Reliable 3-way switch options? (Is Eaton better now? Is something else better?)

[user6246]

I'm having no luck with my 3-way switches.

I installed a ton of Cooper Aspire Decorator switches about 8 years ago. (RF9501 main switches with RF9517 accessories switches and the RF9540 main dimmer with the RF9542 accessory dimmer.)

While I love everything else about the switches, I've never had any luck getting the accessory and dimmer switches to act together. At one point, I even tried getting the Cooper Aspire controller so that I could use direct association, and that would work great for a short period of time and then just become less reliable.

When I moved from SmartThings to Hubitat, I tried again. I've tried to Eaton switch built-in driver direct association, the joelwetzel Switch Binding method, Basic Rules, and Rule Machine. While those all mostly work, the lag time can be significant. I even got Eaton to send me some replacement switches at one point, but those didn't consistently keep working either.

We're redoing our kitchen, and I'm trying to figure out my options, hopefully having a 3-way switch option that works and (just as importantly from my perspective and my very patient SO's perspective), works as seamlessly and as quickly as a normal 3-way switch.

Since the switches are from 2015, they are all the old Z-Wave vs. Z-Wave Plus. So maybe the Plus versions are just magically better? The fact that the Aspire switch page shows the last update is from 4+ years ago doesn't install confidence, but if I could keep the same look, that would be preferred.

If the Eaton one's still aren't reliable, is there another option that is 100%? I don't know if there's an option that keeps the normal 3-way wiring (power and traveler?) so that they act immediately, but also work with Z-Wave?

Any suggestions or feedback would be appreciated!!

[aaiyar]

Plenty of modern options from Zooz, iNovelli, and Jasco, if you want to stick with zwave+ dimmers and switches.

[neonturbo]

I like the Zooz switches and dimmers. They are inexpensive, and have many features like night light mode, multi-taps, and more. Most of the lighting in my house now use Zooz, I have replaced all but 1 GE/Jasco at this point.

I also like the Lutron Caseta, that is the easiest and most reliable multi-way dimmer available. But also one of the more expensive options (switches and dimmers in particular), and the switches/dimmers lack lots of features. There are no double taps on the switches/dimmers, for example. It also requires a somewhat pricy Lutron Bridge Pro2. The Pico remotes themselves are fabulous, inexpensive, and they do have scenes, multi-taps and so on if you import them into Hubitat. So some thought to where switch/dimmer are located in the 3-4 ways might mitigate their lack of features. Pico also don't require wiring, or even an electrical box for that matter, so you can put them in places where you don't have a box if that would help usability of your setup.

[JohnRob]

I agree with the Zooz recommendation. I started using them because they were "plain" without any fancy led's showing.

While I understand the Lutron Caseta is a more fully engineered system. Since I've had zero issues with my Zooz dimmers the Caseta technically cannot be more reliable.

[Sebastien]

My go-to’s have been Inovelli, Lutron and Zooz in that order.

Initially, I had Inovelli as my switches and Lutron as my dimmers since the early Inovelli dimmers didn’t dim smoothly. Zooz I use where I want a 5-button device.

As it is now, I am slowly transitioning most of my stitches to Inovelli 2-1 devices. I love their LED bar and they have been very reliable. They are a small company that listen and implements what their users are looking for. They have had difficulties keeping-up with demand, but this is starting to resolve itself. They have Red series 2-1 in stock as I am writing this.

[Wekurtz]

I feel your pain. Moving over to c-8 from c-4 and trying to get them associated is frustrating at best. Have you tried the built in option for Eaton switches and dimmers? I'd be interested in your experience.

I don't know about you, but I keep these older switches because they do an excellent job of dimming in a smooth, even manner. I can get extremely low levels manually, which I cannot get with other switches.