I have the Lutron RA2 and love it. No issues after a power outage at all, everything goes back to how it was. Nothing to reset/restart. I can control the lights with a phone app if I want, infinitely change programs, what buttons do, dimming, etc. Any Lutron button from any switch can control the entire house or whatever group you want (easily adjustable with the app).

Besides grouping an entire room/area "all off" "all off", we use a "night" scene that turns a few strategic lights on (dimmed) to act as night lights. Lutron can control undercab LED ribbon, shelf lights, outlets, literally anything. My outdoor lights are all on dusk-dawn timers, with different dimming settings

I didn't use it everywhere, as the kids/guest rooms I wanted simple and there was no need. Bathrooms there was no need etc. In areas where you would have a bunch of switches, it really helps to consolidate for sure

Thank you, sprink1es. Is that the Radio RA2 or the RA2 Select that you went with? I am curious if you considered seriously any other systems before selecting it. Do you have a similar scale of switches to my plan?

Thank you for asking these questions. I’ll be watching the answers; I really relate to your “willing to learn, but I might max out” sentiment. Right there with you. We are also new building and close at the end of this month. Back when I worked with the electrician to plan all the extra electrical, I asked for dimmers in some spots. He said to talk to him after we close - something about code problems on the front end, so they wait and install after? I let it go at the time, but I‘ve been looking at these systems and wondering if we can DIY and take a more whole house coordinated approach from the very beginning.

Rather than WiFi switches, why not consider Zigbee or Z-wave and a controller? Switches are still expensive, but they use their own wireless networking to avoid conflicting with internet WiFi.

Plus, with the right controller, you're not totally screwed if your internet goes down.

After much playing, I settled on the Hubitat Evolution controller. That allows any mixture of Zigbee/Z-Wave (and Lutron and others) with a "rules" engine, and can be run without relying on "the cloud". And I'm not stuck with any one brand of components. I have a preference for Zooz right now, but I have several different brands in play.

Requires a bit of nerdiness to set up, but not rocket science. I also have a separate Home Assistant setup on a Raspberry Pi for more "advanced" automation, but that's not required for what you describe.

80 switches though. Yowza. ;-)

Thank you, Brad! Yes, 80 is a lot. Wanting convenient switching controls in all the right places, rather than relying on handheld device controls, drove some of that. But it is a big house, as I said.

With a Hubitat controller (or other similar), are you putting the house online, or is it/can it be self-contained? (Basically, I don't want my house to show up on the internet!) What are the risks I'm taking with switches - maybe they stop making them, but I could mix with other brands? Technology gets outdated? No one to support them when/if issues arrise? Changes in protocols force me to upgrade my controller? I'm more okay with upgrading controllers than with swapping out switches, not surprisingly. But I don't want to be forced into a corner with regard to opening up the house to the internet.

Not having problems with switches if the internet goes down, or after a power outage, are musts, I would say.

I’ve been researching this topic as well for my new build. One product I think I’m going with as part of my smart home ecosystem is the GE Enbrighten Z-Wave Plus Smart Motion Light Switch. It requires a hub but it gives me the flexibility for turning on lights automatically in hallways, the laundry room, etc. and remains part of an overall smart home solution. The product seems pretty unique and has great reviews on Amazon and elsewhere.

It's designed to be self-contained. You can open a port to allow outside access, and there's an app you can use. I personally have mine set up with the Hubitant internal-only, but Home Assistant open to outside connection.

I started with Samsung Smartthings as the controller, but it is cloud-reliant. And Samsung has regular problems with their server, which can really mess you up. If your internet, or Samsung's server goes down, many things cease to function.

And yes, I went this way because I can catch a sale on any compatible device from any manufacturer; and as long as it follows one of the supported standards (Zigbee, Z-Wave, a bunch of others, including WiFi-based and things like Philips Hue); it all works. And there's a large (and growing) user base of fellow nerds who are writing drivers for other devices.

The caveat is that with power & flexibility, comes a bit of complexity in the initial setup. *Using* is easy (heck, it has Alexa & Google Assistant support built in), just that initial setup will take some pondering.

@Sam Biller Yes, I have a couple of Enbrighten switches, though not that specific one. I originally had it on the Smartthings nub, and now it's on the Hubitant with no issues. The cool thing with the smarter hubs is you can do funky things like have it come on at reduced brightness at night (or not at all), so if somebody gets up for a pee at 2AM, they're not illuminating the whole house.

I’m doing something similar in my rental with hue bulbs and the hue motion sensor... my new build won’t have a lot of light bulbs so I want to do similar things without the constraints of the Phillips Hue ecosystem. I love the ability to have my bathroom lights, for example, to come on at reduced brightness from 11PM - 5AM.

Brad, do you have any recommendations on where/how to shop for a setup as you describe? Is there a great forum, or seller, or whatever, that you have found? I'm definitely going to look into it.

Lutron has good forums with users and professionals - and they also talk about other solutions as well. https://forums.lutron.com/

You can also try the homeautomation subreddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/homeautomation/), but that user base tends to embrace a lot of new/obscure/complicated solutions/tech, which doesn't seem like a good idea, and not what you're looking for.

Thanks, wiscokid.

I would also recommend a Lutron system, personally. We have Caseta and have a few different friends who have either the newer RA systems or original - all are rock solid. They ain't cheap, but they are reliable and their support is excellent.

@Brad Smith As I start dipping into this, I am getting the impression that having too many devices (switches) on a Zigbee/Z-wave system could bog down the mesh that they create. Or is that only a problem if you are not using a controller such as Hubitat? Or, is 80 or so devices not "too many"?

If I've understood correctly, I can pick a controller such as Hubitat (which I've seen many positive comments about), and then pick whatever switches I want that will work with it. So, then I'm looking at switches based on aesthetics and price and function, as I see fit. And I can mix and match to a large degree (though I probably would not mix it up too much). Does it sound like I've got it?

On a side note: If I did go for a controller such as the Hubitat, I would presumably end up connecting it to the whole-house audio as well. That's a whole other kettle of fish I need to cook up. Are there ways for guests and kids to interact with the Hubitat controller if they don't have an iPhone or (for guests) are not recognized by the system? I imagine there are displays that could work, though I just hate the thought of that. I was checking out the Apple Homepod, which apparently can be set up to act as a push-button-activated, voice-controlled interface.

Thank you so much, Brad.

Couldn’t help myself. I ordered a hubitat on Amazon.

How much are you looking to spend? I admittedly am biased because I design/program high end systems but Ketra is the way to go. All the benefits of the Hue system with the reliability of a traditional wired install. Additionally because of the install style used a house can be slowly transitioned overtime, as with the hue you aren't ~required~ to have anything hardwired in an untraditional way. AKA can retrofit, place in your favorite lamp ect. Bonus is depending on your house, and need smart shades can be integrated into the system. https://www.ketra.com/

Those cannot be installed by a homeowner anymore (they were purchased by lutron a few years ago) so you're looking at roughly $200 a unit as a starting price.

Update: I've joined the Hubitat community and am planning (at present) to go with a core Lutron system, augmented by some number of zigbee/z-wave+ dimmers, switches, outlets, and probably a few other devices, tying everything together (to the degree that I am motivated/able) with the Hubitat.

My Hubitat arrived last Friday... It seems to be pretty reliable connecting to my Hue Hub. I also added my Ecobee thermostat. I haven’t done much with it at this time but I think you made the right choice.

A few thoughts.

- I'd steer clear of integrated LED fixtures. The LED's will eventually fail, some sooner than others, and repair/replacement may be difficult and expensive. Most importantly thought, technology, especially color quality and flicker, will improve dramatically in the coming years. Lamps with higher TM-30 scores (do not rely on CRI for LEDs) will become more and more available. Stick with standard fixtures that use standard replaceable lamps. LIFX GU10 downlights for example.

- Be cautious about Zigbee / Z-Wave. These are not yet fleshed out well and you may find yourself spending a lot of time trying to fix problems and often without good tools for doing so. With a lot of devices you'll also need multiple meshes and then you have to make sure that every device can communicate to its mesh and that the meshes can communicate when necessary.

- Properly designed net/WiFi should not get swamped by dimmer/lamp traffic and is easier to troubleshoot. Maybe consider Ubiquity gateway, switches and AP's.

I don't want anything in my house to be smarter than I am.

RES2, I believe that's unlikely if you are installing it yourself.