Going with Lutron Wifi Switches

This is for my son’s new house but I’ve been enjoying installing them. I purchased the first Lutron Caseta switch and bridge to control the ERV with wifi. But I was not able to get the signal to match what the ERV required. So when my son bought his house nearby I moved the switch there to add a bit of lighting during the night that could be controlled remotely.

I also have quite a few outlet controls for the Wemo system. But to control that you need to initially set it up on the same wifi router. So he was not able to log in and see the schedule etc. With Lutron, all you need is access to the account. When he visits he will set up his own account and we can transfer the switches to his. There is only one bridge allowed per account.

Initially I replaced switches as they were already wired. But I was having some difficulty making the power do what I had intended after the installs. So I had to separate all the wires and test them to figure out the circuits.

Switch box wire testing
Switch box wire testing

The kitchen lights were getting power from the dining room box and this box relayed the power to the lights as a three way switch. I ended up putting the control in the dining room box and installing a Pico remote in the kitchen box. I found it easiest to put the switch first in the circuit and the remotes at the 3 way locations.

The kitchen outlets are also controlled from the kitchen box and with the kitchen lights on the dining room circuit, the only other power draw is the ceiling fixture which now has LED bulbs in it. Ideally the kitchen outlets would be on their own circuit, but I guess that was not required in 1998 when the house was built.

Kitchen lights
Kitchen lights

I’m currently trying to figure out why the pot light over the kitchen sink is not getting power. So that is why the other pot lights are hanging. So far I have not found out why but the wire is dead to this one light. I’m considering just running a new wire from a working fixture.

Dining room box
Dining room box

The dining room box is interesting. The circuit that turns it on is a dual breaker and either breaker turns it on, but both have to be off to have the circuit completely off. I believe that is a safety hazard and miswired at the box but I am not going to fix it right now. I am not that confident about wiring at the box although I have done it this is not my house. Another odd wiring issue is that this box had three switches, but one did not seem to control anything. When I took it apart, I only found enough wiring for two switches. One is definitely the kitchen lights and that is now the lutron wifi switch, one is the dining room light and the third set of wires sends power to the master bathroom fan and lights. No other wires for a switch. I would have thought it could have had a three way for the switched living room outlet but there are no wires left to do that. Also there were three wires for the dining room light which only has one switch to control it.

Remote added to the dining room box
Remote added to the dining room box

I added a remote to the box where the third switch should go. I’m going to put a Lutron Caseta in the living room to control the lamp outlet and this remote will be the 3 way control for that. Logically the dining room switch should be in the middle but I didn’t think of that before I closed it up. Maybe I’ll change that.

The lights that are now wifi controllable are the front foyer and stairwell chandelier, both on the same dimmer; and the kitchen lights also on a dimmer; and the outdoor lamppost on a non-dimmable switch. There is also an outlet dimmer control in the front office.

I still want to put a wifi controllable dimmer switch in the living room. Unfortunately one of the dimmers I ordered was DOA. I had been getting Amazon Warehouse switches to save money and most of them are fine, but I realized one never turned on the LED green when I hooked it up. So I returned it and ordered another one.

My son and I can both view and control the devices from the Lutron app.

Lutron devices
Lutron devices
Lutron schedules
Lutron schedules
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