Walli Switch

The FIBARO Walli Switch is a two channel Z-Wave wall switch that fits an 86 mm back box and finishes with a single cover plate and an illuminated ring. The ring is not decoration: it shows the network joining, shows what the load is doing, and can be set to show power consumption as a colour.

• The Fibaro Walli Switch is a wired switch, not a battery pad
• 13 A per channel is a serious rating
• It measures what the circuit costs
• The illuminated ring is not decoration
• What is in the box, and what it needs

It needs a neutral wire at the switch box, and a Z-Wave controller, which is not included.

The Fibaro Walli Switch is a wired switch, not a battery pad

Worth being clear about first, because most of the Z-Wave wall devices we sell are battery controllers that talk to modules elsewhere. This one is the switch itself. It fits an 86 mm back box, carries the load directly and needs a neutral wire at the box, so it is fitted by a licensed electrician. In exchange you get one device on the wall doing the whole job rather than a plate plus a module hidden behind it.

13 A per channel is a serious rating

Two channels at 13 A each, 16 A in total, on 110 to 230 V. That is well beyond what most smart wall switches will carry and it opens up circuits that usually need a relay in a board: a bank of outdoor lights, a pump, a heavier appliance circuit. Give your electrician the per channel and total figures together, because the total is the one that binds when both channels are loaded.

It measures what the circuit costs

Active power and energy, to within one percent above 10 W. So the switch on the wall reports what the load behind it is actually drawing, which turns a lighting circuit or an appliance circuit into a line on a graph rather than a guess. On a rental property, an office or anywhere you are trying to find where the bill goes, that is the reason to choose this over a cheaper switch.

The illuminated ring is not decoration

It shows the network joining while you are pairing it, shows what the load is doing at a glance, and can be set to show power consumption as a colour. That last mode is the one people keep: a ring that shifts colour as the circuit draws more is a running meter you read from across the room without opening anything.

What is in the box, and what it needs

The unit, the button with its lightguide, a Fibaro and GIRA compatible mounting frame and a cover plate. Finish is white, and Fibaro also make a black cover plate. It runs Z-Wave on the 500 series with S0 AES-128 and S2 Authenticated security.

A Z-Wave controller is required and not included: the Fibaro Home Center Lite, the Fibaro Home Center 2 or the Homey Pro. If there is no neutral at the box, a Fibaro Single Switch 2 behind the existing plate is the alternative. Fibaro list the range at fibaro.com.