So I’ve got 6 Zigbee Cree Bulbs in fixtures that don’t have switches with the neutral wire required for a smart switch. The bulbs get turned off by automations and then require the physical switch to be turned off for a second or two before they can be manually turned on. It feels very dumb. What is everyone else doing to work around this? Options I’ve thought about
Put them on motion sensors and physically bypass the switch controlling them. Motion detection might not work well in a small closet
Place a smart button or one of those smart switch covers over the physical switch - feels awkward
Physically bypass the switch and mount Lutron Picos mount over the switch location. I've just done this and love it. It does require the Lutron Pro hub but well worth the investment. I started with 3 pico remotes and now have 12. In the kitchen I have them over both locations of three way switch, both programmed the same. In my den/tv room I have one on the wall the other on the coffee table, both programmed the same.
I’m in an old house. Few neutral wires. I have several lights where I removed the physical switches and I use Lutron Connected bulb remotes. Those are no longer available, but I would have no problem using Picos in their place with my Lutron Caseta Pro bridge. My bedroom is on a Hue Zigbee dimmer. Since the Hue bridge will drop its connection with the dimmer if it loses internet and then power, on occasion I cannot turn my Bedroom lights with the hue dimmer once power is restored. I have to wait for internet to return as well. My wife really hates that.
The Pico don’t have this issue. The Lutron Caseta was Pro bridge doesn’t require internet to communicate with HE.
There's a Lightify switch that fits over an existing switch and can be removed if manual access is needed, though it adds some bulk. I think some people have also made over-switch mounts for Hue dimmers, though I haven't used one. Using motion sensors to truly automate the lights as you suggest works great for me, though that's obviously personally preference and I do occasionally need to override with a switch (I use Hue dimmers and Pico remotes, the former on Hue and latter on Hubitat, though Hubitat does support both).
You can also mount a Pico or any button/switch device nearby and cover up the "real" switch with something designed for that purpose, usually marketed towards religious or cultural observances (e.g., Shabbat).
I'm sure others will have other ideas! Automation works for me, along with the occasional button/remote device. If it's just me and my roommate, leaving the switches as-is is fine, but I do have covers for guests (for whom the lights should be sufficiently automated they don't need to do anything).
That's odd. The Hue dimmers communicate directly with the bulbs over ZigBee (the bridge isn't even needed, unless maybe there's some non-bulb automation going on too...not sure if, e.g., HomeKit forces everything to go through the bridge). I keep Hue dimmers and the Taps around precisely because they are the most reliable devices I have (especially when I was on ST).
I'm of the camp that I should never need to flip a switch. So I mostly rely on motion sensors in rooms that have smart bulbs. I do use echo dots in rooms that need tighter control than I can program via motion, mode, and time. I've tried the Osram button controller, it works well enough. I've also tried the Xiaomi Cube controllers, but found those are intimidating for the wife and kids. Motion is the way to go for me, your mileage may vary.
It can, but I believe if you pair it directly to the bulbs, it has similar control to the Lutron connected bulb remote and a Hue bridge (e.g. both can control them, but you cannot set automations to the buttons (which is what I have setup).
Thanks for all the quick responses! I’m sold on the Lutron solution. Do Hubitat automations with the Lutron devices work locally? Basically would like little delay turning on the light.
Yes the HE and Lutron pro hub talk directly to each other via telnet and do not use any cloud based service. I use my pico to control Hue lights that are on a hue hub. So Lutron to HE to hue is very fast.
+1 for Lutron Caseta dimmers and switches for boxes without neutral wires. Just make sure you purchase the models that don’t require a neutral (some actually do), and get a pro bridge so that it’ll work with Hubitat.
I have a couple of closets that the lights were controlled by pull chain instead of a physical switch. For these I used the smart bulb and added a contact sensor to the door instead of a motion sensor. I then created a simple light rule to turn the lights on or off based on the door opening or closing. This may give you another option.
You can also add multiple Smart Bridge Pros, so the 50 device limit of the Smart Bridge Pro does not apply on HE, you just add another bridge if you need it.
Ok, last question before I hit buy. Seems like the Lutron Caseta Hubitat app works with rule manager and other apps. Which means I would need to create virtual switches to control the Castea switches. Can I get on/off/level status of Castea switches to show on a Hubitat dashboard?
Yes, I have a Lutron dimmer module and it works in the dashboard just like any other dimmer. You can even add a pico button to the dashboard and clicking on it executes just like pressing the real button.
