Confused about Pico scene remote

[Aixilmf]

I saw a couple of threads on the pico 4 button 3 scene remotes and I'm still a little confused on how it works for Caseta systems. I'm hoping someone from Lutron could chime in here. I'm still trying to decide between RA2 select and Caseta and it is vital for my setup to have scene control via a physical remote.

I understand that the pico 4 button 3 scene remote is able to simulate a scene by pairing all the applicable switches to the pico remote. Question is will the pico remote be able to remember different dimming levels for each switch (e.g. Some at 25%, 50% and other at 0%) for a particular scene or will it set all paired switches to the same levels?

Will the same pico remote be able to control both lights and Serena shades at the same time to set a particular scene or will I need 2 pico scene remotes (one to control lights and another to control shades)?

Say I have 3 scenes in my bedroom - "Day", "Evening", "Sleep" and "Off" - and for my "Sleep" scene I want a group of lights at 33% and another group of lights at 0% and shades to be lowered completely. Am I able to set this scene using the pico 4 button 3 scene remote in a Caseta set up? If so, which pico scene remote do I need to get? I read that there's one for scene control and another for zone control.

Thanks!

[SDR-Mike]

Pico's don't remember anything. That memory is stored in the individual devices themselves as well as the SmartBridge or Repeater. Typical set up of the 3 scene is Hi-Med-Lo-Off. You can determine what the actual levels are via programming. You could set this scene up in either system.

If you add the shades to the Pico, then each scene will have to affect the shades. If you need these to be separated because one scene ignores the shades, then you'll need two Picos.

NOTE- regarding your thread in the RA2 sub-forum and timed sensor responses- RA2 3 scene picos do not have the limitation that each scene on the Pico contain all the same devices. Go full RadioRA2 and you can have the 3 scene Pico (or a full keypad) control the scenes as you are asking above with a single Pico. If these are your requirements, I would definitely move up to full RadioRA2.

[Aixilmf]

That makes sense now.

[Aixilmf]

That makes sense now. Thanks! I see that there are two types of Pico scene remote, PJ2-4B-GWH-EL2 and PJ2-4B-GWH-ES2. It looks like one's for lights scene control and the other's for shades scene control. Does it mean that I get either remote and pair both light switches and Serena shades to the same remote?

[SDR-Mike]

That makes sense now. Thanks! I see that there are two types of Pico scene remote, PJ2-4B-GWH-EL2 and PJ2-4B-GWH-ES2. It looks like one's for lights scene control and the other's for shades scene control. Does it mean that I get either remote and pair both light switches and Serena shades to the same remote?

I believe the light engraved Pico can do everything, the shade engraved Pico might be limited to shades only. I would wait for someone from Lutron to confirm or call tech support.

[Alan In Az]

Lutron is not very clear about the differences between 4 button remotes, a simple functional grid comparison would be nice, BUT there are very different types. Some have the limitation noted above - all buttons control the same set of lights and while they can establish different levels for each scene - they have to affect every light that is programmed to the remote for every scene.

Other scene remotes - I know particularly the pre-engraved types like the kitchen scene model PJ2-4B-GWH-P02 are programmable to a different set of light per button. I assume there is an un-engraved version of this that could be custom engraved to your choice. These remotes are therefore significantly more flexible in usage as you can imagine.

Yet other 4 button remotes are designed for 2 sets of lights acting as if they are 2 separate 2 button switches (on+off) on a single plate, others work as 4 toggle switches alternately switching on & off for 4 sets of devices.

It would seem to be in Lutron's interest to be clear about these different features - but perhaps they'd actually rather encourage folks with more complicated ideas to 1) Hire a professional & 2) buy a more expensive system than Caseta. In any case if you select the right pico 4-button remotes you can make a Caseta system do more than you might think. I believe these can probably control shades as well but have no experience in that directly.

Alan