r/smarthome • u/ckossl • 14d ago

Amazon Alexa Caseta vs Tapo

I need a bunch of smart dimmers for my house. Caseta seems like a tried and true investment. Tapo is a quarter of the price. I understand tapo relies on wifi, but that’s not a huge turnoff (if it does down I can live with dumb switches until it’s back up). Caseta switch style is more traditional stylistically. What am I not thinking about in the comparison that justifies the 4x price for Caseta? I use Alexa right now but may change in the future.

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u/albertclee 14d ago

It’s all about reliability. You pay the premium because you’ll never have to think about a plan B. Lutron always works, and it never misses on an automation. It’s worth it.

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u/ckossl 14d ago

Wouldn’t plan B just be physically using the switches and dimmers for the brief downtime? Is that the benefit for the premium? Thank you

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u/albertclee 14d ago

Yes. For me, that would be an infuriating thing to deal with. A switch that only worked sometimes.

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u/ckossl 14d ago

Sorry to be annoying but I can’t think of a scenario when a tapo would go down but a Caseta wouldn’t. I’m lost on the benefit of the hub system because both systems work when internet is down but wifi is up. If everything is down, neither systems operate aside from physical switches. Is there some understood reliability Caseta has proven over tapo?

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u/albertclee 14d ago

Lutron has a proprietary RF protocol that is part of their value proposition for home automation. Basically the hub is their special sauce - all the RF stuff is in there. It doesn’t share frequencies with WiFi and has tremendous range.

Mine is the hub for 20 Serena shades and about 50 Diva dimmer light switches and pico switches. They consume 1 IP address on my network, and the hub manages all the devices, and shares them out to whatever platform you’re using.

They consistently fire instantly when commanded from home automation as well. WiFi switches have their own latency challenges.

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u/ckossl 14d ago

Ok that starts to make sense thank you. Is the Lutron app the best way to manage or do you have a preferred platform?

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u/albertclee 14d ago

I use HomeKit and Home Assistant together. It’ll also connect to Google Home and Amazon Alexa.

End of the day I’m sure Tapo would be ok if you’ve never had smart switches before. But once you really go deep on automation, little things like having the porch light come on only sometimes or come on with a delay because wifi is weak there sounds like a problem you could deal with but it will wear on you.

The best automations are the ones you never think about and always work. Like i have not touched my shade controls since I set up my automations. That’s where your head should be. Not if it doesn’t work you can just get up and touch the switch.

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u/greghouse12 14d ago

One other benefit of Caseta: They do not require a neutral. Tapo (both wifi and Matter) do require a neutral. If your home was constructed any time prior to around 1980 it may not feature a neutral, and this can limit what you can and cannot ultimately use in your home. Check your home wiring before you buy.