Review on Aeotec Security Controller Electricity Consumption by Edwin Cen

Update 09/14/18 One of the output contacts started to heat up and smoke so much that we smelled a burning odor and the plastic near the contact was spinning brown. We were able to fix the problem by taking the switch apart and soldering the problematic wire to the back of the board. The problem seems to appear suddenly after about 18 months and could possibly be due to a loose screw. The other three ports were in good condition. Annual review may be required. I have a 240 volt water heater and used this switch instead of a manual 2 pole switch. I only had two hot inputs and outputs and no neutral (or ground). I was worried about the weather, I need a neutral wire like ge light switches require. One reviewer said that the instructions (which I also think are inadequate) clearly state that a neutral wire is required. However, after careful examination, I could not find it in my instructions. Maybe I have a newer model. So I'm installing with only four hot leads connected (L1 and L2). At first everything seemed to work. The SmartThings hub found the switch and my iPad app showed it turning the water heater on and off. However, after checking the voltmeter, I found that it wasn't actually switching. Also, none of my other Zwave switches worked. Eventually the hub encountered an error and shut down. Everything was unstable, disordered. I recovered by going through the shutdown process and holding the power button for 20 seconds to do a factory reset. Then I connected a temporary neutral wire from the nearest outlet (the wire from the wide side of the plug when the outlet is plugged in properly). Peeling didn't work now (I thought I might have broken something). I finally slid the Z-Wave plugin's smart switch next to the Aeon and the connection was established. Everything worked great. A manual switch turned the water heater on and off and was reported via the iPad app. The app worked to turn the heating on and off. When power is applied to the heater, the red indicator lights up. A distinct click can be heard when the switch is activated remotely. I then removed the neural wire and everything still worked great. I believe Neutral isn't even needed for pairing, but a corrupted pairing process is possible if a hub or other Z-Wave device isn't nearby. I'm still gaining experience and will add this review as I learn more. Note that the red indicator light is visible when the cover is on as it shines through the white translucent cover. I drilled a 1/2" hole in the cover over the push button switch to allow manual operation. I'm sure this will void any warranty. I installed the switch over an existing single hole for the manual switch box. I also drilled 4 3/8" holes in the back to allow the wires to route neatly from the back. Obviously waterproofing doesn't matter where I installed it. I'm new to Z-Wave and still learning. I hope this review can help another newbie.