I was once a newbie with Caseta - but no longer, so I hope this helps you. This kit is the first purchase you need for Lutron’s system. Once you have the hub, no more kits are needed for future switch purchases. One hub can manage up to 75 switches (and I think the Hub is included in that count). Some buyers complain about having to wire in Lutron's hub to your network with an ethernet cable. But you can't beat the speed and reliability of a wired network connection. Given that Lutron’s product works reliably and is 100% responsive all the time, this is a non-issue for me. Since I put in the first few Casetas, we truly love them and have started to replace switches all over the home. Which brings up another issue... if I had chosen a WiFi connected switches (and I did briefly for use in limited locations, more on that later) I could potentially be adding a much larger number of connected devices onto my network. If your WiFi isn't all that great to begin with - think entry level routers - this could potentially impact network performance and your connectivity with your switches. For me, that's just a no go. I really want my WiFi to work well for the things that need to be on it. The PROs of the Lutron Switches: Setting the switches up is straightforward and fast. The setup process works like expected each and every time. I cannot say the same about other non-Lutron WiFi products. Having problems setting them up or is a switch not acting right? Lutron’s support is the bees knees. They have helped me several times and each time they are great. The switches are incredibly responsive both in person and via the app. There are no delays in turning things off and on. The ceiling fan switch is especially a godsend for our old ceiling fan - no more standing on the bed to pull strings or getting up out of bed to adjust things. Lutron and Ring also teamed up and added some camera integrations where movement and/or doorbell pushes can activate lights. It works quite well, but the feature was a little buried in the Lutron app. Big bonus - the integration will also turn off lights after 15 minutes. About the app (and this is a biggie) Purchasing good hardware is one thing, having an app that you only get to experience after you purchase the hardware is downright crazy. But that's the world that smart switches seem to live in, so here's the scoop on Lutron - and the apps for a couple other systems I tried. Lutron's app is well designed and intuitive. You can quickly add new devices, program in schedules and scenes. The app also interfaces with my Lennox thermostat to display the current temp in the home (with the help of Apple's Home (home kit) app that's running on a dedicated iPad that never leaves the home). The Ring cam integration is good too. Having tried WeMo and Leviton's WiFi connected switches, my take on those apps is that they are incredibly clunky. This seems like a misstep, especially when you are going to spend most of your time interfacing with the app than the switch. Since I also use Apple's Home app with my family, every time a switch gets added into the Lutron hub, it seamlessly shows up in Apple Home. This is of course magically great. Since I didn't want to add another app into the mix for my wife and family, it's nice that there have been zero issues with cross platform integration, everything works seamlessly. The Lutron App also has a geofence capability that will turn on/off lights when you arrive and depart from the home. Haven't used that yet, but it's cool. Another side benefit, Lutron's app has an Apple watch app that you can control lights and fans with. The CONS: Edited - The Caseta hub for whatever reason didn’t have auto off timers built in. That said, the addition of their motion sensor product effectively solves this issue. If you have Ring cams, you can turn on the Caseta integration, and a motion or doorbell can turn on lights and after 15 minutes, turn them off again. This works beautifully. Other thoughts: Edited - I used IFTTT (If This Then This) before Ring and Lutron added their cam integration as a trigger to turn on/off lights. IFTTT works, but there was always a bit of a delay to turn on lights if you use it. Plus if you’re internet went down, it didn’t work. Before the Ring integration, I used a couple WeMo switches for my outdoor lighting as they had auto-off timers. But their setup and app was super clunky. Happy to be rid of them. As software support is now kinda important for app driven switches, making sure you get a switch from a company that's going to be around a while is more important than it used to be. It would be bad if your OS on your phone, requires your apps to get an update and your smart switch maker is MIA. Side note - For the two years I had WeMo switches, changes in Wifi forced me to individually reconnect all switches to it, and it was a horrible process to get them re-paired with WiFi. Lutron has never had this issue, being wired into the network. One switch I purchased from Amazon warehouse (open box) had issues with setup and Lutron’s support was fantastic. They sent a replacement switch so quickly and were really nice about it. Bottom line - stick with Lutron, it works really well.

I use a few of these around the house, and I plan to expand the use of them. These work great for a smart home setup, and I use the Amazon Echo to control the lights. However, these are not perfect....they are just closer to perfect than any other option I have seen. So I will make a Pro's and Con's list, and then explain a bit of why I prefer them over other brands. Pro's: Easy install Replaces existing switches Works with Amazon Echo Clean flat appearance (adjustable) Optional remote (I do not use) Works with nearly all light fixture styles You only need a single IP address Con's: You need a dimmable light Does not dim LED the same way it does other lights Expensive Requires use of Lutron App Now, lets start with the install. This is simple, just shut off the power, remove the old switch, and connect this one to the existing ground, positive, and negative (and the pos & neg are not in any specific order!). They even include the screws and plastic wire caps, so it is twist on and screw it in. No tape (although you SHOULD use it!). So since you are replacing the existing light switch you do not need to do anything else, no wire runs and no electrical box install. So now we move to working with Alexa, or the Amazon Echo device. I don't call mine Alexa, because my daughters name is Alexis. So everytime we talk to her the other her responds....whichever her we were talking to. I use Amazon. But it is nice, just say "amazon turn off the bedroom light" and get a quick "ok" and boom, darkness. It makes us lazy. Or rather, it stops the "It's your turn to get the light" arguments with my wife, and makes it easier to take care of the baby at 2 am without getting out of bed. But here is the catch, Amazon can only pull the information from the Lutron App. You CANNOT use ONLY Amazon Echo to set it up! You cannot even rename the device. So you are forced to use the Lutron app to set up all the home devices, and name them properly so they are usable with Amazon Echo. Once your entire setup is done you are free to uninstall the app. Although to be fair the Lutron app is pretty good in itself. But this leads to another concern here, if you use the device as part of a smart home you absolutely MUST purchase the Lutron hub....in this case I used Casetta, but since I do not use the PICO remotes I am unlikely to cross the 50 device limit. This is another $150 ish, but it is worth it. Why would a $150 hub for controlling light switches be worth it? Well, if you are like me and are setting up a real smart home, you probably have a lot of other tech stuff in the house. A smart thermostat for example, or maybe even a server or two, a cloud device, and a firewall. For those of us tech geeks who have all of this, but do not want to pay for t-he expensive licenses, we use a free version of whatever we are using. In some cases for the firewalls you are limited on your number of devices. So, if I was going to connect 50 light switches in my house I would use up all of my devices....just to create a smart home. This is not worth it. However, Lutron made it easier, that little hub takes an IP address and that is it. All other switches connect to the hub, not using an IP address that would be counted as a device on the firewall. You have no idea how hard I looked for this particular feature! With all my kids tablets, the computers, phones, servers and cloud....not to mention the other smart home devices....I am already near my limit. This keeps me under it. That covers almost all of the real issues. But the not so real issue that people forget about is that not all lights are made equal, ESPECIALLY with the older filament style bulbs being illegal to produce now. A dimmer on these bulbs worked every time, without any changes needed. But this is not the case anymore, the new light bulbs are required to be dimmable. If they are not you get little flashes in your light bulb while it is off....all....night.....long.Get a dimmable one and this problem goes away, however the LED lights do not dim well. You get off, 75%, 100%. Nothing lower then that....so dimming is not really possible here. However, I got the dimmer because it is cheaper than the regular switch, and who knows....I might find a good bulb that dims properly.

In 2020 I lived in an older house with no neutral wires. I wanted to upgraded the lights in the living room and kitchen to smart lights, but most of the available options were expensive smart bulbs or systems that only work with neutral wires. Like everything else I purchase, I do TONS of research first. I eventually found this system and it matched my needs exactly. I purchased this kit plus a single additional dimmer to use in a 3-way switch setup. It was very easy to install, even for the 3-way switch. The included plate covers hide the screw holes giving it a more modern and clean look. It even comes with a remote. After installing the hub and switches I downloaded and installed the free mobile app. With the app you have complete control of every switch individually, thanks to the tiny hub that ties them all together using its own wireless network. The hub plugs into your wireless router so you can control your switches from anywhere over the internet. You can also create scenes and schedules to control them separately or together in groups for different scenarios. For example, sometimes I wanted to turn off the kitchen and living rooms at the same time with a single action, or turn on/off the kitchen without affecting the living room. That same year we were gifted a Google home mini. After getting that setup I was able to easily integrate the Lutron system with it. I could now says "Hey Google, turn off all lights", or "set living room lights to 30 percent". It really was a game changer not having to jump up and run across the room just to adjust the lighting. It may sound like the next step in laziness, but I saw it as the next step in productivity, as I work from home and having to stop working for a simply task was a distraction I was happy to no longer be burdened with. Other times you just want to raise the lights to find something or to clean up a spill quickly or turn the lights off for a quick nap without having to move at all. We moved into a newer home in early 2022. After my previous experience with the Lutron products I installed the existing system in the new home and expanded it, making nearly all of the switches smart Lutron switches. I even have smart outlets outside over 100 feet away from the hub to turn on and off exterior lighting as the sun rises and sets. Adding new switches and outlets is a breeze. You just install them, select them in the mobile app and push a button to pair them to the hub. I have seen a lot of newcomers to the smart switch arena in the past three years, but most still have the same limitations as in the past, such the the neutral wire requirement. Even my newer home has some switches that lack neutral wires, so Lutron is still the best option. Lutron does of course also offer many switches that do work with neutral wires, such as where you only want on/off switching without the need to dim. For those switches you do wish to use as a dimmer, make sure the bulbs you use are compatible. Incandescent as dimmable. Most newer LED bulbs are NOT dimmable, so be sure to read the box to make sure they will work with your switch. This has been a solid and outstanding system with zero issues that I have used to run my homes for the past three years. Anyone with light switches will love this system as much as I have.

We were renovating our home office in our attic and as part of it had to update our electrical. I researched tons of smart home products, and decided against anything that required special bulbs (Hue) and anything that wasn't Homekit compatible. Why Homekit? Because the data isn't stored on the cloud, isn't sold, and must be encrypted per Apple standards. Using the Homekit app on our phone is a nice perk, but 99% of the time we use the Lutron app. The switches once installed and linked to the hub are incredibly easy to use as just normal dimmers with decent sized buttons so even grandma is happy. Setting preset dim levels is easy too, so most of the time it's a single touch on, single touch off - already better than 99% of non-smart dimmer switches out there. Pricey - yes - but you get what you pay for. We bought this starter set to get the hub, and then separate switches. My electrician used standard GFI wall plates, and the Lutrons require about the same installation space as a traditional dimmer switch - not overly deep, no special install. The hub is easy - we have it downstairs with our router and it feeds all of the switches in the house plus anything else we want (I'm considering the compatible shades for some of the rooms with a lot of sunlight). It's quite small - a single Ethernet cable to the back of our router, and a small plug into the outlet. I have a dumb email account I never use as our Lutron account - just as I do for our TV and 99% of other smart products (there are even sites that give you a 10 minute email account that is purged afterward - for free). The glitch - some of the "open box" orders I placed to Amazon were incomplete. Some had defective switches with corroded wires. Because this was part of a renovation, I didn't find these problems until after the 30 day return window, so I had to call Lutron's support, and they arranged replacements under the 5 year warranty. Also some switches worked, but despite system resets and Lutron's excellent technical support (call as a "pro"), they could not connect to the hub despite sitting next to other working switches. The app is very good. Setup via the app is easy. There's one kill switch at the top of the app screen that will turn off all Lutron-connected devices in that room at once - very handy when my kids leave lights on. Once the switch is connected to the app, it's automatically in Homekit. If you are using low-voltage lights (many spot lights are ELV), Lutron makes a special ELV dimmer that you have to use if the lights are in total < 10w. We don't use the remote since it is connected to only one switch and we have many - but I'm adding Lutron Casetas to other rooms that need a three-pole (two light switch) connection - so you use a standard Caseta and the Pico remote with a wall mount (comes with) and a magnetic cover (extra). Super-easy. I waited 4 months to post this review to see how the system would respond to wifi outages, power outages, lightning storms, etc. and it's been fine. When wifi is out, the switches work as normal dimmers. When it comes back on, nothing needs to be reset (which is more than I can say for other systems I've tried like Wemo). Lutron Casetas are expensive, reliable, relatively easy (watch the open boxes and ELV fixtures), and the LIVE tech support is very helpful. Each switch contains info and diagrams for installation and connecting to the hub. I wish they carried more Pro products because these are excellent.

Review: Lutron Caseta Switches I have tried several other smart lighting systems, including smart light bulbs (Philips Hue, Lifx) as well as smart switches (WeMo, TP-Link, etc.), but the Lutron Caseta system is the best system because of its versatility and integration with Alexa, Google, Apple, etc. Below are my reasons for being a big fan of the Lutron Caseta System: BIG SAVINGS by Using Smart Switches Instead of Smart Bulbs I prefer installing smart switches over using smart light bulbs like Philips Hue because of the cost over time. While the Hue bulb is fantastic, it is also extremely costly when you have to pay for every single light bulb. With a smart switch system like Lutron, you only pay for the switch that controls all the light bulbs. I have 10 overhead lights in my kitchen alone. That would cost me almost $500 if I installed Philips Hue or Lifx Bulbs. By using the Lutron Caseta Switch, I was able to "Smart-ify" my kitchen lights for only 10% of the cost of what it would have been had I used Philips Hue Smart Bulbs! EASY INSTALLATION I am not handy in any way, but I was easily able to follow the instructions through the Lutron Caseta app to install the switches. I have installed more than a dozen switches (without getting zapped once!) NO NEUTRAL WIRE REQUIRED - bigger benefit than most consider We had an electrician come to fix some wiring issues in our house. When he saw our Lutron system, he commented how most electricians prefer this smart lighting system to most because older homes often don't have neutral wires and since the Lutron Caseta doesn't require neutral wires to operate, the system is easiest to install without any hassles in adding neutral wiring. INTEGRATION and EASE OF USE Our home uses Alexa as its primary system to integrate all of our smart home equipment and appliances. Lutron switches integrate seamlessly with Alexa and it's really easy to set up. Additionally, we have a lot of guests stay with us (non-tech savvy grandparents) and it's easy to use for them without knowing how to use Alexa because the switches work traditionally too. Not all smart switches can be used as traditional switches too so it helps that Lutron switches can be used traditionally too.

I bought more of Lutron product . My home have 50% Lutron and 50% Leviton. But I now ditch Leviton. Why? Simple. My home suffer a lightning strike. All the Leviton died. and most Lutron product survived. I am not sure if it will died later. Since after the lightning strike, all other electronic continue to died one after another. With in a month, all my led light died ( what the hell? I think led light is durable), my router died my TV died even long after the event. Even it survived the lightning strike, it could not hold for long. But the Lutron product continue to work. I'll give Lutron my praise. The only thing that died is the Lutron bridge hub. If that not died Lutron would get 5 stars. it's also expensive. That's why 4 stars.

A pleasure to deal with this company and a great product. I had trouble with my Amazon order as it came in 4 separate boxes instead of the one shown and the dimmers had different wiring than the diagram. Poor quality Amazon, but Lutron tech support guided me and it works great!

Lutron hit this one out of the park! Caseta Wireless Dimmer makes it easy to control the lights in my home theater using either my Android Phone or my Logitech Harmony Elite Remote device. The instructions for connecting to your phone are well written, clear and concise and quick to implement. This kit works great for either single-pole (one switch) or 3-pole (2 switches) installations. If you are comfortable working with120-volt wiring, i.e. replacing single pole or 3-pole switches, then this Dimmer Kit is a simple and easy DIY project. Lutron instructions made it easy to sort out the traveler and hot wires. If you are NOT comfortable working with 120-volt electrical wiring, then consider hiring someone to install the system. As to the quality, IMO, Lutron 's reputation is very good. The product is top-of-the-line yet very reasonably priced.. the lighting indicators are crisp and clear, but not intrusive! The process for connecting the Caseta Wireless dimmers to your Harmony Elite Remote is a little more involved. Start by downloading the relevant documentation from both Logitech/Harmony and Lutron/Caseta Wireless. The information is easy to follow once you gather all the information. Several notes: 1) You must install the MyLutron Caseta hub/bridge, set up and sync your dimmers first. 2) You must install the Harmony Hub set up and sync your Devices and your Activities. 3) You must download both the MyLutron app and the Logitech MyHarmony app to your phone, create accounts for both. 4) Log-in to My Harmony hub from your phone first to add the Lutron Caseta as a home automation device. It will require you to connect to Lutron with your relevant log-in info. 5) MyLutron - Log into the hub/bridge and select the appropriate Logitech Harmony device integration. 6) Harmony Hub - I preferred to log in to my harmony hub from my laptop computer with my sync cable connected to my Harmony Elite. Set the Caseta dimmers as devices in your Harmony Hub. Then set up the Activities to include the relevant Caseta lighting components. 7) Change the device configuration to assign the Harmony Elite Remote buttons to the relevant lighting configuration. Once the Harmony remote buttons are assigned, sync the Harmony hub with your Harmony remote. Final Note: There is a 2 to 3-second delay from the remote to the relevant lighting activity.

I’ve had Lutron ‘electronic’ dimmers since they came out about 20 years ago. Throughout they’ve kept up with new tech like CFL’s & LED’s & allowed programming switch using the 2 key built-in buttons. ORIGINAL UNITS: were VERY elegant, aesthetic & simple - only 3 BUTTONS + parallel LED indicators - VERY easy & intuitive to operate: a single long & narrow ‘rocker’ button on the side that you pressed up to increase intensity and down to decrease. Once you had set your desired intensity level, all you needed was to TAP ONCE the main large rectangular button (taking 90% of the switch) to turn lights on to that LAST desired level, AND TAP ONCE MORE to fully turn off. At bottom of switch was a very small discrete ’pull kill switch’ to prevent electricity from flowing at all to the light /source. SWITCH was SIMPLE, ELEGANT, INTUITIVE & super functional. These units also had a feature that if u ‘long pressed’ them for a few seconds when ‘on’ (vs tapping on/off), they would give you 30 secs before they’d turn off for you to exit the room & not trip over items in the dark. Moreover, once they reached the 30 seconds, they wouldn’t just turn off out right, but would slowly dim 10% at a time so you’d know it was turning off and either exit the room or go back for more time. MAIN ISSUE with ‘SMART’ UNITS: switches themselves are fairly ‘DUMB’ in comparison to original ones. Besides ability to be controlled remotely, they have absolutely no other logic in them. They now have FOUR BUTTONS (plus kill switch) which are COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY and layed out in the same space where there was only 1 tap button before - so they are almost impossible to nail and press the desired button in the dark. WORST OF ALL, DIMMER is not just PLAIN DUMB, but ALSO FORGETFUL - whatever DIMMER SETTING you set it to, it WILL FORGET the moment you turn it off. Who was the genius that ’REIMAGINED’ an elegant intuitive easy to use dimmer into this nightmare? He/she should be FIRED IMMEDIATELY. I’m guessing he/she thought you’d walk around the house with your phone in hand and whip out the app, and flip through menus and screens until you found the right switch to turn it on off? Even then, you’d still have to remember what dimmer setting you like for EVERY LIGHT IN THE HOUSE so you can TAP IT ONE-TAP-AT-A-TIME (75 taps for 75% - or slide close to it and then fine tune tap to reach specific value) - again, shot in the head wouldn’t be sufficient of a penalty LOL. TO DEAL with this EGREGIOUS LACK IN JUDGEMENT, you need to BUY ONE PICO REMOTE (@$12-20 each) FOR EACH DIMMER as the PICO BRINGS a FIFTH ROUND BUTTON (literally LAYED OUT on ‘TOP’ of the other 4) that you CAN PROGRAM for a specific dimmer setting. WHY?????????????? was this even necessary? In the end that IS how I’VE HAD TO DEAL with this EGREGIOUS LACK IN DESIGN (a very expensive fix). Also, ONLY BECAUSE I’m someone who enjoys having ALL THE LIGHTS ON at the same time throughout the house, I created SCENES in the app that just TURN ON ALL THESE LIGHTS in the house (or a room) AT ONCE using all the desired dimmer settings - you can also program the PICO REMOTE to store ONE SCENE settings in this ROUND BUTTON. However, note that remotes don’t link to the scene directly - alternatively, once you activate a scene via APP, then you tell the PICO to store all the dimmer settings for the lights you’ve ASSIGNED TO IT. However, note that if you update that scene in the app, you ALSO need to REPROGRAM EACH SEPARATE PICO for that scene (i.e. say you & your spouse each have a PICO on their nightstand to turn off the house lights and you add/remove a light/lamp to the scene, etc). UNFORTUNATELY, if you are one of those persons who turn lights on/off as they enter/exit each room, LUTRON IS NOT FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!! Especially since they are SIGNIFICANTLY MORE EXPENSIVE than pretty much all other similar systems out there. The only plus to this system is that it IS RELIABLE in turning lights on/off quickly and that it doesn’t bog down your Wifi router by having 30-50 switches and items hooked up to it when you do full house. Lastly: note that if you want to add these to CEILING FANS, it can be PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE as you need 1 FAN-SPECIFIC DIMMER + 1 LIGHT DIMMER (~$130 for these) These geniuses haven’t figured out what every other $30 fan remote add-on unit out there did since late 80’s, which is ONE WALL SWITCH + ONE CEILING FAN CANOPY REMOTE UNIT. CONSEQUENTLY: you’ll need a 2-SPACE WALL ELECTRICAL BOX to put BOTH DIMMERS and a 4-WIRE CABLE going to EACH FAN (if you don’t have this, adding it with electrician can cost I’m guessing $150-$300 depending where you live). But it doesn’t stop here. Since you’d want to control the fan using a PICO REMOTE (else find phone, open app, find that fan, adjust each setting), you need to add another $30-$60 for that bc FAN PICOS cost way more & are harder to find (unless online). So, you are looking at a total cost $310-$500 PER FAN to use the CASETA system; and that’s if you don’t add additional items like the PICO REMOTE PEDESTALS bc these are TINY REMOTES & easy to lose inside drawers, linens or furniture.

Works perfectly with google assistant. Only downfall is I’d like them to turn on in the dimmest mode possible. I will be suggesting these for all clients.