Advice re design and Caseta product selection

I've poked around these forums as well as the Lutron Caseta site and have some questions about product selection, installation, and design.

I have two applications for Caseta devices:

1. Stair lighting currently controlled in a single location with LED 110v bulbs totaling about 9 watts. I would like to be able to control the lights in a second location
2. Hallway lighting controlled with 3 switches (two 3-way, one intermediate switch) and LED 110v bulbs totaling 30-40 watts

Some general questions about the product line:

1. What is the difference between the PD-5WS-DV and the PD-6ANS switches? What different applications benefit from each? The PD-6ANS is a "Neutral Switch," presumably because it requires a neutral wire. When is that useful? (Obviously if there is no neutral in the box...there's no choice!)
2. I don't have any low voltage fixtures to control. Is there any reason to use the ELV dimmer PD-5NW for strictly line-voltage applications?

With respect to application #1 (stair lighting), I was thinking of using either the PD-5WS-DV or PD-6ANS switches (dimming not needed here), but I'm concerned about the small load. I cannot access the wiring behind the stair light enclosure without breaking the wall, so I can't install a LUT-MLC at the load locations. I doubt there will be enough room in the switch box for both the PD-5WS-DV/PD-6ANS and the LUT-MLC. Will using a Caseta dimmer switch help here? Or do they, too, require a minimum load of about 10w to work properly, even with the low end trimmer feature? Any reasonable work around?

With respect to application #2 (hallway lighting with 3 controlling switches), ideally I would like to keep a toggle at one location, install a dimmer at a second location, and use a PICO remote at the third location. I have looked at the Caseta Advanced instructions, and their multi-location scenarios don't include this one. BUT, since the Caseta instructions show all four of the traveller wires in the intermediate switch location as being tied/connect together, don't I have enough wires to create the "3 way with toggle" situation? Or is this getting too complicated and it's best just to buy another PICO remote?

I don't know how important this is, but I understand that there a couple of different ways in which 3-way and 4-way switches can be wired. One has the hot from the panel entering one of the switch boxes first, and another method has the hot from the panel entering one of the load locations first. Does this matter in terms of where one places the actual dimmer or how the wiring works?

And finally, a question just for curiosity: in the Advanced instructions, several scenarios show a blue wire from the switch being capped off and not wired to anything. What is the purpose of this blue wire and when is it used?

Thanks in advance for any help you can be.

1. If you have the neutral available in the wall box and space is a concern, then I would recommend trying the PD-6ANS.

2. You could rewire the 4-way to be a 3-way, but it would be a little tricky and we would not have any instructions on how to do this. Once it's rewired, you can install a PD-10NXD and a mechanical switch using the 3-way wiring, and then install a Pico/wall box adapter at the 3rd location. It would definitely be easier to just use two Picos.

-It does not matter whether the dimmer in the example above is "line side" or "load side".
-ELV+ dimmer gives you a preset button
-Blue wire is used in 3-way applications (when using a mechanical switch)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zach R.

1. If you have the neutral available in the wall box and space is a concern, then I would recommend trying the PD-6ANS.

2. You could rewire the 4-way to be a 3-way, but it would be a little tricky and we would not have any instructions on how to do this. Once it's rewired, you can install a PD-10NXD and a mechanical switch using the 3-way wiring, and then install a Pico/wall box adapter at the 3rd location. It would definitely be easier to just use two Picos.

-It does not matter whether the dimmer in the example above is "line side" or "load side".
-ELV+ dimmer gives you a preset button
-Blue wire is used in 3-way applications (when using a mechanical switch)

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Thank you for your quick reply. Do I understand correctly that in addition to a preset button, the ELV+ dimmer allows a lower minimum wattage load than the "standard" PD-6WCL dimmer?

That is correct. The standard PD-6WCL has a 25w minimum load, while the PD-5NE dimmer has a 10w minimum load.
See page 5 on the Caseta spec sheet: http://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocum...369987_ENG.pdf .

That PDF is a great resource, thank you!

Do I read it correctly that the PD-6WCL dimmer, with an LED only load, has no minimum load (says "1 bulb") as long as the bulb is on the Lutron bulb list?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by camner

That PDF is a great resource, thank you!

Do I read it correctly that the PD-6WCL dimmer, with an LED only load, has no minimum load (says "1 bulb") as long as the bulb is on the Lutron bulb list?

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That is correct. The minimum loads that Brian mentioned are for incandescent/halogen loads.

Our LED selection tool will indicate, in the bulb details, if the dimmer requires more than one approved LED to meet the minimum load.
You can fine approved LED bulbs on www.lutron.com/ledfinder.