Building a new house and trying to figure what types of switches to use. Should use Lutron Caseta or just standard Zwave switches. In my old house I never had issues with Zwave switches and dimmers.
Thanks
I can’t comment on the stability of zwave really. But Lutron is rock solid.
I found both Inovelli and Zooz switches to be rock solid. I had some GE switches and the early models were trash with their ability to report usage. Z-Wave plus is a must and most new switches use this protocol. Also the pricing of the Inovelli and Zooz switches were great compared to other offerings. Inovelli is in the middle of refreshing their product line and I haven't had a chance to see their new products in production yet.
What I don't like about the Lutron devices is that you have to use their gateway and in the past when using them you can't pre-set the on level so in the middle of the night you don't burn your eyeballs out.
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Z-wave switches are available in standard rocker/decora design, whereas caseta switches have a different design. In case that’s a consideration.
I initially migrated my Z-wave switches from ST to Hubitat. The same problems I had on ST with Z-wave persisted on Hubitat. So, I decided to buy a Lutron SmartBridge Pro and have now converted everything to Caseta switches, dimmers, fan controllers, and Pico remotes. I am totally sold on Lutron’s stability and reliability. I also like that Lutron has native integrations with Hubitat, HomeKit, Logitech Harmony Hub, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and SmartThings. Having an independent lighting controller works great. Plus, you’ll love the flexibility of Pico remotes!
EnergyAvenue.com has decent Lutron prices and is running a Labor Day 10% off sale with code LABORDAY10. Just be sure to buy the SmartBridge PRO, as it supports Telnet with is required for Hubitat integration.
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Welcome to the community!
I would start by looking at what you will be automating. Are the things you want to do available in the radio protocol you might choose. You will likely end up with a mixture of protocols but I would try to have most of my stuff within a single radio protocol that gives me as complete coverage as possible.
For me its more about aesthetics then function - as both work very well.
Are you going to replace every switch with a caseta? Or will you be okay visually with some of them being caseta and some of them decora or toggle?
That is a decision only you can make.
My opinion: if you say you've never had problems with Z-Wave switches before, then there's no reason to switch to Caséta. However, Lutron products do have a reputation for high reliability, though usually also a price to go along with it. Either can work well, but Z-Wave will work without another device (the Lutron Smart Bridge Pro), and if you have other Z-Wave devices, they will also act as repeaters and strengthen your mesh--something you might want to consider if you do replace any. (If you have a ton, it's also more or less possible to have too many Z-Wave repeaters, or at least too many poorly placed--not that you can control where switches are much--so you may actually want to consider something else then; but this probably isn't an issue for most people.)
I would agree with that for the dimmers and switches but when it comes to button controllers, the picos are the cheapest ones out there with the most functionality. You're talking at max maybe $15 a pico and you can usually find them cheaper. I got one recently with the wall mount for only $8 on ebay.
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If you are starting from new construction I would choose RadioRA 2 (full, not Select) over Caséta every time. Reasons:
- With new construction you will have neutral wires. Dimmers that use neutral wires perform better with fewer problems than non-neutral dimmers. The only somewhat inexpensive Caséta devices are the non-neutral wire dimmers PD-6WCL. The RadioRA 2 dimmers are not that much different in price from a Caséta dimmer with neutral wire capability when you get a quote from a good dealer. The one I use is Paul Willemsen, paul@hankselectric.net.
- RadioRA 2 dimmers are configurable for on/off fade rates and on is programmable to a set level or previous level. Caséta dimmers are fixed. And IMO they are less user-friendly as a RadioRA 2 power button is 4x the size of a Caséta dimmer.
- RadioRA 2 adds the capability to install keypads. The keypads contain up to 6 buttons that you can program in Lutron and/or Hubitat environments. The keypads can also eliminate devices on the walls if you want. You either hide the real dimmers in the basement (homeruns) or in a closet.
Having said all that, I find the Leviton Z-Wave dimmers to perform quite well for me (I have about 50/50 RadioRA 2 and Leviton. I have a single Caseta dimmer.). They have a lot of the same features as a RadioRA 2 dimmer. And they are about as close to Maestro style that is readily available. If you buy these in bulk the price is a lot lower than list too.
If you go with a Z-Wave solution you still might want to buy a Caséta Smart Bridge Pro so that you can add Picos (button controllers) to the system. You can control about anything in Hubitat with a Pico.
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Have you actually tried this and had it work? I got this e-mail on Friday and have been trying it every day since (thinking maybe it wouldn't really be active until Labor Day, but that's today) and keep getting an error that the coupon is "invalid or expired." Oh, well. I'm not sure if they let you stack coupons, and in my case, the code for free shipping would work out in my favor over this one, anyway. 
Code didn't work for me either, just tried a few minutes ago. I didn't get this email even though I have purchased from them in the past.
Sorry, I have not tried it personally. Just trying to pass on some savings from an email I received from them.
I've always wondered is the Lutron Caseta hub and Hubitat communication handled local so the switches will still function with Hubitat rules if the internet is down?
Thanks.
Yes - all local.
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