There is a zealous fervor among home improvement champions and audiences alike in the race to make the smart home smarter!

The good thing is there are countless choices in the wireless networks space. 

You have your favorite music system, electric heater, lighting, door locks and they all have one thing in common. They are smart. Indeed very smart. 

You can talk to them in what is popularly known as voice command or voice control. 

In addition, using a single app, you can assume control of each of these items. 

The pursuit towards smart  seamless integration of home appliances has been there in the last 30 years among tech giants. Talk of Apple, Amazon with alexa, Samsung, Google with voice assistant and more recently zwave.

For the manufacturer of home appliances, their main challenge has been to which of the available interconnectivity technologies will their products have capability of. For instance, if I have a smart light system, should it be zwave compatible or alexa capable?

The same dilemma is cascaded to the consumers when making their choices. Hence it is not a strange phenomenon to see people wondering whether google home works with zwave, for example!

Does Google Home work with Zwave?

Yes, google home will work with Z wave.

As time passes by and each of the tech giants is putting more and more work in every update of their product, the less and less the products look different. 

Hence, there are a lot more similarities between alexa and google assistant. Just like you tend to find that android and ios have little difference now than when they first began.

Consumer demands are at the center of this revolution. Notwithstanding, everyone has to create products and solutions that enable cross device integration. 

I will not be surprised in the near future if a home device can actually host any of this smart home tech. Alexa and the big ‘G’ assistant may reside in one device very soon. 

But let me delve into google home and zwave a little more.

First, what is the real simple difference between the two:

Google voice assistant understands your voice command. Z wave interconnects all your home accessories that automates your home. 

So, here is how it works.

A device that understands your speech receives your command just like the brain. The interpreted message is then sent to your z wave networked devices eg thermostats, lighting, heating, cameras, alarms, garage doors and so forth. More similar to your brain now sending signals via motor neurons to the leg muscles to move for example.

Where is the Disconnect? – Google Home and Zwave

If the brain cannot send the signal to the hands, we have a problem. This is the analogy of having a very good device that is google assistant capable but limited in the Z wave front. 

In a similar fashion, a device that operates very well within the domain of z wave but would not understand any voice command.

And this where, a lot of research and opportunity for developers remains to ensure INTEROPERABILITY of devices and platforms.

A new software is now available called Z WAY that will manage the link between google assistant and z wave in addition to several other smart assistants.

Hence, it is possible for Z wave devices to be integrated to a google assistant environment.

Z wave compatible devices and sensors usually link to a z wave hub or controller. The z wave hub has more features and intelligence to manage the different elements connected on the z wave network. 

For example, the z wave hub could be monitoring and controlling the z wave light switch, the z wave capable door lock, z wave compatible thermostat and much more. 

It is this hub or controller that then connects all your sensors/ devices available on the internet for you to have control via a mobile app for instance.

Google home operates on the wifi layer. A hub is a hybrid device that supports both the z wave and the wifi. Wifi functions at 2.4GHz, while zwave operates at 868 – 916 MHz.

The z wave controller or hub acts as the gateway that google home or assistant can find its way to manage the performance of the different smart functions in your home.

Finally you can be able to set the home climate you want by speaking what you need. For example, “Okay Google, warm the bedroom”, and your voice command is picked up by the z wave hub and forwarded to a z wave compatible thermostat that adjusts the temperature of your bedroom as you requested.

Conclusion

Z wave is a wireless communication technology just like wifi or bluetooth. However, it stands to giv you more advantages because the devices have less interference and consume less power. 

This means for you that while operating z wave devices that use battery as their source of power, the battery life is longer. 

Google home adds to the benefits of z wave by adding the ability for you to control the devices using your voice.

Google voice assistant does not work directly with your smart z wave devices. An intermediary smart hub is required that interfaces between the google home and the z wave.

Pay attention that the smart hub is a zwave compatible. Examples of z wave compatible hubs include; Wink Hub, Samsung’s SmartThings hub, Hubitat Elevation hub, Samsung’s Connect Home hub, Control4 hub, Abode Iota hub and Abode Essentials Gateway hub.