Happy Dance time - Caseta Diva switches and dimmers are released

Yes, the Lutron RRD-PROs. Neutral optional. Even with neutrals and Lutron dimmers not all LEDs work well. That's why Lutron has a (incomplete) compatibility site. We live in a world of minimally acceptable dimming. While flickering generally gets addressed by changing dimmers or bulbs, low end withers. There are no Home Depot level lights that dim well at the low end compared to incandescents. One has to use Hi-Lume or equivalent drivers to get high performance low end.

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I am a huge supporter of the new Zigbee Inovelli switches. They will probably be reliable and a great solution but they will not be as reliable as Lutron. Unfortunately I can not put the Z-wave version in the reliability category at this time; I had to pull some out of homes. Nothing can beat Lutron at this time.

I totally agree. I find that modern bulbs are fine; their issues are with the older ones. If they bulb promotes a good dimming model; it is a modern one.

Lutron is using some proprietary combination of Zigbee/Thread in Clear Connect X. 2.4 GHz can be made reliable. iOS 16, already Thread compatible, is ready for Matter devices. They're coming.

How do you know this?

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Modern LED bulbs are not OK if one cares about low end performance

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I look for statement like this when purchasing bulbs.

"Smooth Dimming: Compatible with LED dimmer switches, offering a smooth dimming control with the lowest brightness at 10%."

Generally it helps me find the perfect LED bulbs for dimmers.

Perhaps he is referring to Clear Connect Type X? It does use the 2.4GHz frequency spectrum. However, I see no mention of Zigbee/Thread... :thinking:

https://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocumentLibrary/Clear_Connect_Technology_whitepaper.pdf

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Clear connect type A that is used in Caseta is at 434 MHz. That is one of the reasons it is so reliable. The frequency eats through walls.

I don't have any inside info. They are on the BOD of both Thread and Zigbee Alliance/CSA groups and Clear Connect X is 2.4GHz. On the residential side they came to Zigbee via their purchase of Ketra. They have not so far been very forthcoming about their implementation, but why would they stray too far if they are BOD members? It's still proprietary, so there's no plusses or minuses at this time for anyone outside of Lutron. My point is that they've been able to make 2.4GHz reliable. I've not seen any RadioRA 3 documentation about WiFi interference including channel selection other than not placing the processor too close to an AP.

This document does not look to have been updated in a while, but describes at a high level Clear Connect X.
https://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocumentLibrary/Clear_Connect_Technology_whitepaper.pdf

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That's an opinion at this point, yet to be proven in the real world...

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I guess.

I never really touch any of my z-wave dimmers/switches, so I don't really have a headache that needs to be "fixed". But I understand that Lutron is pretty much always trouble free, whereas z-wave and zigbee can be unpredictable at times.

Anyway, I'm not here to rain on parades, so I'll slink off now. Glad the Lutron fans are getting some new devices/toys in any case!

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They seem to be very conservative on their requirements for device placement:

Your comments are very much welcome. I do use Zigbee and Z-wave as well. There are benefits to all protocols. I do custom homes and Lutron is a solution that I use because I can not have failures of any kind.

Understood.

Coming from the industrial control world, I have to nit pick the "can not have any failures" part though... LOL.. A single non-redundant hub with non-redundant power feed doesn't equal "no failures" in my world.

But I digress / am just being pedantic / understand what you are saying. :+1:

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Doesn't a single poor performing Z-Wave device have the capability of bringing down the entire Z-Wave mesh? Based on all the posts on this community that seems to be a much larger issue than a SPOF Lutron hub/main repeater. I don't know Lutron's industrial product line, but they're still pretty prominent in that channel.

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I do get failures once and while which requires me to go to the home and solve it. :nerd_face:

I do seem to get a failed Lutron switch for about every 100 switches once a year.

The reliability that I am referring to is "when a switch is pressed it works". For example if my ALL ON/OFF Pico is pressed then all the switches must comply or I get customers who complain. From that point of view they are 100% reliable.

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10% dimming is garbage IMO and at best an estimate even with Lutron dimmers. To get high performance dimming in the Lutron family you have to look for 'Hi-Lume' drivers. There are some 3rd party drivers/fixtures that are available like DMF (Products - DMF Lighting). But if you're price sensitive none of these options are a likely sale. Line voltage lighting should be on its way out, but that's long term and not an easy retrofit.

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It looks like you really focus on dimming. I am no where near as advanced as you. Nothing will ever be as good as incandescent but it really is going away. We have to work with what we have.

I have noticed that they are taking forever to release the companion switch. Does anyone have any idea when this will be released?