Inovelli Red vs. Lutron Caseta switches

I've gone down the same path and decided to go all paddle switches for the uninitiated. I have six switches next to my front door so this is what I ended up with.

Not a great picture but you get the idea. Note that the ones on the left aren't as tilted as they look. they phone camera exaggerated the angle. Perhaps someday I'll open up the wall and fix it. The joys of a house that has its roots in the 50s. :wink:

The GE switches will eventually be upgraded to matching Inovelli switches.

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This is my biggest issue too. I buried all my GE switches in the basement and have the Inovelli switches upstairs. But now I hate using the basement switches so I'm going to have to spend a bunch more money LOL

LOL. I've been victim of the exact phrase.

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RA2 supports Picos. Can you elaborate? Or did I misunderstand your post?

Excuse me?

@TechMedX @jeubanks Are you guys thinking of RA2 Select? It's been my understanding for a long time that the Pico remotes you can use with Caséta and RA2 Select do not work with RA2. Is that wrong? I don't need to be right here.

Pico remotes are the only item that works across ALL of the Lutron lines from Caseta, RA2 Select, RA2, HomeWorks QS.

In order from Highest to Lowest features/capabilities in the Lutron lineup...

  1. HomeWorks QS
  2. Radio RA2
  3. Radio RA2 Select
  4. Lutron Caseta Pro
  5. Lutron Caseta
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Super

I have RA2 and use Picos (love them). The only issue I am finding is the "fan" Picos do not pair with RA2 fan controller switches. In order to use the fan "face plate" I'm going to have to purchase fan and light Picos, program them via HE (already tested) and rip/swap the face plates to get "the look" (thankfully Picos are cheap)

@jeubanks can you confirm the issue with fan Picos (I don't have them in RA software so don't see how they could be added).

This is the current exception. The "Fan Pico" has not made it's way to RA2 yet which does have many irked that Caseta got this before the higher end (more expensive) systems. However the current market has more "new" purchases in the lower cost system which makes sense to introduce there first right? I would expect the Fan Pico to make it's way to RA2 soon.

I also checked in the latest Designer 12.6.0 and it does not have the Fan Pico as an option. I'll have to email Lutron :slight_smile:

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Checking and looking the Fan Pico is just the 3 button RL with the Fan icons... I wonder if a standard 3 button RL would actually work the same? I'll have to pair one and find out :slight_smile:

Can you pair the Fan Pico to the fan controller just specify a 3 button RL pico?

Might be cheaper to buy a 3 button RL with the fan "engraving" than to buy 2 and only be able to use one.

Thought about that too I don't see that as an "engraving" option. "Custom" engraving can only be done on 4 button Picos and they are $75+ (need one for my kitchen downdraft controls).

2x 3 button RL $25x2=$50 - still cheaper than custom Picos.

They way I see it $50/10 year use ROI - $5 per year + WAF = very acceptable.

But it sure would be nice if Lutron would just release them for RA2 and be done with it.

I added one to RA2 with no assignment. Added it to HE and created this rule (with help from @Ryan780) It works, just needs a face plate :wink:

Just tried with a standard 3 button RL and I can assign on/off but the raise/lower can't be assigned to the fan contoller... hmmm.

Do all the programing in HE not RA2, and it works fine. see above for rule.

I can't decide between these switches either. I don't really like the look of the caseta but I like the idea of little remote. Which one is faster.
That's the big con with alot of the switches I see Videos about. If its not instant on like a normal switch my wife will not like it.

What kind of security system are you using? I got rid of ADT forever ago because it was so expensive but never did replace it with anything.

I do not have Inovelli switches so cannot speak for their speed, but I have had other zigbee and zwave (both standard and zwave plus) switches. All have had some kind of delay, zigbee being the quickest, but it still had that brief moment when you have moved the switch and then the light turns on.

I have since switched to all Caseta switches, dimmers and fan controllers (except for one fan that still needs the Home Depot Hampton Bay fan controller). Turning on either a Caseta switch or dimmer I can see no perceptible delay, basically to my eyes it is as quick as any non-smart on/off switch. The same goes when turning off a Caseta switch, it is instantaneous to my eyes. The Caseta dimmer however is not instant off. It has a fade "out" that is configurable in Hubitat in seconds. The default is 1 second, which is nice when your switch is located inside a room so that you can exit as it slowly fades to off. It only takes a couple of uses to get used to it, but it is different from the "norm" of instant off.

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I concur with everything @wve stated above. There is no perceptible delay when manually operating Caseta switches. The one thing I would add is that if a Pico Remote is paired natively to a Caseta switch or dimmer (not using Hubitat at all), the response time of pressing a Pico is also instantaneous.

Just don't try to link a Pico via Hubitat to a Caseta device. That causes a delay, due to the extra hops through the SmartBridge Pro's telnet interface for the Pico and Caseta device.

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And I'd be remiss at this point if I didn't point out how great the service is from Inovelli. That's based on a recent problem I had with the switch plate and the air-gap switch. One email and next thing you know I had the replacements at my house. Something to be said for that.

Now if I could just get Inovelli to come out with a motion switch like the GE ones(but better)... pretty please!?

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This post right here just sold me on Lutron. What you described with Zwave maintenance is kind of why I’m leaving Insteon.

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