I wanted to get everyone's opinion on Z-Wave or Lutron Caseta. To give a little bit of background we just gutted our house. I am really starting my smart home from scratch again. I used HE for about 2 years retro fitting and playing round with smart home stuff. I am really trying to plan things out before I buy/install everything. I have landed on Z-Wave over Zigbee, that being said the first area that I have started to think about updating is smart lighting. All of my electrical has a neutral wire so I am set there. However, I am stuck on going with Z-Wave switches or Lutron Caseta for lighting control. I wanted to get everyone's opinion on what they are using or had experience from.
The next items I am looking at purchasing or installing in my house are (in order):
Smart Blinds
Lutron would be good here, same ecosystem, but expensive
I have not see any smart blinds that are on Z-Wave. Have not looked really hard but most I see are Zigbee
Smart Sensor i.e. motion, water, specific locations for smart outlets, door sensor
Some of the items listed above might affect how people respond. When I first started with HE I just jumped in not really thinking about Z-Wave, Zigbee, WiFi, ect and just bought what was a good deal which lead to some headaches. I am not trying to look at the whole picture to best build a system that will have a good mesh and work really well.
@hydro311 A big aspect for me is that Z-Wave is the standard protocol, more constancy and manage by one central source. The way I equate it to is Windows vs Apple. Apple has a closed system that works really well, however, can be a pain sometimes working with it. Where as windows is an open system amazing customization options, but not secure is the right term but seems a little bit disorganized. I could be totally wrong on this but if other people have thoughts on this let me know. Zigbee is not enterally off the table but really leaning to Z-Wave. Plus I want a STRONG mesh network so sticking with one will help that. I had issues in my house with a mix and really done want to place repeaters all over the place for a specific one because it struggling.
They're usually around 50 bux at home depot. I'm sure they'll black friday deal them. I use Lutron exclusively for switches. The fact that I also use a lot of pico's balances things out cost wise.
I’m know it’s the wrong place to debate this, but your statement is kind of incorrect. OS X’s core, Darwin, is BSD Unix. About as open as one could want. And making it easy to port anything developed for Unix to run on OS X.
I no longer know what Microsoft uses for the Windows kernel, but if it’s open, that’s news to me.
Perhaps what you meant is that Apple system runs on proprietary hardware, while Windows does not?
To get back on track, z-wave chips (the hardware) are certainly managed by one central source. But there are protocol specs for both ZHA 1.2 and zigbee 3.0 that, if adhered to, permit inter-operability. Admittedly - the weak link there is "if adhered to".
OTOH, try getting a z-wave 300-series Schlage FE599 to work with any 700-series z-wave controller. Ain't happening ....
Caseta is an excellent system (I use it too) -- if you go that route, do not buy the bridge at HD -- anything else, sure, but not the bridge.
You need the PRO-2 bridge for telnet integration, but you can't get it at big-box stores (just eBay, Amazon or through a Lutron dealer). Big-box stores all just sell the consumer bridge w/ no telnet.
@aaiyar yeah you are correct I was more referring to the hardware side. I am really looking for a reliable system and Z-Wave seemed to be better. I really don't want to mix and I just struggled to get a good mesh in my house when I mixed them.
@hydro311 yeah have made sure to bookmark the correct bridge, found that out the hard way last year bought one that was on sale. It was not the pro version so I decided to wait until our house was done with renovations.
A lot of us use a combination of clear connect (lutron) z-wave, and zigbee with a smattering of WI-FI (You can't beat Lifx bulbs) and meshes are strong. (Note:Clear connect is spoke and hub, not mesh)
A lot depends on what you want to do with the lights. I have all Inovelli Red Dimmers (and they have just released their Blue series/Zigbee version) because I wanted a “favorite” button on each switch and the ability to do multi taps.
I use the config/favorite button to set the lights to a very low level - great for late at night and early morning. And I use multi taps to turn on different lights, or groups of lights, or settings.
My son on the other hand has an older house that didn’t have switches in a bunch of place and also mostly wanted to automate turning various lights on and off so he went with Lutron and put in a bunch of Picos where he wanted switches. New Diva switches, though even more expensive, have some new features that may be attractive, which I believe, includes turning on to last setting - but double check that to be sure.
I do have to air gap one or two of my Inovelli dimmers every now and then, and others on rare occasions, and every once in a while it suddenly takes like 20-30 seconds for a switch to respond but over time the mesh has become much more stable and I think I may have gotten a rare bad batch as I had to return 2 of the switches from two 10 packs for being DOA. That was in Feb 2021.
BUT, all-in-all I’m happy with the Inovellis. (And they replaced the switches.) So, IMHO, it comes down to what you want to do with the switches.
For lighting, Lutron Caseta, hands down. I've used Insteon on another platform, and Z-wave (still have several) n my current HE hibs, and Lutron. Nothing is even close to Lutron. Just be sure to get the Pro, not the "regular" hub, which shouldn't even be sold, but is.
The most solid, dependable home automation devices I have are my Lutron Caseta dimmers, switches and Picos. As mentioned earlier you need the Caseta PRO2 Bridge to integrate with Hubitat. The non-Pro Bridge does NOT work with Hubitat.
You have a choice between the original style Caseta Dimmer, or the newly released Diva for Caseta Dimmer.
The Pico remote is amazing. The Pico can control not just Caseta devices, but virtually anything connected to Hubitat. The cost is only about $20 and the battery lasts a super long time. The Pico remote can be mounted on the wall without cutting out the drywall, or it can be attached to a pedestal and placed on any flat surface.
Yes, the Caseta line is pricey (except the Pico), but if you want the most dependable lighting, many of us think it’s worth the premium price.
I have a solid zwave mesh, zigbee mesh, and lutron bridge. I use all three protocols depending on need. But there is no question, that Lutron is superior for lighting. I am usually for a healthy debate, but for me this one is clear cut, Lutron is the clear winner.
