Leviton's New HomeKit-Enabled Light Switch and Dimmers Now Available

[gsmornot]

I greay appreciate that information! That sounds about what I'll do. Right now, I'm almost finished converting my can lights in my downstairs area with Hue BR30 bulbs. I like the looks of the Lutron remote, similar to the Hue dimmer switch.

So basically I need to hard wire the switches that will control my Hue bulbs and something like my living room fan, I can wire with a smart switch.

By hardwiring the Hue bulbs, how safe is that? Does it cause a risk of starting a fire? One negative thing I can think of is if I ever need to replace the bulbs I have to know the lights are technically "on". I'm just thinking of the chance of the wires starting a fire since they will always be "on". Then of course I'm thinking of my electric bill going up.

Thanks again for your information and advice!
[doublepost=1491479372][/doublepost]Last question. So I'm debating between the Lutron Pico and the Lutron LZL-4B-WH-L01 (the one pictured above). I like the idea of the Pico having a favorite setting so I can quickly set my Hue lights back to the default, normal bulb setting. My question is, with the Pico, do I have to purchase the in-wall Lutron switch for it to work or will it work like the one pictured above without a switch?

For starters, on the three switch faceplate I'm going to replace, one switch is to my overhead fan, one switch is to the lights in the fan (non-Hue), and the other controls the can lights (HUE BULBS) in my living room ceiling. So my plan is to replace the fan with a smart in-wall switch, the fan light switch with a smart in-wall switch, and the can Hue Bulbs (BR30) with the Lutron remote. I'm going to hard wire the Hue Bulbs so they are always on. So in the end, on a three-piece faceplate, I'll have two in-wall switches and one remote. Is that the way it should work?

Thanks!

The Pico works with a switch as an extension. If you want to use a Pico, you have to first hardware a switch to the circuit. The Pico can replace switches in a 3-way or 4-way setup but only once you replace one of the switches first. The others will be Picos.

 

[chiefsilverback]

I greay appreciate that information! That sounds about what I'll do. Right now, I'm almost finished converting my can lights in my downstairs area with Hue BR30 bulbs. I like the looks of the Lutron remote, similar to the Hue dimmer switch.

So basically I need to hard wire the switches that will control my Hue bulbs and something like my living room fan, I can wire with a smart switch.

By hardwiring the Hue bulbs, how safe is that? Does it cause a risk of starting a fire? One negative thing I can think of is if I ever need to replace the bulbs I have to know the lights are technically "on". I'm just thinking of the chance of the wires starting a fire since they will always be "on". Then of course I'm thinking of my electric bill going up.

Thanks again for your information and advice!
[doublepost=1491479372][/doublepost]Last question. So I'm debating between the Lutron Pico and the Lutron LZL-4B-WH-L01 (the one pictured above). I like the idea of the Pico having a favorite setting so I can quickly set my Hue lights back to the default, normal bulb setting. My question is, with the Pico, do I have to purchase the in-wall Lutron switch for it to work or will it work like the one pictured above without a switch?

For starters, on the three switch faceplate I'm going to replace, one switch is to my overhead fan, one switch is to the lights in the fan (non-Hue), and the other controls the can lights (HUE BULBS) in my living room ceiling. So my plan is to replace the fan with a smart in-wall switch, the fan light switch with a smart in-wall switch, and the can Hue Bulbs (BR30) with the Lutron remote. I'm going to hard wire the Hue Bulbs so they are always on. So in the end, on a three-piece faceplate, I'll have two in-wall switches and one remote. Is that the way it should work?

Thanks!

Gsmornot replied with similar, but the Lutron Pico remote is designed to only work with a Lutron smart switch/dimmer. They are not stand alone smart devices.

The Philips Hue switch would be the simplest option. I've never used/seen one, but my assumption is that it connects to the Hue hub and then you configure it to control a certain group of Hue bulbs. As with the Lutron Pico though, it's not a stand alone smart device, it's designed to work with the Hue system.

Insteon make some 'keypads' which I believe are more stand alone and which you could start to program to control any other HomeKit enabled device, regardless of the brand.

 

[hokiepokie07]

Gsmornot replied with similar, but the Lutron Pico remote is designed to only work with a Lutron smart switch/dimmer. They are not stand alone smart devices.

The Philips Hue switch would be the simplest option. I've never used/seen one, but my assumption is that it connects to the Hue hub and then you configure it to control a certain group of Hue bulbs. As with the Lutron Pico though, it's not a stand alone smart device, it's designed to work with the Hue system.

Insteon make some 'keypads' which I believe are more stand alone and which you could start to program to control any other HomeKit enabled device, regardless of the brand.

My only thing with the Hue switch/dimmer is that there are no faceplates that it fits or looks good in.

I think I'm going with the Lutron and use their Controller (looks similar to Hue) and it can connect to my bulbs (it's wireless). For switches that I want wired, I'm going to look at the Lutron Caseta wired switches so I can have everything remain HomeKit compatible. I just need to purchase the Lutron Smart Hub so it'll connect to my Apple HomeKit.

Will all of this work? My main goal is to keep everything Apple HomeKit approved and look nice.

 

[chiefsilverback]

My only thing with the Hue switch/dimmer is that there are no faceplates that it fits or looks good in.

I think I'm going with the Lutron and use their Controller (looks similar to Hue) and it can connect to my bulbs (it's wireless). For switches that I want wired, I'm going to look at the Lutron Caseta wired switches so I can have everything remain HomeKit compatible. I just need to purchase the Lutron Smart Hub so it'll connect to my Apple HomeKit.

Will all of this work? My main goal is to keep everything Apple HomeKit approved and look nice.

As far as I can tell Lutron don't make a standalone controller. They have their range of smart switches and dimmers and then they have the Pico remotes that you have to pair with a switch or a dimmer. Similarly I don't think you could buy a Hue remote to control another brand of smart bulb.

I think the key to your scenario is an Insteon hub and their mini remotes. If I'm understanding it correctly the remote simply sends a 'trigger' command to the hub and then you tell the hub what to do with that command. Imagine a scenarios where you've got a living room with 4 hue bulbs in two groups (A & B in ceiling lights, C & D in table/floor lamps), automated blinds, and three mini remotes mounted on the wall like traditional light switches. You could set it up that a 'trigger' from remote 1 will turn on/off hue bulbs A & B, a 'trigger' from remote 2 with turn on/off hue bulbs C & D and 'trigger' from remote 3 will open/close the blinds.

You could also program each remote to trigger a scene, so button 1 is lights on full, button 2 is ceiling lights on 25% and purple, floor/table lights on 50% and blue and blinds closed etc...

I'm just starting to try and work this out for myself as we're getting ready to purchase and remodel a house and I too want the ability to have 'traditional' switches for the times you don't have a phone/watch handy...

EDIT - looking at the prices, a 4 scene remote costs the same as a one button remote, so unless you really want three 'traditional' switches on the wall it would save you considerably to go with the multi button/scene units.

 

[hokiepokie07]

As far as I can tell Lutron don't make a standalone controller. They have their range of smart switches and dimmers and then they have the Pico remotes that you have to pair with a switch or a dimmer. Similarly I don't think you could buy a Hue remote to control another brand of smart bulb.

I think the key to your scenario is an Insteon hub and their mini remotes. If I'm understanding it correctly the remote simply sends a 'trigger' command to the hub and then you tell the hub what to do with that command. Imagine a scenarios where you've got a living room with 4 hue bulbs in two groups (A & B in ceiling lights, C & D in table/floor lamps), automated blinds, and three mini remotes mounted on the wall like traditional light switches. You could set it up that a 'trigger' from remote 1 will turn on/off hue bulbs A & B, a 'trigger' from remote 2 with turn on/off hue bulbs C & D and 'trigger' from remote 3 will open/close the blinds.

You could also program each remote to trigger a scene, so button 1 is lights on full, button 2 is ceiling lights on 25% and purple, floor/table lights on 50% and blue and blinds closed etc...

I'm just starting to try and work this out for myself as we're getting ready to purchase and remodel a house and I too want the ability to have 'traditional' switches for the times you don't have a phone/watch handy...

EDIT - looking at the prices, a 4 scene remote costs the same as a one button remote, so unless you really want three 'traditional' switches on the wall it would save you considerably to go with the multi button/scene units.

This is the stand alone controller (wireless) from Lutron. It works just like the Hue dimmer remote. I plan to use these around my house as a replacement for the switches that control my Hue bulbs. I just need to find an in-wall switch that works with the Lutron SmartBridge Hub so it will also be Siri and HomeKit compatible.

http://www.lutron.com/en-US/Products/Pages/Components/ConnectedBulbRemoteControl/Overview.aspx

 

[chiefsilverback]

This is the stand alone controller (wireless) from Lutron. It works just like the Hue dimmer remote. I plan to use these around my house as a replacement for the switches that control my Hue bulbs. I just need to find an in-wall switch that works with the Lutron SmartBridge Hub so it will also be Siri and HomeKit compatible.

http://www.lutron.com/en-US/Products/Pages/Components/ConnectedBulbRemoteControl/Overview.aspx

Ok so not part of the Caseta system.

Also it turns out the Insteon might not be quite as easy as hoped, looks like the HomeKit hub is different from the regular hub and seems to get pretty bad reviews, isn't compatible with all the insteon kit etc..?

 

[hokiepokie07]

Ok so not part of the Caseta system.

Also it turns out the Insteon might not be quite as easy as hoped, looks like the HomeKit hub is different from the regular hub and seems to get pretty bad reviews, isn't compatible with all the insteon kit etc..?

I've only heard and read good things about Lutron, so I'll let you know how it works.

I have mostly Hue bulbs in my home, so that negates the need for the Caseta In-wall dimmer and Pico remotes.

So my plan is to use those stand alone wireless remotes as my switch for my Hue bulbs (this way when I have people over they won't accidentally cut off my Hue bulbs with my light switch). For things like my fan and fan lights, I'm going to use the in-wall switch https://www.amazon.com/Lutron-PD-5WS-DV-WH-Caseta-Wireless-Lighting/dp/B00NO7Z80S

For now, that seems like my best solution so everything can still be tied to Siri and Apple HomeKit. I ordered the Smart Bridge Pro (wasn't much more than the SmartBridge) to link it up to Apple HomeKit.

If anyone can think of a better solution, I'm all ears!

 

[mooeymoose]

I got the 600watt dimmer. Connected in a single pole setup and it works nice as a switch but it keeps failing to join my network. They don't tell you anything about what wifi freq or security protocols that are comparable.

Anybody get it to connect?

 

[meu]

I got the 600watt dimmer. Connected in a single pole setup and it works nice as a switch but it keeps failing to join my network. They don't tell you anything about what wifi freq or security protocols that are comparable.

Anybody get it to connect?

I have, same set up, everything works in "My Leviton" app. I just can't get my "Home" App on my iPhone to add it as an Accessory to use Siri. It says it's a HomeKit capable accessory which is why it's on Mac rumors I'm guessing and why I bought it. In the Home app under " "learn about home accessories" then "switches", it lists these Leviton switchs as "coming soon" I don't know if that matters. Maybe Apple hasn't set them up in "Home" app yet?

 

[chiefsilverback]

I noticed that Leviton also make a 'remote' switch unit to go with their smart switches/dimmers. Uniquely though it's hardwired, possibly reusing the existing 3/4 way type wiring to connect the remote to the main switch/dimmer.

 

[newtoatx15]

I have, same set up, everything works in "My Leviton" app. I just can't get my "Home" App on my iPhone to add it as an Accessory to use Siri. It says it's a HomeKit capable accessory which is why it's on Mac rumors I'm guessing and why I bought it. In the Home app under " "learn about home accessories" then "switches", it lists these Leviton switchs as "coming soon" I don't know if that matters. Maybe Apple hasn't set them up in "Home" app yet?

Thanks for posting your experiences with this dimmer switch. I'm hoping you'd be kind enough to answer the following:

Can you control the dimming of the lights from your phone? I'm getting conflicting answers when reading reviews and this seems like it'd be a key feature of the switch.

Thank you!

 

[chiefsilverback]

Thanks for posting your experiences with this dimmer switch. I'm hoping you'd be kind enough to answer the following:

Can you control the dimming of the lights from your phone? I'm getting conflicting answers when reading reviews and this seems like it'd be a key feature of the switch.

Thank you!

I've not found many reviews of the homekit version? Hopefully I'll be able to buy some in the next 5 weeks ahead of a house purchase/remodel. Amazon is showing all three versions as "temporarily unavailable"

 

[meu]

Thanks for posting your experiences with this dimmer switch. I'm hoping you'd be kind enough to answer the following:

Can you control the dimming of the lights from your phone? I'm getting conflicting answers when reading reviews and this seems like it'd be a key feature of the switch.

Thank you!

[doublepost=1494375207][/doublepost]
Yes, You can turn on and off, and dim in the Leviton App and Home App. In Home app you hard push on tile to pop it open, then slide up and down on new tile/picture of what looks like a phone, to dim or increase light brightness. There are other additional settings in Leviton app you can set like how many seconds it takes to turn on or off, I have it set to 0 so the instantly turns on and off, not dim on and/or dim off. You have to make sure you download the right Leviton app, there is more than one, the right one is Leviton Decora Smart Home, I had wrong one at first. One last trick to get to it quicker, swipe up from the bottom of your iPhone screen to open control center, then swipe left twice to get to your favorite Home accessories. You will see Leviton light tile there. Touch it to turn on and off, hard push it to dim etc. Hope this info helps, installing my second Leviton dimmer this weekend on a three way switch with the Decora Digital Dual Voltage Matching Dimmer Remote on second switch.