to Use Your ZEN71 On/Off Switch With Smart Bulbs On Home Assistant

The ZEN71 is the recommended On/Off switch for standard on/off smart bulb control on Home Assistant. Please ensure that your smart bulbs are integrated to and controllable from the Home Assistant UI. Here is a quick guide on how to install and program the device to get the most out of your smart lighting experience. If you'd like to learn more about using this and other Zooz switches with smart bulbs, read this overview article first.

WIRE YOUR ZEN71 ON/OFF SWITCH

Follow the appropriate diagram in the product manual to install your switch. There is no special wiring required when using this device with smart bulb unless you have a 3-way set-up that you would like to turn into a virtual 3-way using multiple Zooz switches. In that case, refer to the wiring diagrams here.

ENABLE SMART BULB MODE

Once the ZEN71 is wired, you'll be able to turn the smart bulbs on and off from the paddle, but with the relay off your bulbs will have no power and won't react to any wireless commands. Check out these instructions below to have your bulbs powered at all times, regardless of the position of the wall switch:

Include the ZEN71 On/Off Switch to Home Assistant and click on it to access all of the control options and settings in the user interface.
Turn the ZEN71 Switch on so that your smart bulbs are powered.
In the detailed device view, scroll down to Settings. Here is what you need to change there:
- Under Smart Bulb Mode: Enable/Disable Paddle / Z-Wave Control, select the Disable Switch and Z-Wave option to put your switch in smart bulb mode (Parameter 11 set to value 2).
- Under Scene Control, select Enable to enable scene control so you can program your ZEN71 (Parameter 9 set to value 1).
Click Save. Now when you tap the large relay button on the Scene Controller, nothing will happen, your smart bulbs will remain on.

LINK THE ZEN71 TO YOUR SMART BULBS

When the ZEN71 is in smart bulb mode, the switch will still send on/off events to the hub. You can then use these events to mirror the behavior between the bulb and the switch. There are a few different ways to program the ZEN71 to trigger your smart bulbs. Scene control is the recommended method, as most smart bulbs these days are either Wi-Fi or Zigbee. Direct association is only supported for Z-Wave bulbs.

SCENE CONTROL This method will allow any of the multi-tap triggers from the ZEN71 paddles to be assigned a different action. We've provided simple instructions below showing how to program scene control on the ZEN71 via Home Assistant:

Here is how to program scene control for your ZEN71 on Home Assistant.

These are just a few examples on how you can use the device to activate your favorite settings instantly:

If the upper paddle is pressed once, toggle the state of my smart bulbs (turn them on if they're off or turn them off if they're on).
If the upper paddle is double tapped, set my smart bulbs to bed time scene (lights dimmed, set to warm yellow).
If the lower paddle is tapped once, set my smart bulbs to focus mode (full brightness, cool white).

The ZEN71 supports 1-tap, 2-tap, 3-tap, 4-tap, and 5- tap as well as held and released for both the upper and lower paddles, so you have plenty of programming options available.

ZEN71 3-WAY SET-UP If you are using the ZEN71 in a 3-way with smart bulbs and a mechanical switch on the other side of the installation, you will need to implement a mirroring automation to use the mechanical switch for wireless control of your smart bulbs consisting of 4 separate rules:

If the Zooz switch is on, turn the smart bulb(s) on.
If the Zooz switch is off, turn the smart bulb(s) off.
If the smart bulb is on, turn the Zooz switch on.
If the smart bulb is off, turn the Zooz switch off.

This will keep the status of the switches and the bulbs in sync so you can still control the smart bulbs when using the mechanical switch without cutting power to them.

DIRECT ASSOCIATION If you are using Z-Wave smart bulbs and they're added to your Home Assistant system with the same level of security, you can use direct association to control them:

First, note the device ID's of your Z-Wave smart bulbs, you'll need them for the next steps.
If you have the Z-Wave JS UI add-on, you can manage the associations under each node, in the groups tab. Under the ZEN71 node, expand the options, then go to groups and program under the Group 2 association group:
- Group 2: Basic set for on/off control
Save associations as you add new ones.

If you have any questions about using your ZEN71 with smart bulbs on Home Assistant, just ask!