I only use smart bulbs in floor lamps and desk lamps that have one bulb. It is much easier to ask SIRI to turn on the lamps, or use automations, instead of trying to find the push button on the lamp. All of my ceiling lamps use smart switches. If you did want to put regular bulbs in a lamp, you can get a Lutron wall plug that will control up to two different fixtures simultaneously (it has two plugs on it) and is also a dimmer switch. One of these plugs can also act as an extender for your Lutron Hub if you have a larger home and are having issues with range.
I went with Lutron Caseta switches for three main reasons. First, the Hub will work with all of the different Smart Home control systems, including HomeKit---which is what I use. Therefore, in the future when we sell our house, the next resident can use whichever platform they prefer and are not locked into just one ecosystem. Second, all of the switches will work manually at the wall regardless if the Internet is working or if I have issues with the hub. I don't use any Pico remotes. All of my switches are wired switches. Third, Lutron switches just work. A lot of other smart switches have issues from time-to-time and my Lutron switches have been rock solid. They are also very fast. Please note that on the three-way switches, you can use a mechanical switch at the other end. You DON'T have to use a Pico remote in a 3-way light configuration. Lutron even has a 3-way light dimmer switch. I have one of these hooked to a ceiling fan light that is on a 3-way light switch with a Lutron mechanical 3-way switch on the other end. Speaking of Lutron, I also have their ceiling FAN switch for all five of my ceiling fans. It gives me 4 settings (25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%), instead of just the three seeings the chain pull gives me. You get the ceiling fan pull switch to the "High" setting and then use the Lutron switch to change the speed of the fan. I then have Lutron dimmer switches next to the fan switch to control the ceiling fan lights. On my closets, I have a contact sensor that lets me know when the door is open or closed. If the door is open, the Lutron light switch turns that closet light on. When the door is closed, the Lutron light switch turns off that light. In my guest bathroom, I have motion sensors that turn on the lights, only during the day, when it detects motion. They automatically turn off after 10 minutes unless they detect motion again. I don't want these lights coming on at night when my pets walk into the bathroom and wake someone up. We have a cover plate over an electrical plug that has a built-in light sensor and small LED light. When it is dark, this small night light comes on and is the perfect amount of light to see your way to the toilet without having to turn on the ceiling lights. This will also help you get back to sleep faster. I have temperature and humidity sensors in the bathrooms. If the humidity gets above a certain percentage, the Lutron light switch turns on the exhaust fan for 10 minutes to help vert out the excess humidity. I have a motion sensor outside by my garage door. If it detects motion, only during the night (sunset to sunrise), it triggers a Lutron light switch to turn on the two lights by my garage door. I went with Aqara sensors instead of Eve, because the Aqara sensors are so much faster and my lights are almost instant on and off whenever a dive is triggered through a sensor. The BlueTooth on Eve makes their products painfully slow, especially when opening and closing a door using contact sensors. In my morning routine, it turns on the outside sconce light when I wake up. I then have an automation that will turn it off an hour after sunrise. This helps us see how to get out to our cars from the side entrance to our house. These are just a few of the examples I am using Lutron Caseta wired wall switches for.
Thanks for sharing your smart home set up. You’ve accounted for and created solutions allowing your scenes and automations to work for your family. I agree in the middle of the night, it is not fun if the lights come on bright so we also adjust the automation to dim overnight. Thanks again for watching!
@@Doriginal5 If the smart switch kills power to the smart bulb, then the smart bulb will not work. There are two switches that I know of that will work with smart bulbs. The Lutron Aurora and Hue bulbs is one of them. The other Lutron Caseta switches will kill power going to the bulbs so these switches won't power a Hue smart light bulb if the switch is turned off.
I noticed in your home tour that one of the Lutron switches had the bottom tab pulled out. A lot of viewers may not know what this is there for. It is a manual kill switch that turns off the electricity going to the device (such as a light fixture). This is so you can safely work on the wiring of the light fixture and not worry about someone accidentally turning the light on through automations.
On pricing for Lutron Caseta switches, I have found eBay a great resource in getting brand new bulbs at a much lower price; especially when you take advantage of deals selling multiple light switches together. For the non-dimming switches, I have been paying around $35.00 per switch with no sales tax and free shipping in the United States.
Hello, thanks for the video. Is it possible to combine Hue Hub with hue lights, and smart switches for some areas where you don't need colors for exemple ?? How all the setup will work together ? I use Alexa and have an Android phone. Thx
Thanks for another great video. The home tour was very helpful. I’m at the very beginning stages of setting up my smart home lighting. I currently have HomePod Mini’s in all of the bedrooms, kitchen and Original HomePods in the living room. My initial thoughts are taking advantage of the Thread technology in the HomePod Mini’s and using the Nanoleaf bulbs throughout my home. The Philips Hue line seems a bit over priced and on top of that you have to shell out $70 for a hub to use them. IMO, Thread technology seems to be the way of the future in smart homes. Do you know of any restrictions on the amount of Nanoleaf bulbs that can be linked to one hub? Are there any advantages a Philips Hue Hub would have over the Nanoleaf bulbs?
Hey Derrick! Thanks again for watching. I totally understand your feedback about Philips Hue and the pricing. Nanoleaf bulbs are amazing and I'd put them in so many places...For me, the reason to consider Smart Switches instead of bulbs and specifically Lutron in areas where you have a wall switch is for 2 reasons - one is the reliability of Lutron products and the other is because Smart Bulbs need constant power so you may notice friends, family or visitors flicking the light switch off. Then you'll get the dreaded no response error if you were using Nanoleaf bulbs! Philips Hue has a solution to this for switches with the #LutronAurora, just did a video on this as well, you might find it helpful in this case as you consider how to build your home out... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IugE0Kovz-0.html From what I understand, #Thethreadgroup has said that you can have up to 250 thread devices so there is lots of room to grow your #thread network. That was a lot, so let me know if you have any questions!
@@TheBradLloyd Great! Thank you. I’ll definitely check out that video. Another solution to the switch problem could be switch covers. I can’t remember where I saw them, but you can purchase light switch covers that are basically shaped like a box with two magnets on the back that attach to the screws in the switch plate. Something to consider. Thanks again for your feedback!
@TheBradLloyd I did a little more research and watched your video on the Lutron Aurora. I now see the convenience of also having a physical switch to activate room lights in concert with smart functionality. Thanks for the info!
<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="823">13:43</a> I'm confused. Did you say you CAN"T use smart switches with smart Bulbs? Could you explain why? because that's exactly what I want to do! Thanks.
That is right... Smart switches and smart bulbs don’t play nice together, I learned this the hard way. Both the bulb and the switch are trying to regulate the current to make the light work properly so if you try to use both they get confused. I totally recommend using the Lutron Aurora which is a special wall switch that will work with Philips hue or other zigbee smart lights. Hope that helps!
Why won’t a smart switch controlling smart bulbs not work? My builder will be putting in lutron casita switches that will control standard recessed lights but i was thinking of changing out those recessed light bulbs to white ambiance or even color hue bulbs. Why won’t it work? Do you have a video explaining that?
No video explaining that - but I've tried Hue with Lutron Caseta and the lights constantly flash and won't work. I called Hue and they confirmed their lights won't work with smart switches. If you are thinking of hue recessed lights I would add a Lutron Aurora instead of Caseta.
@@TheBradLloyd lifx came out with a smart switch that they call “soft switching” basically even if you turn off the switch the power to the bulb stays on. love the idea but there not dimmable and no fan control but does support fans on/off
