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Thread: Purchase options?

  1. #1
    Junior Member
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    Purchase options?

    Hello,
    Apologies if this is an inappropriate question, but I'm trying to find a specific set of Caseta switches, dimmers, and plates, and navigating Amazon's website is really painful. I'll need two of one item, three of another, all in Light Almond, with a variety of ganged wall plates, and I'm not having much luck. It seems anything but basic White can be prohibitively expensive or non-existent on Amazon's site. I'm also in an area of Vermont without a full-service electrical distributor that carries Caseta.

    Are there distributors that carry the full Caseta line that folks here prefer?

    tia,

  2. #2
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    Check HomeDepot.com

  3. #3
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    Yes, thanks.
    I was hoping to find somewhere I could easily identify items by Lutron part number. A lot of the consumer sites show me stuff they want to sell, not what I'm looking for. I may use HD and just wade through the pages.

  4. #4
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    I am just finishing my Caseta installation. I ran into the same issues as you did ThomasW, right down to limited color choices. After extensive searches, I found an authorized installing dealer that has a very nice web presence. They make selecting and ordering easy. Their customer service Via telephone was also very good. The company that I ordered my equipment from was Gordon Electric Supply located in Kankakee, I’ll. I am very pleased with their service and their prompt shipping. If you choose to check them out, be SURE to register on their website. It is nothing more than your name and email address. Doing so will result I’m MUCH better pricing for everything! You’ll see. Also, dig around for product information documents on their site and on the Lutron site. You can download a PDF of the entire Caseta product line with part numbers. That helped me to sort through which products, especially kits, were available in which colors. I found that kits are only available in white, but a made that work anyway. I ordered 30 products to start, most of which were Light Almond (LA). The plug-in dimmers were not LA but they are mostly hidden anyway.
    Do note the SMALL price difference AFTER REGISTERING between the standard hub KIT with a wall dimmer (in white only) and the same kit in the PRO version.
    So far I am thrilled with the Caseta system. It works GREAT and it is VERY easy to program. I am enjoying ripping out my OLD X-10 system that I have kept limping along for what must be nearly 40 years now. These modern switching power supplies all over the house, including the huge one in my heat pump, just kill the power line signals of that ancient technology. Lutron certainly did their homework with Caseta. It works flawlessly! I do agree with others that Lutron does need to add the Favorite Dimming function back to the wall dimmers as opposed to only Via the PICOs. It’s an annoyance but, at least in my case so far, it has not proved to be a real problem for me.
    I hope this helps.
    Good luck with configuring your parts list and your installation.
    “Always do right.

    This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest”

    Mark Twain

  5. #5
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    Thanks, Bruce.

    Kinda funny story—I was poking around yesterday and found Gordon's site. They do seem to have a well-designed site, and I discovered the same pricing change when I registered. I'm glad to hear that you've had a good experience with them. They'll be my supplier for sure.

    I share your opinion with the ease of use and well-designed features of the Caseta system. I've installed a half-dozen or so units in a different house, and it went great. In that case, white was the color I needed, so Amazon sufficed for my needs. In my next installation, I want Light Almond, which started this search and thread here.

    I never wanted to go hombrew and mess around with X10 or Rasberry Pi for this stuff, and I never trusted the off-brand cheap stuff for reliably controlling home wiring. That's why I picked Lutron to begin with. Like you, I've been delighted with it.

    Thanks again for the detailed reply. Much gratified. Not really astonished, though.

    lol
    Tom

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  7. #6
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    If I recall correctly, I installed the X-10 stuff shortly after we built the house in 1980. Some of it was the original BSR brand and the rest of it was the Radio Shack versions. From then it became a mix and match of X-10, Stanley and others. The PRO versions just delayed their inevitable demise. It worked pretty well for all those years until the AC power lines got so noisy due largely to the advent of switching power supplies. The variable speed compressor and fan in my late model heat pump really killed the reliability of the X-10 devices. I never knew what was going to turn on or off at the right time. Even the manual controllers got wonky.

    The Caseta system just works. Forty or so years of advancement of the technology sure makes a dramatic difference! I really like the way the devices communicate. The hub and the user interface are very well done. I did look at a number of other home automation systems before I found Lutron. As soon as I started to look at how they work and how easy the Caseta system is programmed, the choice was immediately obvious to me. And I have not even begun to explore integration with other systems and equipment yet. Again, I think that Lutron has really done their homework.
    “Always do right.

    This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest”

    Mark Twain

  8. #7
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    BSR; that really takes me back! I never used any of the controllers, but would occasionally help out friends with their setups.

    I've had only a few powerline communication devices over the years, and can't even remember what they were, but you're probably right. The increase of switchers must have created a rich environment of impulse noise and harmonics. No wonder the X10s quit working.

    Agree with your sentiments about the Lutron. I don't know if they're using spread spectrum, but it's been completely reliable. I've never seen a missed switch event or any other metastable behavior. Locating their signal well away from 802.11 is obviously a bonus. (Although now I see their newest implementation uses 802.15)

    Not sure if you've seen this white paper. They're not giving up much information, but it's interesting.
    https://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocu...whitepaper.pdf

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