Can't agree with you on this one. I think the Casétas are the cleaner look of the two, and in particular look more high-end. But I recognize that's its just personal preference! =)
This for sure. I absolutely love that about the Hue switches/remotes. I'd much rather click a few extra times to get to a dimmer/brighter state than to press, hold, and wait for the setting I'm looking for.
The Pico or Caseta definitely have the "high end" or "high tech" vibe going and I like them. However the Hue Aurora has that "retro" vibe going and such... I kinda like it and it was a huge WAF increase because it was instantly intuitive of how to use it.
PZO,
I like your criteria - and agree to much of it. (~50 years of EE design experience).
Certainly, some MFGs create without much design thought. Not very elegant nor ergonomic.
Homeowners need something that is very durable and that kids and grandparents can hit easily in the dark or within their physical limitations.
All this stuff seems to still be in it's infancy, so we still have a long way to go before the bad designs fall away on their own.
My experience with both Zigbee and Z-wave based products has led me to completely remove them as viable devices for my personal solution. Both are proprietary and have complex protocols which for the most part, require a gateway, at least to get working. Their devices are simple to ADD to their gateways, and difficult if not impossible to remove or reset. I have GE wall switches which absolutely refuse to reset and allow me to add them to my Hubitat. I have the same problem with my Lutron devices.
So that creates my #1 rule for ALL Home Automation devices and products that I will implement in my house...they must communicate via WiFi. I know Z-devices have tight and excellent secure protocols verses WiFi's sloppy reputation, but that's caused by lax settings, not by the protocols or architecture themselves.
Rule #2 - No additional gateways required (or allowed). Whatever I use, it'll have a single gateway and in this case, Hubitat is the winner. This controller is open and community driven without corporate agenda.
Rule #3 - Don't attempt to automate too much. This whole branch of automation is in its Alpha or Beta phase. Neither is acceptable so the less cuteness we include, the less hassle we'll have and the more dependable our system becomes. The more mature hardware I place into my system, the less I'll spend in the long run.
Rule #4 - Stay away from Internet connected devices. Simply put, you cannot rely on an Internet connection being available during storms, provider issues, war, pestilence, etc. So how would it be if a fire is rampaging your neighborhood and you were trying to leave, but you can't get your garage door open? Or if your sixteen year old daughter arrives home, but can't unlock the back door?
Rule #5 - Go for as much UL Recognized components as possible. If possible, stay away from non-UL Recognized 120 volt devices (switches, plugs, appliances). This is also true for window shade actuators. These will cost more, and narrow your selection. You may not be able to find some solutions for your needs - yet. Put those off a while and wait for the market to continue to mature. Most low voltage devices are OK, but watch out for the in-box and plug-in style devices. They may be very well made, but if you have a fire, your insurance company will likely refuse a claim if they can trace the ignition to a non-UL device, and the courts will support them, not you.
Of course, you can obtain a pre-judgement with your insurance company by letting them know what devices you are going to use. They may tell you they don't require UL, and will accept Canadian or European agency component recognition.
Rule #6 - I will not put any wireless critical life supporting devices into my automation unless they are approved and certified by an appropriate industry agency. This includes smoke, fire, flood or water detection, water shut-off, water heater and/or water pump shut-off, mail-order DIY intrusion and motion security systems and the like.
The reason is simple...the vast majority of consumer wireless solutions are not monitored using industry approved methods and many of the ones that are, do not provide dependable notification. Text or email messages are not dependable enough for a user to take quick action to remedy a problem.
Commercial grade security solutions, when installed by a professional, or in strict compliance with the manufacturers guidelines may, of course, be used and interfaced to my own HA system using their own hardware.
I am rebuilding my whole system, and am removing the Z-protocols and non-UL wall plugs. I am forced to remove my GE Z-based wall switches and plugs. I will practice what I preach.
In the future home automation solutions will get much better, more affordable and more inter-operational.
Just my two cent's worth.
I have created an application, Kasa Tools, that allows you to disconnect (unbind) the Kasa devices from the Kasa Cloud. It also allows you to reconnect but that requires your Kasa Password. I have checked it on all my devices; including the HS-300 multi-plug. It works. I will eventually pull these into the overall Kasa App.
Rule 1 (wifi only) and Rule 4 (no internet) are VERY limiting. Most WiFi devices do not have a non-cloud interface developed and the manufacturers are not motivated to create non-cloud. Compatible with Alexa and Google Home are the big marketing points today and the simplist way is a cloud-based interface.
Personally, my rule is avoid cloud for important functions. Important is in the eyes of the consumer.
Note, with my Kasa Tools, the TP-Link lights, plugs and switches can now be set to local only mode. It works.
Can we get some identifications of LOCAL WiFi devices with community integrations. I have done two sets:
Dave
Dave - I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment that Rule(s) #1 and #4 are limiting. But in my experience, these cover the root of the frustrations for many if not all HA users.
If you rely on an Internet connection, your HA will fail at the most inopportune moment.
The readers should not get me wrong. I said "avoid" using - meaning you can't build a system based on the Internet and "assume" it's dependable. It is not.
If HA is a toy or your hobby, then have at it. Make it as cool as possible.
If the shades don't open, a door doesn't unlock or the light doesn't come on, so what?
But my wife for instance, doesn't care how it works. And if Google doesn't respond, or a battery is dead, or the Internet is down, she won't use it, and it becomes a hobby and not HA.
So what I was saying is, the less new unproven tech you have to depend on, the lower your blood pressure will be. 
And by the way...thank you ever-so-much for your generous time and efforts with drivers. I've personally benefitted by the Tp-link stuff. I've been looking for good, decent UL Listed (not just Rated, but Listed) WiFi plugs - and I found them for just $24 for two at Sam's Club.
Thanks again,
Zigbee is an open protocol, which has been up until recently been it's problem. OEMs could do whatever they wanted which resulted in not everything worked well together. Zigbee devices on the compatibility list are well supported and DO work well together.
Your remarks about GE Zwave lead me to believe you have earlier Zwave devices that were difficult to reset. They should however respond to an exclude from the HE hub even if they have not been paired to the HE hub.
The great value of Zigbee and Zwave is in their ability to relay communications from device to device and back to the hub. This means having low powered battery operated sensors in the furthest reaches of your property can communicate with a hub located in the center of your home. Those battery powered devices can have a battery life of up to ten years, something not possible in a WiFi device.
So while the upcoming Zigbee 3.0 and Zwave are somewhat proprietary they do ensure interoperability. Yes they do require a hub, but a hub is just a centralized control station eliminating the need for individual applications for WiFi devices. With WiFi devices, most of which these days use apps on a phone for control, they do not allow interoperability. You cannot control a WiFi device from one OEM from another OEMs app. If you can locally control them, and they have open APIs, you like would want a centralized hub to control them too.
I LOVE it! That's a perfect design to disable a switch and replace it with a smart dimmer that nobody needs to know is smart.
I have some of the ikea tradfri dimmer dials that I think are slightly larger than a traditional dimmer knob, I wonder if anyone has designed a 3d printable base for those to sit on top of a switch like this?
I've been doing this as well, actually both. I have HomeAssistant installed. When our internet went out, I could verify control of devices still worked without issue. Although, Google Assistant did fail, so I could only control them through a control panel.
When the network is up (99% of the time, my outage was an anomaly), control through Google and remote has been solid.
Given the success of our Kasa buttons, we've been integrating more Kasa (TP-Link) devices over older items we have.
When you said there's a native app/driver available for Hubitat. Is the native part because it doesn't have to be flashed to different firmware.
I just received my Hubitat hub and I have some Tp-Link/Kasa switches and dimmers.
I do not believe that is the case. I believe it is a community supported app/driver.
I wasn't quite sure of what was meant by native
TP-Link Bulbs/Plugs. No flashing required. Community Supported app/driver set for Hubitat. The devices can be installed manually or using the application. The GitHub site is at:
The site includes a Wiki with installation instructions. Questions can be addressed to me.
Dave
Thanks for responding and providing the info. I knew there wasn't any flashing required I just got a little confused about what was meant by native. I read through your Wiki a few days ago in preparation of my HE hub arriving. Received it yesterday now I just have to do the install. Not sure if I should do the manual install or the integrated installation. Thanks for your support.
When installing the drivers do I stop after it's saved or do I need to keep going to load the driver and add virtual devices.
Thanks
There is no specific order. You can load the drivers for all your different TP-Link devices or one at a time. You can then go to tea or coffee and comback later to create the devices in Hubitat using the Virtual Device.
Not knowing your experience level.....
Are you doing a manual installation? If so, after saving the driver, create a virtual device for each of your TP-Link device. Creating includes entering:
The Device's page will then come up. You need to enter the local Wifi Device IP for your device and then save preferences. Device IP example: 192.168.0.122.
Make sure you set static IP address for the device in your local router.
Dave
Thanks for responding. As far as experience I am totally new to HE.
For now I have 2 switches and 2 dimmers I am installing using the integrated installation. Not really sure of the difference in the methods other than the integrated will look for the device on the network if it gets lost from the hub.
This is as far as I've gotten. I reserved addresses on my router for the hub, the 2 switches and dimmers. I installed the switch driver and the dimmer driver but haven't added any virtual devices yet.
Thanks again
If you have not, install the application. Then run the application. It will find your devices and you can select the ones you want to install. At that point you should be able to go the the devices page and see your devices. Selecting them will allow you to control them.
dave
Thank you for your help. I was able to get them installed yesterday without a hitch. Being new to Hubitat and I was just using Alexa to control some devices this all seems a little daunting, but the installation was pretty straight forward and not bad.
Bob
Download the Hubitat app
