I have a few LCBRs left over from my Wink setup. I read through a ton of the articles where it is written that the LCBRs are not supported by Hubitat. These do not connect to the Lutron Pro bridge as they are Zigbee remotes, not Pico. I tried connecting it to HE on a whim and they did connect as a Zigbee "Device". I don't seem to be able to make them do anything else or show up in any rules!
Has anyone been able to make them work with HE? If not, I will have to try selling them and move on to getting a few Picos to work via the Lutron Pro --> HE
I do not believe anyone has gotten them to work with Hubitat. They are quite valuable these days, so you may get quite a bit of money for them on ebay. Sell 2 of them and you can buy about 6 Picos!
I still use 2 of them in our cars. Although not controllable via HE, once paired to HE you can then pair them directly to bulbs and it will not steal them.
I'm honestly not sure why the Lutron Connected Bulb Remote is almost perceived as more valuable now that it's been discontinued. It has long been touted as a way to factory-reset Hue bulbs that are otherwise not easily reset, and that's true, but a Hue Dimmer costs a lot less, is still in production and quite easily found, and does the same. (I think a lot of the Zigbee remotes like the similar Eria and maybe Ikea products could do so, too, but I haven't tried them.)
Other than that, it's basically a slightly less powerful Pico--which you could use on a Caseta or RA2 system and integrate with Hubitat for the best of both worlds. The trick of pairing the remote to Hubitat (getting it on the same network) and then connecting it directly to bulbs is neat, I guess, but again not unique to this device.
I'm guessing they use group broadcasting only and won't work with Hubitat (at least for more than getting paired) for that reason (Hubitat doesn't support that at this time and so won't "see" the button presses; I think SmartThings must have recently added support, or at least done something to get devices like the Ikea 5-button "steering wheel" remote and on/off switch/button to work--if that's the case, they could probably get these working natively there, too, if they wanted to).
There's zero attraction for those of us who use home automation platforms that support other remotes (eg. Hubitat/Smartthings/HomeAssistant).
OTOH, when someone is stuck on a platform that only supports the Lutron Connected Bulb Remote, one can either switch platforms, or pay through the nose to get a CBR. An example of such a platform would be Wink.
While it lasted, WINK was amazing. It had it's quirks, but it did support a wide range of devices and protocols without the limiting factor of being stuck to one single eco system (like the Iris). Having the Lutron Clear connect radio built in, is a big plus!
Since the time the rapper wrapped it in his financials, Wink has been slowly dying out!
I actually found the Wink hub while looking through the Quirky website. I hadn't even remembered Ben's name until your post. I had already left Wink by 2015 so I missed all the biggest upheavals. I did start a Wink group on Google Plus but turned it over when I moved on.
I did manage to sell the Lutron connected bulb remotes @ a premium, buy Pico remotes and use them in their stead. Button controller-> pico remotes -> run rules... WIN!
I'm still not sure why people are willing to pay so much money for those (the Lutron Connected Bulb Remote), but I'm glad it worked out in your favor! Picos are cheap and, like any device but especially noticeable here since there are lots of different events this one device is capable of sending, quite powerful on Hubitat. Enjoy!
The reason that they worked well with Wink is that you could use them to as shortcut controls for any of the lights on the Wink Hub, not just connected bulbs. I just started migrating over to Hubitat today. I figured out how to get my LeakSmart sensors to work and then will start on the Lutron stuff and z wave motion detectors.
I originally bought mine to use with Wink, but they were always slow. I only have a Wink 1 hub I no longer use, so maybe that’s the difference. Anyway, the Pico and Smart Bridge Pro with HE is superior in very many ways.
However,I still use 6 of them with my Hue Bridge. I wouldn’t sell them. Very high WAF. Certain lights just need to work no matter what, barring an outage.
Your post is very meaningful to me, thanks for that.
I have not moved from Wink yet because I have an enormous automation setup to migrate and won't start unless the new system can do at least as well as the old one.
I have 51 ZWave units, a large Hue system, two Ecobee thermostats, a dozen or so sensors of various types, etc.
The WAF and multiple 'robot' (macro activation) use cases for the Wink system here are at least 50% centered on the Lutron Connected Bulb remotes!
This is THE #1 issue I face, and which I must resolve before I order the Hubitat unit and start the conversion. Marking this thread to see if others comment in ways that are helpful.
@NCSteve.. while this might seem like a challenge, I made the move & loving every bit of the instantaneous response from the HE/Lutron-Pro combo. With the Lutron Pico remotes, now, I have 5 buttons instead of 4 (on the LCBRs) on each remote. Best part is, I have a few GE Zwave Fan switches - which I now control with Lutron Pico remotes & made them function like a regular Lutron Fan remote! The options are endless
Those Lutron Connected Bulb Remotes still seem to command a very high (>$50 each) resale value on ebay. Depending on how many you have, you could probably recoup the cost of the Lutron Smart Bridge PRO2, and the Pico remotes by selling your existing Lutron Connected Bulb Remotes. The Pico remotes go for about $15 each, so selling 2 LCBRs will net you 6+ pico remotes. Sell another 2 LCBRs, and you've paid for the Lutron Smart Bridge PRO2.
The Pico remotes on Hubitat work incredibly well. I have replaced all other "button devices" with Pico remotes because they work so well, and are so reliable.
