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I have two lights at the back of my house, controlled by two separate Caseta dimmers. I'd really like the two dimmers to be joined. If I turn one on, the other should turn on. If I dim one, the other should dim to the same level.
Am I missing something, or is there nothing like this functionality currently?
I know could get a Pico and set up a Scene, but what I'd really like is to just use the existing Caseta dimmers.
You would have to use a Pico.
Wow, ok. Well, consider this a request for that functionality then. Really thought I'd be able to avoid some difficult wiring with dimmers like this.
There is nothing to rewire. You mentioned that you already have the lights controlled by two separate Caseta dimmers. All you have to do is pair the Pico to your existing, previously installed Caseta dimmers.
- - - Updated - - -Quote:
Originally Posted by julianm
There is nothing to rewire. You mentioned that you already have the lights controlled by two separate Caseta dimmers. All you have to do is pair the Pico to your existing, previously installed Caseta dimmers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by julianm
What I meant by that is I thought I'd be able to have the two in-wall dimmer locations always control both lights without additional wiring. They are already in the location I want to use for controlling the lights.
So that means if I want to do this with a Pico, I *also* have to install two Picos, which is pretty ridiculous. At that point the Caseta dimmers might as well be completely hidden and just Picos installed user-facing.
Oh, sorry! Now I understand your question / comment.
The right way would be to rewire. Alternatively if there is space in your box you could push the caseta dimmers inside the wall box, program 2 picos to control both of the casetas and then install the picos into the wall plate.
The ELV+ dimmer looks almost identical to a Pico and yet is much more limited in functionality. How strange.
Software limitations have basically made it such that it'd be more useful to me if the ELV+ dimmer just had a Pico mount in front instead of controls that look identical to a Pico.
Another option, without re-wiring, is HomeKit - you can do some of what you are asking with HomeKit triggers.
What's amusing is for however limited HomeKit is currently, it's really easy to "Group" two dimmers and have them appear as one. I've done that for Siri / HomeKit already.Quote:
Originally Posted by veeeh
For the physical control side, that's a good idea. I'll see how far I can get with Automations / Triggers to get some of it working. I just want it to feel like the two dimmers are controlling one set of lights for guests who walk up and press them.
Unfortunately, I don't see this every becoming a feature as you are probably the only person who wants 2 switches to act as one, with nothing else to do.
As mentioned, all you have to do is get 2 pico's and 2 wall mounts. Swap your single plate cover for a dual and attach the pico's beside your dimmer. Now to turn on both lights, just use the pico.
I'm not sure what new this is contributing other than trying to put down my request, but thanks?Quote:
Originally Posted by Sawdust
I'd be changing a 4-gang and 5-gang to a 5-gang and 7-gang, but yes, at this point I thoroughly understand that the problem can currently be "solved" by adding a lot more Picos and pretending my $100+ ELV+ dimmers don't exist. Which again I'd point out is pretty strange.
I don't believe I'm alone in this. I've since discovered old threads from others requesting the same. And I believe as more people begin to adopt systems like this, others would appreciate similar functionality. This is one of the values in having wireless programmable switches—being able to program them to perform actions upon being switched!
Totally agree that it would be really useful if there was a "faceless" Caseta dimmer to which any Pico could be attached. This would open up a huge world of customization options.
I for instance would have some rooms with only a 4-button scene Pico visible, rather than having individual dinners AND a pico next to them. We should be working towards less buttons not more
Definitely, if we don't get software control over dimmers it seems it'd be more useful to just have faceless dimmers at this point.
The less programmable, more direct software solution to what I'm asking for would be for dimmers to be "grouped" or "joined" in the same way iOS Home allows.
But more similar to what you're asking for, it could be that Caseta dimmers appear as programmable in the exact same way as a Pico — with the addition that they'll always directly control the lights they're attached to.
I am currently replacing Cooper Aspire Devices in my home with Caseta ones. The one issue I have is the lack of Coopers 'associate' option in the Lutron app. In my system I have a switch at my back door for the outside lights and a shed with a fixture on it controlled by a switch in the shed on another circuit. In the Aspire software I have associated these two switches so that turning either one on also turns on the other. Rewiring was not an option! I hope Lutron considers adding this functionality in the future.Quote:
Originally Posted by julianm
I bet you could do this with the SmartThings integration. I do it today with Caseta by integrating with HomeSeer. In my case, I have my shower fan switch paired to my shower lights. If any of the shower lights are turned on, the fan automatically turns on. Turning off the lights starts a 20 minute timer on the fan.Quote:
Originally Posted by Upcharro
Thanks....smart things is next!
Yeah, I'm hoping Smartthings does everything I can currently do with the "unofficial" integration I have with HomeSeer, but probably not. I doubt SmartThings will have support for multiple hubs.
I agree I would love to do this too. We had a front porch light and I added two more lights to the front of the garage. Running wiring from the garage to the front entry would have been a lot of cutting/digging etc. I would love to have the two dimmers linked so they both operate both sets of lights.Quote:
Originally Posted by julianm
I have the same situation in the backyard, one switch for lights on the back of the house and another for the lights on the back of the garage.
I understand that the Pico's can do this but adding a second switch in all these locations just makes the system confusing for users in my family.
Would be a great feature. Just moved in to a place that has a separate single pot light by the fireplace in a room with 5 other pot lights. The previous owner must have had some art or something as that pot light was angled towards the mantle. We don't so we want all of them controlled by the same dimmer - rewiring is a bit of a pain behind the finished ceiling.
Lutron has a hybrid keypad (keypad in the front, dimmer in the back) for their RadioRA 2 and HomeWorks systems. We've been asking for some time for a keypad/switch combination but that doesn't seem to be in the works. I'm not sure if this is an option for Caseta. The "processor" is pretty limited and have to maintain compatibility with quite a few 3rd party systems.
They don't need any new hardware, this could be done completely in software on the bridge (requiring a bridge for the feature too). They would need to add a way in the app to configure what the dimmer buttons do in addition to the direct control. A simple "mirror action to X dimmer" would do it, along with some logic if the setting is configured on both sides to not create an endless loop. For just on/off, if you use Homekit, you can already do this. Create rules like "When Light A turns on, and Light B is Off, then set scene where both lights on" With versions for Off, and triggering from whichever sides you want. Trying to do for all dimming levels would be to many rules. There is also a slight delay as the rule runs, which might matter depending on the use case. However, if Lutron did it, they could eliminate the delay and simplify the rules since it would all be in the Lutron app/bridge not some external integration.
I could use something like this now. We have a hallway light that is placed in a poor position. We want to add a lamp to a table on the other end connected to the plugin dimmer. It would have been really nice if the switch could have controlled both the plugin dimmer and the light. It sounds like the only option would be to use a Pico, but we have no way of hiding the actual dimmer.
If you are an apple user and have the correct device in the house- IPad Pro, ATV4, homePod, thenyou can link to two switches in Caseta through HomeKit.
Whaaat? That's a pretty bold statement. So he's the only guy on the planet that wants this ability?? Well, that's exactly the reason I'm reading this forum. I need to combine two dimmers to act as one. This will eliminate a tremendous amount of labor in rewiring and adding a Pico just convolutes the existing 4 gang wall plate.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sawdust