Customer Reviews

Intermatic HA03C Home Settings Wireless Plug-In Indoor Lamp Module

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I'm using several of these with my Logitech Harmony 890 remote, and my review is thus concerned primarily with the use of the product with that remote. Thus, if you have an Intermatic controller, most of this info is not relevant to you except for the following sentence:

The modules work just as I'd hoped they would -- quietly, quickly, and reliably -- with my compact flourescent lighting. No flickering :^)

For Harmony 890 users: the only downside I encountered using the Intermatic modules was the almost useless documentation they came with. The manufacturer clearly assumes that you'll be using these items with their own controllers, and the 'instructions' basically say 'for setup instructions see the instructions that came with your Intermatic controller'. Useless advice in my case, and the absence of documentation explaining how to pair the module with an Intermatic controller meant I had no "hints" to tell me how I might go about pairing with the Harmony remote.

This shortfall kept me scratching my head for about a half-hour; it transpires that in the Logitech setup application, you must first define a sort of virtual Z-Wave device for each module using the 'Add a device' option, _then_ pair these freshly-defined modules with your remote. Absent any instructions from Logitech or Intermatic, I first tried to pair the module, then use the Logitech app to configure the paired device; that doesn't work :-P

After figuring that part out, the rest was a breeze: just plug the device in to an A/C receptacle, set up your remote to look for a new RF device (the Logitech app and the remote's Assistant will prompt you), then press the little button on top of the module (BRIEFLY! just tap it; a long press will not work!) and your remote should "notice" the device.

Timesaver: define ALL your modules first, then pair them all in one "session" (vs. defining your first module, pairing it, then defining the second module, etc). Otherwise you'll be spending a lot of time going back and forth pairing up each module and waiting for that *slow* Logitech configuration app to do it's thing. Do them all as a batch, and you only need do the pairing excercise (and the USB connect/disconnect) once.

Once you've finished pairing, reconnect the 890 to the USB port and set up some Scenes with your now-recognized modules, then map those scenes to various activities. For example you might configure "All 50%" to define half your lights turned on and half of them off, then map that scene to "Watch DVD". When you press the "Watch DVD" softbutton on the 890, your DVD-watching equipment will turn on as usual, but your lights will also turn on (or off) according to how you set the Scene :-) When you're done watching TV/DVD for the night, hit the 'RF Control' softbutton that will appear on your Activities screen, then hit the 'All Off' softbutton to turn off all your lights at once.

Enjoy!

Purchased three of these at the same time.
Upon connecting and pairing all three with their associated light circuits, 2 of them worked right off and the other one made a big flash and loud noise and tripped a circuit breaker (all 3 were on different breakers). The one that blew was just connected to a regular 60w table light, too.
Essentially one out of the three was DOA.

Edit from Nov 2008 - a second unit also failed after about 8 months of use, though it was less dramatic. After 8 months of normal behavior it began only working at dimming levels of 50%-100%, then at 10 months it stopped working completely.

Having installed the old X-10 type automation in my kitchen remodel project, it finally stopped working correctly so I ripped it all out. Z-Wave is so much better. My experience has been 100 percent reliability except for an occasional bad module which I guess can happen with any type of electronics. The best thing about Z-Wave is the ability to locate the receivers anywhere. For the most part, I have only one hard-wired circuit per room. All the rest are Z-Wave receivers in a discrete location. Most are in the basement.

I bought two of these to go with my Monster AVL-300 remote. They work just as well as the Monster branded ones but for half the cost. Press the button once to turn the lamp or appliance on or off, press and hold to dim up or down. At a middle dim setting stop pressing to lock it in. Very easy operation: plug in your light, plug the module into the wall, then follow the instructions for your remote/control panel to pair it up. This device also builds a mesh network and passes along commands for other devices. Now I'm able to run all the living room lights from the easy chair, set "moods" for movies, or turn everything off with a single click.

Do not buy these lamp modules. I thought Intermatic was quality stuff and bought the HA07 controller and 3 HA03 lamp modules. All three of them died in about 6 months or so. I tried everything to make them work. If I press the button , the green light just blinks and the module doesn't turn on. On one of the lamp modules, the green LED doesn't even blink if I press the power on it. All three have the same problem after several months. I wasn't even connecting any high voltage equipment.

I tried emailing them , no response at all. Plus when I tried to log on to the site, it errors out. No homepage! Need to find some better quality Home automation.

At present I have an Intermatic Home Settings master controller with two Wireless Plug-In Indoor Lamp Modules, #HA03C, and I am pleased with how they work. I just ordered two more of these Wireless Plug-In indoor lamp modules. These modules work well. And will even work with compact fluorescent lighting without the dim capacity. Though I heard a humming from the florescent lights that are not present when incandescent bulbs are used. The only reason I do not give these modules a five star rating is there physical configuration. If you place them in a power strip, they cover up two additional plugs because of their height. And only one can be placed in any standard wall outlet since they have this rather tall profile.

It works very well with my logitec 890 remote. Haven't actually touched the lamp in a year. It is a bit on the chunky side. So if space is an issue, measure.

I recently bought a light and didn't bother to look. Oops it was a three-prong and couldn't use this one. I had to buy an additional module for heavy-duty appliances, the HA02C. But, this one has been working awesome with my living room lamp, using both the master controller HA07 and the handy remote, HA09C. I'm thankful for it too because before I had to manually turn this lamp on everyday. Now, I have a way to control the lamp from the wall at the switch locations (where the HA07 is hung) and my recliner (where I keep the remote HA09C). I highly recommend the Intermatic modules, but I think I would opt to own the three-prong over the two-prong because you have more options that way. My 2 lamp modules came with the HA101K Home Settings Wireless Kit so I'm not unhappy to have them, but in the future I'll probably purchase the HA02C for everything else. I just recently purchased 3 of the HA02C in the Walter Dalton version. We shall see if they connect like they are supposed to & I'll update my review then.

BTW: I just read a review about the HA02C having a problem with allowing some voltage in the off position of some sensitive lights like LED. I do have this problem with one of my HA03C plugged into an LED rope light. So, that is something to consider! It's not a problem for me because the LED lights are hidden behind a picture (backlit faux window) so it just becomes a very low level light in there like a night light which doesn't bother me. If this was a main light in the house, I might have a problem with it.

I had a Z-wave starter kit purchase earlier this year; decided to give the technology a try over the July 4 weekend. The starter
kit makes it easy to setup a two controller network - with only a few minutes effort, I had a couple of low wattage
lamps under Z-wave control. Fast forward two days, and one of the HA03 is dead - unresponsive to either the
network controller, or to the push button. I'm sitting here with a screwdriver in hand thinking about whether
to open up the HA03 and figure out what fails in these things (I should have paid more attention to all the
failed devices reported by other Z-wave users). This entire home automation space seems to be a tidal
backwater of consumer electronics; I've had trouble with X-10, Insteon, and now this Z-wave technology.
What does it take to get a working, low maintenance, trouble free lighting control system?!?

Like other people have said. High failure rate. This product has a six year warranty. What a joke. I have had mine for 3 to 4 years now. I have had 2 of 3 fail. The [...] website requires you to have the original receipt to get it looked at. Who after 3 or 4 years is likely to still have the receipt in their possession. I don't even think the product is 6 years old, so I don't know why they won't just send replacements to everyone who asks. Maybe that is why Home Depot no longer carries this product on their shelves anymore. I dare anyone from intermatic company customer support who really cares about the people who purchased their product and call them to apologize and replace the faulty products they sell. Email me at pyuned@yahoo.comIntermatic HA03C Home Settings Wireless Plug-In Indoor Lamp Module