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Comment by dopidopHN | Hacker News Reader

Also: what is the point?

Convenience ? One minute of me debugging a http request to fix my light is evaluated dearly.

If that happen once it will offset years of voice light off/on and other lazy ass of poor design workaround.

This. I tried IKEA’s stuff and it drove me bonkers. We’ve had light switches for over 100 years. Why would I want to replace a perfectly good light switch with flaky buttons and smart bulbs that need to be repaired every month?

But I still wanted to use Home Assistant to control lights. The solution? Smart light _switches_ and wall plugs.

I went with Lutron Caseta wall switches and plug-in dimmers. (Expensive at $60/switch.) Lutron has been doing commercial automation for a very long time and it shows.

1. They work without any automation. Most dimmable LEDs will work.

2. The remotes connect directly to the switches and don’t need a hub.

3. The pro hub model connects to home assistant. You can use unpaired remotes as switches. (Using the correct blueprints.)

I’ve had this set up for over a year and I’ve yet to replace a battery on the many dozens of remotes I have. And I’ve never had a problem with the switch not working.

I get to do all the tinkering I want without breaking my house. :)

Note: I do have some Phillips Hue bulbs for color but those are in lamps separate from overhead lighting.

If I want a light to be on, I turn it on. I don't go much for mood lighting, I have lamps and overhead lights and depending on the level of illumination I want or need at the time, one, some, or all might be powered up. But I've never thought of getting up from my ass groove on the couch and going over and operating a switch is a huge deal. And I'm pretty lazy.

For sure. Don’t use it. But some of us find it enjoyable to write automation scripts and get our homes behaving exactly how we want. Might I suggest you refrain from shitting on some one else’s hobby just because it’s not for you? I’m sure building a ship in a bottle “wastes” lots of time too.

Totally agree here, if tech isn't ultra reliable, maintenance free, and feature rich, why am I bothering?

Not just with HA, but tech in general really. I love the idea of FOSS, but it's important that stuff just works, every time, without hackery.

I really like being able to have different light moods throughout the day, in different lamps around the room, instead of a single lamp in the ceiling. This would be very tricky to do with dimmable switches.

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