Newbie and confused

I am really new to this. I want to be able to control my outdoor lights with a schedule. I also want to control some LED hi hats in different rooms. Also control a couple of outlets that have lamps plugged in. I assume I would get the Hubitat hub and maybe GE Zwave switches for outdoor lights and GE dimmers for the LED. Is this a reliable setup?

Sounds like you're on the right track! Hubitat can control nearly any Z-Wave device, and I think all generations of GE Z-Wave switches and dimmers (I'm aware of at least three) are supported and have been used by many in the community (though Z-Wave is pretty standard and nearly any switch/dimmer should work here).

What you'd do after you get the hub is put Hubitat in "discovery" mode to "pair" (or "include," in Z-Wave terms) your switch and dimmer, one device at a time for Z-Wave. Once the devices get added, you can add apps to Hubitat to automate them. For your use, Hubitat Simple Lighting might work. Mode Lighting may also work depending on whether you use hub/location modes (you don't need to but many people use them to make automations work differently at different times) or not. If nothing else, Rule Machine is always there to help you create custom automations, though it may be a bit daunting if you're totally new to Hubitat's device, app, and event models.

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Thank you very much. I am sure now that when I get this next week I will start the process. I will look into Hubitat Simple lighting and Mode lighting. I assume Amazon is the choice to buy the equipement.

For best results (especially being new) make sure what ever equipment you buy is on this list. List of Compatible Devices - Hubitat Documentation

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The Blue big box hardware store carries many of the GE switches. Black and green box are Zwave (make sure you buy the zwave plus models) and the black and red boxed items use the zigbee protocol. I personally am a zigbee fan over the zwave... Both will work with Hubitat!

I have had pretty good luck so far with the GE, as well as the Zooz. The Zooz are usually cheaper than the GE. It looks like the Zooz switches, including dimmers, are $26 right now. I bought mine from the site below, and was satisfied with them.

https://www.thesmartesthouse.com/collections/zooz

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I always urge anyone who is new to think about what they want to accomplish from a functional perspective ignoring, for the moment, the technical details.

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And...once you figure out your lighting requirements.... Buy a Lutron lighting solution!!! :wink:

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I also love the Lutron stuff, especially the Pico Remotes. As a way to try things out, it has a much higher price point because of having to purchase an extra hub. It also is a tiny bit harder for a novice with having to manage two hubs, and an extra step of setting up the Lutron app in Hubitat. It certainly isn't a dealbreaker however. The only other bad thing about Lutron is the dimmers are priced inexpensively (especially the Dimmer/Pico combo kit), but the normal switches and fan switches are more expensive than most other types (Z-wave or Zigbee) switches.

"They just work"

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So do all of the zwave plus switches/dimmers if you have an even remotely decent mesh... And no 2nd hub required... :wink:

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My lighting requirements , for now is

  1. I have 3 wall timers that I want to control for outside lighting. I am tired of trying to reset all 3 that they come on together.

  2. Control 3 table lamps in different rooms simple on at 7 off at 11.

  3. While on vacation have random lights go on and off at different times.

  4. Control led hi hats via alexa with dimming. This is for kitchen and family room.

So this is my honey do list. Thanks for the help.