JR Touch Neon Switch - 2 Gang

The JR Touch Neon Switch 2 Gang is a two channel Z-Wave touch panel, made in India. One sheet of toughened glass takes the place of a conventional two switch plate, and the two backlit icons on the face are chosen by you through the JR web portal, so a fan reads as a fan and a light reads as a light.

• The icons are the reason a JR Touch Neon Switch 2 Gang is not a blank plate
• The backlight adapts, so it is readable at both ends of the day
• It makes your Z-Wave network stronger
• Ratings and protection
• What it needs

A Z-Wave controller is required and is not included.

The icons are the reason a JR Touch Neon Switch 2 Gang is not a blank plate

Most glass touch panels give you two identical illuminated dots and leave you to remember which is which, which works for the person who fitted it and nobody else. Here each icon is chosen by you through the JR web portal, so a fan reads as a fan and a light reads as a light. Anybody walking into the room can use the switch without being taught it, which is the whole test a wall switch has to pass.

The backlight adapts, so it is readable at both ends of the day

The icon backlight is RGB and can be set to a colour that suits the room. More usefully, the panel adjusts its own brightness between day and night: bright enough to read against daylight, dim enough after dark that a hall plate does not glow into a bedroom. Fixed brightness panels always get one of those two wrong.

It makes your Z-Wave network stronger

Because it is mains powered rather than battery, it repeats for every other Z-Wave device in the house. So each panel you fit extends the range of the sensors and modules around it. That is the quiet argument for wired Z-Wave switches over battery pads: they give something back to the mesh rather than only taking from it.

Ratings and protection

Five amps per channel, with surge protection built into the panel. Surge protection is not a specification you often see on a switch plate and it is a sensible one to have on a mains device in a place where the supply is not always gentle.

What it needs

A Z-Wave controller, not included. It is Z-Wave Plus on the 700 series and joins with SmartStart, so pairing is a matter of scanning the code rather than putting the hub into a learn mode. The three controllers we stock all run it: the Fibaro Home Center Lite, the Fibaro Home Center 2 and the Homey Pro.

It retrofits into a standard modular back box and is fitted by a licensed electrician. For more circuits, the 4 gang and the 8 gang. Wikipedia explains how Z-Wave works.