I am planning on which switches to start buying for my house. Lutron are too expensive, and I wanted to be in Zigbee as I understand its mesh a bit better, and have a descent mesh at home.
How come most switches in the market are on Zwave? Any particular current or historical reason?
Not really. There hasn't been a huge market for them in general. Many people going non-lutron and non-z wave go Wi-Fi instead of zigbee.
Maybe there will be more once the CSA standards come out.
I suspect that the switch market was initially linked to alarm system. That is where I started with Vivint and Z-Wave is most popular with those systems for their security I think…?
Inovelli should be coming out with Zigbee dimmer/switch combos at some point relatively soon - maybe Q1 2022?
I think GE/Jasco also has Zigbee switches?
Correct. There's a few other ones out there as well, but a lot of the other ones are not UL/CE certified and all over the place in terms of use of manufacturer specific clusters in their zigbee implementation.
$45 per switch! Ouch... Does not look I'll be able to change in any rooms at that expense 
Honestly, that's not too bad of a price for a Z-Wave (or Zigbee) switch; Zooz just makes everyone else look bad by somehow managing to make theirs ridiculously cheap. 
Of course, features are another story; IMHO, Jasco/GE has lagged behind competitors in a feature-vs.-price comparision, as their competitors have devices at similar price points (HomeSeer, Inovelli) that support more features, like a "programmable" LED or LED bar; multi-taps/Z-Wave Central Scenes that are actually documented (GE does have some like this, but I'm not sure they really play it up--or support quite as many); and an understanding of why some people may want to disable local control (really only Inovelli and Zooz seem to get this at the moment).
FWIW, Inovelli's Zigbee switch should have a similar feature set as their current Red Series line--which will be great. Unless you just want a barebones switch/dimmer. Then you're still stuck paying the same price anyway. Ha. (But I guess GE is a more recognizable brand that some people like for that reason?)
Especially when they have their sales at just over $20 USD. I am all Zooz except for four inovelli’s and a couple others (1 GE left and 1 Leviton). I just wished they shipped directly to Canada instead of having to deal with their Canadian sales partner.
Lutron may be on the high side at $50 a switch, but honestly the reliability and quality are worth it. They are just tanks. In the 10 years I've been using them, I have yet to have one fail. Their PICO's can't be beat at $15.00 a piece... I've replaced one battery in that 10 year period.... Expensive? Maybe? Worth it? Absolutely...
It definitely is an acquired taste though.. my wife isn't crazy about the ultra modern "look". If you are trying to coordinate switch styles in an existing house then replacing everything with Lutron can become an expensive proposition.
In terms of reliability I agree Lutron is tops so far.. but I think other tech is catching up.
MSRP prices are definitely a little high, but very often brand new in box deals are available via ebay and other online stores.
For example - 10 Lutron Switches @ $38.80 a piece...
And a Dimmer + Pico + Claro Wallplate for $45 is a pretty good deal as well...
When I bought my ~65 Lutron devices, I was able to purchase them via EnergyAvenue.com and Amazon.com for a decent price. Unfortunately, the pandemic has really screwed up the supply chain and prices are often much closer to MSRP everywhere.
If one is doing an entire house, you can also reach out to the electrical supply shops who may be willing to cut a deal on a bulk purchase of Lutron hardware.
"It just works!" is worth the added cost to me and my family. I have had zero complaints and zero failures with all of my Lutron hardware.
And the fact that my Lutron Lighting System also directly integrates with Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Home, Home Assistant, Node-RED, IFTTT, Logitech, Ring, SmartThings, Ecobee, Sonos, etc... is also justification for paying a little more. You're getting a complete lighting system, not just some switches/dimmers.
That. And not having to worry about any mesh issues ever - My Caséta switches/dimmers just work! And Lutron gear is very well built - in 8 years, I haven’t had a single failure. Also, I’m yet to replace a battery in any Pico.
Tend to agree with this statement, except for one exception. For quite some time now, Jasco/GE has been one of the only manufacturers (possibly the only) that has what I would consider by far the most desirable feature. That is a switch/dimmer and a motion sensor all in one unit. They work great and you get a mains powered motion sensor.
@saurabh9 I would suggest you build your HE environment over time. If cost is a major concern, simply spread the cost over time to lessen the pain. You could always just go with cheap wifi Kasa switches and use the Kasa community integration. While at the same time slowly building a Lutron system. The Kasa could take immediate care of the 10-15 most commonly used switches in your home that would make up most of the automation, while at the same time you slowly switch everything over to Lutron. In 4-5 years time you will have a Lutron lighting system in your home and increased your home's value. Just a personal opinion, but I don't think any other lighting system will increase the value of a home.
This is the sensible approach of course but for my some of my clients (and my wife!) it's usually an all or nothing thing.. they don't want to have mixed style switches in their house for any period of time.
This is usually why it's so much better to put them in during a new build or renovation - also the cost impact seems less since you are spending lots of money anyway.
Also have to mention that you DO have to be somewhat careful with Lutron as well when building out their stuff.. Hub placement matters, also keep in mind the stated 30 ft range limit. Based on my experience you will probably get far more distance but that's the max range they list. Would also consider getting an outlet plug that acts as a repeater (only one two repeaters allowed) if putting in switches that are greater than 45-60ft away. You could also use a 2nd Pro Bridge 2 if necessary.
On a side note - I actually did have a Lutron switch die at a clients - it lasted about 6 months and then stopped working. After replacing, all was well.
Actually, two repeaters are now allowed on a Caseta system. One being the first added plug-in dimmer outlet, and the second being their dedicated Caseta repeater. I have never had an issue with distance, personally. Since Lutron Clear Connect RF uses 433MHz, it actually penetrates walls much better than either Zigbee or Z-Wave.
There is a 75 device limit per SmartBridge Pro, which should be taken into consideration.
Thanks for the heads up! corrected in my prior post.
The 75 device limit shouldn't be a big deal either if using HE - just an additional bridge + HE Lutron app instance. Probably have to have a separate Lutron account though which could be a pain if you like to use their app for anything.
i feel like zigbee is used, but companies put their own proprietary code on top of it to lock you into their ecosystem (phillips, ring, wyze, etc)
I have a lot of Z-Wave switches but I have been moving new installations to Zigbee because of the stupid things that I have to do to get Z-wave working 100%. Zigbee just makes a nice network out of the box with no "repair network" and no "network management". I also do not have to center the hub which is not possible in some of my applications.
I really like the GE Enbrighten. It is clean and simple which is what most customers want.
Also I use a lot of Lutron Caseta but many customers prefer a switch that looks "normal" and do not mind the popcorn affect that you get with a Zigbee setup. I do have some RA2 select but the cost of switches really limits this for me.
P.S. If you use more then 100 Zigbee switches on a hub I would suggest getting the rebooter app and reboot the hub once a week. Not needed for Caseta or RA2 select.
FYI - not sure if you're aware...Hubitat supports Zigbee Group Messaging, via the built-in Hubitat Groups and Scenes app. If you use the app to create a Group of Zigbee devices, then you can enable the Zigbee Group Messaging feature. The resulting "Group" device will only send one command to all of the zigbee devices to control them simultaneously. No popcorn effect! 
Can confirm - works great with my 8 den recessed lighting sengled color+ smart bulbs..
Download the Hubitat app
