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Best Switches/Outlets for use with Google Home (Google Assistant)

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7.3K views 33 replies 14 participants last post by  Dauntless4rcher  
#1 ·
I am on the market for the most reliable way to use Google Home/Assistant to control lighting (and some other things) in my home. I have looked into Philips Hue and while the idea is really great, I worry about the durability of the individual bulbs. My home has quite a few multi bulb fixtures and swapping them all for $15 white wifi bulbs pus the cost of the hub may not be the greatest investment if they are not durable. I also figured that leaving the manual switches in place may cause problems with what control Google Home would have over them if the old switch was left in the off position.


So, I looked more to swapping out the switches and outlets themselves. In this research I have come across some scary stories about Wemo not having the best Wifi Stability. Does this seem to be a recurring problem? Reading that sent me in the TP-Link direction, where I have seen less sob stories about them, and the cost is better than Wemo's. I also see that Lutron is now supporting Google Home, maybe that is a route to look down too???


I would need to swap out 7-8 light switches, dimmers not required but would be nice, and some plugs as well. Anyone have any thoughts on these products? This will be a long process of upgrading all my equipment but I would like to get started and stick with the same brand throughout if possible. Any suggestions are welcome... Thanks!
 
#3 ·
Has anyone used these brands personally and could comment on the stability of the Wemo Brand vs. the TP-Link brand? After some further checking, it looks like Wemo supports IFTTT where TP-Link currently does not. I could see myself dabbling in IFTTT in the near future, but the while the Wemo supports it, the wifi stability horror stories worry me. Are these devices a product that could be updated to support IFTTT in the future?
 
#4 ·
I would not go with Wemo...they don't support integration to many systems.
I would not go with any lighting device or hub that is cloud based due to latency, reliability and security reasons.
Not much mention of TP-Link devices.

Go with Lutron Caseta or RadioRa2
Or Insteon
Or Z-Wave.

Much better integration capability.

If you are interested in "dabbling" then look at a "Master Controller" which is the first decision as a DIY'r that wants to integrate across many things (lighting being one thing).
 
#6 ·
Caseta is, imo, the best of the consumer-level systems. If you aren't in a rush, there are frequent sales on the starter kits which include a couple of dimmers, remotes and the hub at Home Depot. I don't know how big your overall project is, but I believe Caseta has a 50 device limit, so that may factor into your thinking - though for a much larger system than that you'll likely want to go with a more pro-level system.
Caseta doesn't offer receptacles, however, so you'd need a different system for that.
 
#8 ·
We have a wink hub and a ton of mismatched products bought over the years and appart from my tcp lights witch needed their own hub and that now offline forever. Everything work fine.

I have Lutron switches and dimmers (no caseta hub thanks to wink) Leviton switch, outlet and dimmers, Liftmaster Garage door, Zwave alarm system, Canary, schlage deadbolts and more.

I fell slowly into automation over the last 4 years and find it great now. Google just made my life even easier I dont even have to get my phone out.

If you have any question just ask ;)
 
#9 ·



Thanks for the reply. So I assume you are happy with the cooperation between wink and Lutron? I see Wink also works with Philips Hue? I am sort of interested in the rope light that they offer, to create bias lighting behind a wall mounted LED TV. Would you personally lean towards Wink over the integrated Philips or Lutron Hubs? I guess wink allows me to use Lutron and Philips gear in different areas if desired...? Is it the Wink Hub you have or have you upgraded to the Wink Hub 2? Is there sufficient need to go ahead and get the 2 over the original?


I went and looked at some Lutron options today at BB. Don't like the prices there but do have a few questions.


The small remote that comes with what looks like EVERY in-wall switch, does it only control the switch that comes with it? I don't plan on using these "remotes" as the switch location, phone and GH can control them, correct? Seems that replacing all the switches in my desired rooms, may get confusing with all of these remotes laying around. I assume they can just be put away and out of mind. Though it seems like I may be paying for something I wont use then?


It seems that the Lutron switches are dimmers as well.I FINALLY got all the right color (5000-6500k) LEDs in my house as I wanted. Now how will a dimmer affect these? Will the dimmer simply just not work, or will it damage my non-dimmable bulbs I just purchased?


Also, I ASSUME two Lutron switches could be installed in an existing dual wall box? I realize I would need to get a compatible 3rd party wall plate, but that should be easy enough...


And here is the important one... Does GH and the mobile app have control over the lights in any room regardless of what has been done to the switch. Say one of my kids runs by and turns a Lutron switch off, can I still control it from the app or GH?


Sorry for all of the questions and thanks for any help you can offer...

 
#10 ·
On another note... those of you that use Philips Hue in your setups. With communicating directly to the bulb(s) what do you do with your old standard light switches. Do you bypass them and just put on blank plates? Does turning off the old switch not leave the bulb(s) in a state that cannot be controlled by the Hub?


:confused:
 
#19 ·
On another note... those of you that use Philips Hue in your setups. With communicating directly to the bulb(s) what do you do with your old standard light switches. Do you bypass them and just put on blank plates? Does turning off the old switch not leave the bulb(s) in a state that cannot be controlled by the Hub? :confused:
For my Philips Hue lights, I bought switches for the rooms that needed them. I mounted them directly above the built in light switch. The switch can come off to be used like a remote but I've always just left them on the wall. If you turn the physical wall switch off there is no power to the lights so you will need to leave it on for it to work. In my situation this has never been a problem. I didn't have switches for the first month or so of having the Hue lights and managed to get by with my phone and Google Home, but sometimes there's nothing like having a physical switch you can tap on your way in or out of a room. I use the switch about half the time, and Google Home/Siri the other half. I didn't like being without a physical switch.
 
#22 ·
Lutron Caseta owner here as well as Philips Hue.


I like Wemo only if you're adding maybe one or two in-walls. The problem with Wemo and others like TP-Link is that they use 2.4Ghz connections which is congested.

Lutron uses Clear Connect which is low power and has even further reach. The Bridge is just there to handle Wifi traversing and integrations (scene storage etc). You could

install your Lutron Caseta system and then disconnect the bridge from Internet access and all of your lights will work including scheduling. There's power in a bridge which is

why the largest vendors use them.


My Philips Hue system is great but I grow weary of leaving the light switch on all of the time. Philips has a dimmer but it is ugly by modern standards. I love that the Caseta system
works with my Echo and Google Home regardless of whether the lights are off or on.

Lutron works with EVERYTHING. HomeKit, SmartThings, Wink, Nest, Hunter fans, and more.

If you plan on doing multiple in-wall switches you're going to learn to LOVE the benefits of the Pico remotes (no wired connections needed, 10 year battery life)
and how you can have multiple picos controlling one switch (great for replacing 3-way/4-way switches)

Also even if your wallbox has neutrals it's GREAT that you don't have to worry about them with Caseta. Almost all competitors require a Neutral to provide constant power. Lutron engineers
are incredible in handling power. I've got Caseta and Maestro motion sensing dimmer in my bath and not a Neutral hooked up.

Lutron Caseta is so good most of us are on Lutron's forums begging them for more hardware (Caseta fan controller, Fireplace, Occupancy Sensor etc)


Keep in mind though Lutron's babies are Homeworks QS and Radio RA and they won't knife those babies for Caseta so it'll likely be purposely limited in some ways.
 
#23 ·
Thanks everyone for all of the replies. I am LEANING towards a Wink Hub, but I still have worries. The site claims that the Wink Hub works with Phillips, Lutron, GE, Leviton and others. But it appears it doesn't work DIRECTLY with Phillips as the Phillips Bridge is still required? Is it that way with the others like Lutron? And if all these others need their own Bridges/Hubs, why then am I buying the Wink Hub? Keep in mind that I ultimately want to control as much of this as I can with voice through GH. I mean if I have a Wink Hub, Lutron (or maybe GE depending on price) switches throughout, the possibility of Phillips Hue for TV bias lighting (rope). Does this require me to have Wink/Lutron/Phillips hubs present. I realize that would allow GH to control all of those, but about phone apps, do I need to manage all three or does the Wink Hub work will all of the other to do away with the need for the individual Lutron and Phillips apps? This is why a community like this is so important to newcomers and I thank you all for that. One could go completely wrong when jumping into this for the first time...
 
#24 ·
Rest easy, Only a handful of brands need their own hubs. Usually because they have either a communication standard of their own or have to go through a cloud service.

Wink works directly with most standards z-wave zigbee etc. Some apps for some device will give you more options than the wink app. Like Canary will show you videos in app where Wink won't. But most the time wink is all you need. And you can also create scene or robots to link multiple devices. And that means that GH will have access through wink to some devices it couldn't on its own.
 
#27 ·
I have Smartthings with Zwave switches, dimmers, door sensors, a lock etc. and they work natively with Google Home, and you can do routines (macro) through IFTTT integration.

I recommend going the open standard route (Zwave/Zigbee) because you can expand your system over time. Personally, I think Smartthings is a better option than Wink due to the size of the community, Smartthings being owned by Samsung and other factors which make it more likely that it will survive longer into the future.
 
#28 ·
I have 28 Wemo switches and plugs. There is an app called "AutomationManager For IoT" that allows you to control the Wemo devices directly using an Android device acting as a hub/server. You only have to use the cloud for updating firmware. They work great with GH, but I think that still goes through the cloud.

You can find more info here..."sites.google.com/site/mppsuite/faq/wemomanager"

(won't let me post links...)
 
#29 ·
Hi,

I've been playing with home automation since the X10 was popular.

I use the Alexa, the Wink, Chamberline Garage Door opener, Harmony Hub, Nest Thermostat and smoke detectors and various types of light switches and plugs. Whether you you use Google or Alexa is a personal choice. They both function similarly. They allow for vocal integration to the automation system. The Wink or Smartthings are nothing more then hubs that interact with the usage of a smart phone to control the various devices such as light switches if a vocal hub is not introduced. No one can predict the future longevity of any device such as a hub (wink vs Smartthings). I personally do not like to control devices via a smart phone, as I find it too cumbersome. Once I added the Alexa the whole system ran as smooth as silk.

As for switches and bulbs. If possible strive to replace a switch. If economics is an issue, sometimes a wifi bulb is cheaper then a switch. The downside to a bulb is that someone can come along and turn off the switch and if left off long enough can cause the hub to drop the device thereby needing the device to be reset within the hub. My overall collection of switches are the Lutron Caseta and a couple of Levitons. The Lutrons are a two wire based switch that does not require neutral connection. The vast majority of my lighting works great with these but certain light fixtures do not. Some LED fixtures require a neutral connection and in the situations that I have experienced, without the neutral connection the light has an oscillating or strobing effect; so the Leviton fixed this.

In my dealings with the help desk with Wink, they are excellent and knowledgeable. I choose the Wink as I found it to meet all of my needs. In many cases many devices will offer a hub but this is only necessary if one does not have a primary hub such a Wink or Smartthings.

You may desire a form of automation that is not out right controllable. The IFTTT is great in these situations, such as my garage door opener. The door opener works great with a smart phone but is not as straight forward with Alexa. When I initiated the IFTTT option, it now works via voice commands.

In a nutshell, this is more of a personal choice issue. If I can give you a word of advice, that would be to check out what it is you want to automate. Go onto You Tube and see what others have done and make a list. If you have a spouse, talk it over with them and see what they would like as well. In my case my wife wanted to control the stereo system via voice command hence the Harmony Hub. Next see who can source the equipment needed. Is the suppliers local? (In my case Best Buy, Home Depot and Lowes offer the basic need for home automation.) Is there a difference in cost from one to the other? Always check the packaging to assure that the product you are buying is compatible with the system you have chosen.

This is something that is fun to do and the possibilities can be almost endless. As for me, my next stage is to have an automated main water shut off in the case of a major water leak.

If you have any other questions just ask and good luck.
 
#32 ·
Hi,

I can not stress enough one thing and that is to "Do Your Homework". There is an old saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". That being said, let's move on.

With regards to the main water shut off. One thing I like about Wink is that they keep me informed of all the new devices that come available that works with the Wink system. Here is a >>
 

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#33 ·
I've used my Google Home to control many things, including Philips Hue bulbs, and the two work together very well. Obviously Obviously, you've never owned a Philips Hue bulb because the bulbs are LED, which will just about last forever. When you use Philips Hue, the light switches stay on all the time, and you can either buy some switches to control them (you can control as many lights with one switch as you want) and the switches/dimmers are all wireless. Philips Hue doesn't use a hub so it's much easier to control them. You can also used their app, your voice with Google Home, or they can be integrated with other systems like Samsung SmartThings.

I've used Philips Hue, Samsung SmartThings, WeMo, LIFX, Wink, just about anything available. To be honest, I think IFTTT is probably the best app available for controlling everything on a schedule. I had all my lights setup on a schedule and hardly ever used a switch. I also had my Nest, WeMo, Samsung, etc all tied into IFTTT and everything worked like a charm.

Unfortunately, this was all setup at my old house so I don't use any of these anymore since I don't spend much time there anymore. I had my new house wired and setup for a Control4 system, and I have an entirely new lighting system. There are drivers available to use Google Home and Philips Hue with the Control4 system, but I haven't set any of them up yet to work with the system. Prior to moving, I used my Google Home with my Hue lights for years, and I've never had a problem using any of it nor have I ever had a light bulb go out on me, which is one of the reasons every bulb in my new house is an LED bulb.

There are so many different options available today that I'm sure different people have had success using other systems tied together, but in my experience, using my Google Home to control my Philips Hue bulbs, turning them on/off and changing the colors, always worked very well. I miss using that lighting system, but my Control4 works very well too. The Control4 is in an entirely different league, but for a "do it yourself" inexpensive lighting system, I don't think the Philips Hue can be beat.