Was I nervous about doing this?, oh heck yea! I wouldn't even dream of trying this (if it was even possible) on some other platforms that I've used.
With this type of setup there is no physical switch connected to the aeon controller, so if the Lutron bridge fails or the hub fails, or the lutron integration fails, there is no control of the light via the picos...
Also with any cloud based hub solution the latency involved in transacting this simple automation would be noticeable under the best of circumstances.
So, in the three months since i started deploying these (over 30 locations), I have not had one single issue with this setup, response time is fast and consistent and has not failed once.
The super cool thing about using Hubitats Lutron integration is that each Pico is it's own completly programmable button controller, each button can have it's own pushed and or held action using our built in button controller app. So you are not limited to just controlling the light at that specific location.
I have so many Pico controllers that when I purchased some Serena shades I had exceeded the 50 device limit on the bridge, no problem Hubitat supports multiple Lutron bridges!
So there you have it, eating our own dog food as they say, and loving it!
Confused with this... What you mean?
If the switch is not physical connected to the AEON micro controller whats the purpose? To have no switchs in the house?
Adding a switch where no power/wiring is preinstalled, some old houses this setup resolve to have an electrician and wire a new wall switch because the back porch switch is inside the bedroom instead at the door of the back porch, for example. Or replacing switch with better shape with a pico.
Picos are Lutron radio button controllers, they do not have any dry contacts, so there isn't anything to connect to the micros.
The main purpose for doing my production this way was primarily aesthetic.
Lutron dimmers and switches aren't available in black, and I don't prefer the caseta dimmers lack of neutral, as well as their lack of memory of previous level setting.
Consider deciding to set up 3, 4 or 5 way switching where there was originally only a single switch and a micro dimmer. With the Pico remotes, you find a convenient spot on a wall and literally stick the Pico on the wall. Done! No calls to the electrician,
Yes, and
reason #2: caseta dimmers do not have a neutral, so they are picky about the attached load...
reason #3: they don't retain last level setting like every other dimmer on the planet...
I stopped at 5 way because I don't remember what the limit is. Having done extensive rewiring in my home, it was the most impressive thing when I first got one. If I were to start again, I might totally leave out switch wiring entirely. Sadly I no longer have any.
So the Aeon controller is taking the role of the lutron smart bridge in order to let HE control all the picos? Does it means that any pico is a standard zwave device?
Downside with Pico's and micro dimmers is you still have no physical switch if you replace all your switches with Pico's. Now you could though use micro's and leave exiting switches in place and use the Pico's as 3-ways. At least this was if you hub goes down you can still turn on your lights.
I'm in EU, so I want keep my actual inwall box and physical switches. I use wifi inwall smart switches (powahome, Italian brand). I can use them with Alexa but not with HE because of the lack of HE skill (HE app does'nt work).
i would like to evaluate a zigbee alternative.
Just to make sure this is clear... even if there was a Hubitat Alexa Skill for Italy, you still would not be able to control those WiFi switches. The Hubitat Alexa Skill only allows Alexa to control Hubitat devices. The Hubitat Alexa Skill still does not support the use of Hubitat Contact or Motion sensors as Alexa Routine Triggers... so that workaround isn't even possible.
So, you may not be missing out on as much you thought...
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