Following up on my previous research into smart switches, certainly there's a strong fanbase behind the Lutron Caseta system. And definitely a lot of love for the Pico remotes!
I can certainly get behind the longgggg battery life, last thing you want is that random time you go to push a button or something, and the battery is just dead.
BUT - outside of battery life, there are a lot of (and maybe more now than ever?) battery remotes/scene controllers. I'm seeing a bunch of zigbee multi-button remotes, including anything from 1-6+ individual buttons. And many of them have their own mounting plates, magnetic bases, etc. too.
I've never even held a Pico remote in my hand. But also how many do peopletruly need, that are NOT affixed to the wall? I see multi-remote stands and I'm like what do you need 2 or more remotes in a stand on a table? Plus, all the pico remotes look the same AND have iconography for lights, which is also slightly annoying when you want to use the remotes for other smart features.
As a random example, this:
So Pico remotes may have been - and may still be - awesome... but it also seems there's some viable alternatives on the market. Sooo?
@Kaitlyn Clear connect (What caseta uses) is a spoke and hub protocol and not a mesh protocol. The remotes have a good range, they can also mount in an existing box or on the wall with a switch cover and they are indistinguishable from a real switch. (This is nice in multigang situations too) (The far left is a pico, the rest are dimmers) You can also put them on pedestals
Back on ST I used Aeon minimotes around the house and most frequently as a bedside button. When I moved over to HE they had issues so I went down the Caseta path and have enjoyed it. I love the flexibility of the Picos. Each bedroom has a bedside Pico on the stand that @rlithgow1 mentions and so do many other rooms which is very convenient.
What really excited me was that I could wall mount a Pico like a normal switch. I have run miles of low and high voltage cable in my house and there are a few places that I always wanted a wall switch that I couldn’t physically run a wire to because of headers or door framing or even code requirements to not have high power near a bath tub. Picos solved this with their nifty wall mount and it looks like a normal wall switch.
I also have the visor mount in each car and I can push a button to open the garage. I stress the word open because my family often leaves the garage door open and before I would hit the garage remote button and it would close instead of open.
Of course recently Zooz and Aeotec introduced their version of a Pico so there are other options. But I still recommend Picos because if the number of “buttons”: push, hold, double tap can provide up to 15 programmable actions on a single remote. Only downside is my wife can never remember what button does what
This may sound silly, but Lutron's tabletop Pico pedestal (pictured in @rlithgow1's post above) is the cat's meow...
They're just the right amount of heft to stay nicely in place, and the angle is spot-on. It's just a simple little device, but the high quality of Lutron design is evident.
You can get them in single, double, triple (maybe more) mounts.
We each have one our WFH desk, one in each TV viewing area, and a few others scattered around. They're a convenient way to control short-term lighting scenes (e.g. work video conferences, warm-to-cool temp change for detailed work, etc) and devices like fans/heaters.
We could do all of that by yelling at Google (Alexa, Siri, whatever), but having a button conveniently w/in arm's reach is so much better.
So in general my wife does not like the look of Caseta switches.. however she seems fine with it as a remote control device. We use picos to control our main bedroom lighting (Zooz smart switches) and bedside sconces (smart bulbs). Works great!
Have also used the old SmartThings button - that too works great and is very simple to use and understand. Before the picos had 2 of them controlling the main bedroom sconces. 1 click toggle the sconce nearby, 2 clicks toggle the other sconce, and press and hold toggle both.. I believe Aeotec is now selling them. You don't need an additional hub for those.
@Kaitlyn a pico remote fits inside any decora wall plate. It works if there is a gang box behind it and also works if there is no gang box behind it. And also works in combination of the above. (In the picture above with a pico on the left side of a 4 spot decora wall plate, is there a three gang or four gang electrical wall box behind the decora plate? We don't know and would have to ask @rlithgow1
This illustrates how versatile the pico is and how you can place it in either a single gang, multiple gang, or no gang location.
This feature allows for an installation look and feel that is orders of magnitude beyond most other options, including the link in your post. Combine this with rock solid reliability and an inexpensive price and there is simply nothing else that comes close.
@Stephan.J to add to this statement, I have a few 2 gang boxes with 3 gang plates on them where the Pico mount is screwed into the drywall beside the 2 gang box. Like I said in my post above the wall mounts a very flexible whether you want to just stick them via the supplied double sided tape or screw them into the drywall.
But it is true they are all the same size, as they are designed to be the same size as a decora switch/dimmer/outlet.
Also I don't think there is a "fanbase" for Lutron. Fanbase somewhat implies loyalty. I use Lutron, but I am not loyal to it, they need to earn my consumer decision to choose them. If at anytime in the future they fail to "earn" my choice, I will drop them like a brick. (Meanwhile, I support my Winnipeg Jets through thick and thin, win or lose, I am a fan of the Jets).
I would think everyone on this forum who speaks the praises of Lutron, does not do it because they are a fan, but rather because Lutron continually earns their choice in product purchase. This is one of the great things about this forum, very little (if any) marketing hype, rather just a lot of good solid advice based on previous experience.
Yeah that's fair. My main thing is still deciding on Caseta or not (with Zooz being biggest contender). My current logic is sort of going all in with Lutron or it's not really worth it to just pick up here and there. And so if I go with Caseta, the Pico become a nice extra bonus (though I def wish they even sold a blank or even more generically labeled Pico!!) whereas if I don't go Lutron, I potentially save a bunch of money, but have to maybe deal with a mix of devices (switches + remotes) and probably added headache.
I'm in a 1,600sqft townhome that I just bought this year. Not my forever home. Currently live alone. Just not sure if maybe Lutron is simply overkill for how much I "need" out of the system... (and like I posted elsewhere, when I eventually move I can't help but think I'm far more likely to pick up new XYZ system instead of removing the smart Lutron and moving them to new house)
Other devices support the tap-hold-double tap options. It does seem overall Lutron is favored for "just working" which is certainly a big thing, but perhaps does not inherently offer so much more value in my eyes (I'm not sure I value the integration with walls/gang boxes/etc... or maybe I would appreciate it down the line) plus the fact they look different so if you leave any existing decora switches, you get a weird mismatch
Perhaps more than anything just getting cold feet to jump in, haha. I'm seeing smart bridge pro + dimmer + pico "startup cost" of about $250 CAD. Then switches are in the $80 range. Zooz switches are in the $50 range.
If a client came to me with a similar situation I would advise going with the Zooz switches.
Buy one - use it for your front porch light (for example), see how it goes. If it's acceptable then add more. You don't have to buy everything at once. If you want a button controller, try the Aeotec smartthings button I linked to earlier. They are great little devices that are simple to implement. I would not invest the money in a "not your forever home" home..
If I was in the same shoes I would probably start out with zooz, or inovelli, or GE/Jasco. If you see yourself wanting motion sensors, the GE/Jasco motion switch/dimmer is hard to beat. If you have a ceiling fan that you want to automate (and it currently just has a wall switch and pull cords for control), you may want to look at inovelli, although I think some of this inovelli stuff is now hard to get.
A small caveat to this:
I don't believe most smarthome stuff increases the resale value of a home, but I do think a Lutron smart lighting system does. Lutron earned this reputation, and that is why if you walk into a 2 million dollar home with smart lighting, you will typically see Lutron.
Having said this, it looks like you might be in Canada , The only thing that seems to effect resale value of homes is the Bank of Canada and the interest rate they set.
Honestly I think I might like this approach the best. Buying 1 non-lutron device is not expensive to "try out", and if it indeed still leads me to Lutron, SURELY that one less-important spot can remain as-is, or be moved elsehwere.
ONLY downside is the desire to sort of get everything set up and running relatively quickly... despite my endless "research" and deciding. haha!
, The only thing that seems to effect resale value of homes is the Bank of Canada and the interest rate they set.
