I finally have the conversion from Wink to Hubitat hubs complete! It took some time with all the bulbs but man things sure room smoother now so it was well worth the effort. Currently controls are being done through Alexa still but so far so good. Thanks to everyone who provided assistance in how to make the transition.
I'm now looking to move over to more of an actual automation capability so I'm going to replace the individual bulbs with wall switches instead. I've decided on the Lutron Castea dimmer switches lineup due to the cool things it sounds like the Pico remotes offer with their unique functionality. Any suggestions on the best place to buy the Hub Pro 2 and switches since there does not seem to be a combo pack like Lowes/Home Depot offers for the normal Hub?
As @neonturbo says, if you're looking for Pico's you don't NEED any Lutron switches and Dimmers.
They are great however, and if you want to go that way, you will forever congrat yourself on a wise choice.
Hubitat's Lutron Integration works well for Pico's alone, or for Caseta switches and dimmers. Lutron themselves expect Pico's to be used with their products... and that's very good, BUT the Hubitat Integration frees you in all directions.
I have a dozen Pico's and Zero Caseta switches/dimmers.
Thanks! I found the one on Amazon but was unsure if it was the correct model since it was only $109.00 but I'm going to go ahead and order from there then.
What about the Pico remotes and wall/dimmer switches....any advice on best value place to purchase from?
Wow, I had no idea you did not need a Lutron hub to run the Pico remotes so that's good to know. I do want to move forward with the wall switches still so the wife and guest to use as normal without messing up my smart functionality!
That's not what @csteele said. You need the hub/bridge. You don't need to have any Caseta dimmers/switches to use the Picos. But you definitely need the Caseta Pro bridge.
Cool, I've been doing Google searches but was not sure if there was a "known" site that maybe others were using with success to buy switches and remotes cheaper. I found the remotes on Amazon for $14.99 each so those don't seem too bad since I get free shipping anyway.
Thanks again, cant wait to get the rest of this up and going soon!
Dang, that's what I meant actually about not needing the switches in order to use the remotes. Good to call out though in case other newbies are looking to do the same.
You don't need Lutron switches/dimmers for that, either. Picos are really cheap and work with the Smart Bridge Pro 2 (or a higher-end Lutron system if you want one for some reason; I went with RA2 so I could use their motion sensors, did it myself, and suspect I'm the only such user without any in-wall products...). You can keep the smart bulbs that it sounds like you already have working on Hubitat, then either replace or supplement your existing "dumb" switches with the Pico remotes. It looks just like a switch (well, sort of, but it does look almost exactly like a Caséta dimmer), so it should fit this criterion without making you replace all of your smart bulbs with smart switches if giving others something switch-like to use was your only reason.
That being said, Lutron has a reputation for being rock-solid, so you're unlikely to regret the decision if you do replace the smart bulbs with "dumb" ones and use Lutron switches/dimmers instead. One advantage might be that this will technically work without Hubitat in the middle for anything you are able to configure on the Lutron side (or at the very least similar to a "dumb" switch/dimmer should your Lutron bridge and Hubitat hub both happen to die at the same time). But if you want smart bulb features (e.g., color or color temperature control) and what's likely to be a cheaper option than replacing those all (Energy Avenue has Picos for around $12 now, add in $5 if you need the wall-mount kit to cover an existing switch)...then this could be one.
Rather than remotes, some people also just add smart switches in conjunction with smart bulbs. This really works best if you have a smart switch that lets you disable the internal relay (local control), like Zooz or Inovelli. Lutron doesn't, though you might be able to get a similar effect with hard-wiring the dimmer/switch load to line. You could then use an automation on the Hubitat side, like you'd need to with the above (Pico) option too, to control the bulbs based on scene/button events from the switch/dimmer. So, in case you feel like paying for both smart bulbs and smart switches (something I wouldn't do if your bulbs are dimmable white only but something you can consider if they aren't and you don't want to lose that functionality...though I'd probably just go with Picos for most cases and save the money).
You can! You'll still need the Caséta Smart Bridge Pro 2 (or RA2 Main Repeater or whatever you want to integrate them), but then the Picos can be added to Hubitat through that as button devices. Think of what might happen if you paired a Hue Dimmer or Eria Remote (two alternative devices to this--which, by the way, I don't like as much) to Hubitat. Pressing and holding buttons will send button events to Hubitat like "button 1 pushed" or "button 2 held," which you can use to trigger automations.
Here's an example of a custom app I wrote to control Hue bulbs and scenes from Hubitat with a 5-button Pico:
You can do the same with Rule Machine/Button Controller, so you don't need a custom app--I just wanted things to be a bit easier for me, and I wanted to emulate the "cycle through scenes" feature of the Hue Dimmer on Hue (as they support with successive presses of the "On" button on the Hue side). Ignore the "first push," "second push," etc. things there to get an idea of what you can do natively with stock apps.
I have other Picos controlling totally unrelated devices, like my blinds and kitchen ceiling fan (take that, more expensive fan pico that only has different icons!), both of which happen to be Z-Wave as @csteele mentioned.
Same here, I have a Pico that controls a Hampton Bay (Zigbee) ceiling fan. Two of the Pico's buttons control the light, and the other two buttons control fan speed. Other Picos dim plug in dimmers, control smart bulbs, and so on.
Of course I have many Pico paired with Caseta dimmers, I like the Caseta dimmers a lot. I have probably a dozen or so Caseta, and 25-30 Pico.
Yes. Another way of thinking this: anything you can currently do through Hubitat manually with the Sengleds (e.g., from their device page: turn on/off, set level, set color, etc.), you can make the Pico do instead with an automation triggered by a specific button event from the Pico.
I should mention that you will, of course, need the Sengleds paired to Hubitat for this to work. If you have them on a Sengled hub network now and integrated to Alexa that way, they'll need to be moved to Hubitat (there is no integration for the Sengled hub like there is for a Hue Bridge--my preferred option, but that's a different story ). You can still integrate them to Alexa via Hubitat.
Thanks and sorry for the multiple questions but I'm thinking about all the possibilities.
You mentioned fan control as well. I was about ready to order the Lutron Wireless Smart Fan switch for my non-smart office ceiling fan to better automate the fan off/on and wall dim for the lights. That's still the best way to do this since I do not have a smart fan, right?
Picos are really cheap and work with the Smart Bridge Pro 2 (or a higher-end Lutron system if you want one for some reason; I went with RA2 so I could use their motion sensors, did it myself, and suspect I'm the only such user without any in-wall products...). You can keep the smart bulbs that it sounds like you already have working on Hubitat, then either replace or supplement your existing "dumb" switches with the Pico remotes. It looks just like a switch (well, sort of, but it does look almost exactly like a Caséta dimmer), so it should fit this criterion without making you replace all of your smart bulbs with smart switches if giving others something switch-like to use was your only reason.
