Lutron Caseta Original Smart Dimmer Switch Kit, 2 Dimmer Switches, 2 Wall Plates, 2 Pico Remotes, and Smart Hub, Works with Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, 3 Way, 150W, No Neutral, P-BDG-PKG2W-A

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.

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 installReplaces existing switchesWorks with Amazon EchoClean flat appearance (adjustable)Optional remote (I do not use)Works with nearly all light fixture stylesYou only need a single IP addressCon's:You need a dimmable lightDoes not dim LED the same way it does other lightsExpensiveRequires use of Lutron AppNow, 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.