Leviton devices include excellent smart Z-Wave switches, dimmers, and plug-in modules that allow you to make your wall lights, plugged-in lights, and appliances remotely controllable and automatable, with the help of SmartThings.
The Leviton Decora DH6HD Dimmer Switch, Leviton's newest, looks and works just like a regular light switch, but it also works with Apple HomeKit, letting you control it remotely from Apple's Home app on your iPhone or by using a Siri command. At $50 (roughly converted to £38 or AU$63), it's also one of the more affordable options on the smart switch market.
It isn't perfect, though. The physical controls feel stiff, and only let you change between seven dimming settings. It also doesn't offer as many features as you'll find with other competing dimmers. Unlike those competitors, the DH6HD won't work with Alexa, Google Home, IFTTT or anything else besides HomeKit. Plus, it really isn't much to look at compared with those other smart switches.
If you're in the market for a simple smart switch -- or just a relatively cheap option that works with HomeKit -- then the DH6HD is worth a look. Just don't expect it to look or feel any fancier than it actually is.
Hands on with a smart switch
Installing a smart switch usually isn't that much more complicated than installing a regular light switch -- just flip the breaker off, connect the wires (load, line, ground and neutral in Leviton's case), screw everything into place and turn the breaker back on.
In our case, the Leviton switch was too big to fit inside the wall at the CNET Smart Home, so I had to install a bigger gang box in order to get it to fit. I also had a hard time finding the neutral wire, which made installation take a little longer. These kinds of issues aren't specific to Leviton, and they will vary from home to home, but Leviton at least does a decent job of walking you through the install process with the included instructions, and with helpful video tutorials online.
Once the hardware is installed, you can use the Decora switch just like any other light switch, although it didn't make a great first impression. The button feels stiff and extra-clicky when you press it, there's a slight delay whenever you turn it on and off and the fades are a little choppy as you dim it up and down. Lighting purists especially will prefer a fancier smart switch that turns the lights on immediately, or at least one that has a smoother fade effect.
The dimmer is by far the worst part of the physical workings of the switch. Like the main switch, it also works like a button so there's not a whole lot of fine control when you're trying to dim the light. It should be noted that there is a Leviton Smart Switch that comes without a dimmer, but still has the same HomeKit capabilities. It's a few dollars cheaper and eliminates the stiff dimmer switch altogether.
How smart is this switch?
While other switches have multicolored light bars or touchpad interfaces, the Leviton smart switch has only the on/off button with a dimmer on the side. While some may see this as too simple for a smart switch, it actually provides a lot of advantages.
With Leviton's traditional switch design, it's easy to know right out of the box which button does what. With HomeKit support built into the Leviton switch, you also don't need any additional hardware beyond your iOS device. The switch also works in three-way setups, so you can connect more than one switch to the same light. This is a feature that the more expensive WeMo switch doesn't have.
Promising to bring your breaker box into the 21st century, Leviton introduced a new Wi-Fi-enabled load center this week at this year's NAHB International Builders' Show in Las Vegas. Hook it up, and you'll be able to monitor and control each individual circuit in your home direct from your phone.
Simply called the Leviton Load Center, the new breaker box uses a built-in hub to connect your circuit breakers with your router, and with the My Leviton app on your Android or iOS device. Connect everything accordingly, and you'll be able to turn breakers off right from your phone, track their energy usage, or even predict your next power bill.
No word from Leviton yet on what this will cost, but CNET Appliances labs manager and lead technical editor Steve Conaway estimates that it'll be expensive, likely costing at least a few thousand dollars. A dedicated DIY junkie (and the first guy I go to for advice when I need to fix something in my own house), Steve also tells me that he'd consider splurging on the Leviton Load Center in his own home -- his next big project is to go solar, and a connected breaker box would let him monitor his whole-home power consumption with granular, circuit-specific detail.
Short of enthusiastic home hobbyists like Steve, the new Load Center really seems to be aimed at people who build and renovate houses. As demand for smart home tech continues to tick upwards, whole-home upgrades like Leviton's smart breaker box might be the sort of things that catch the eye of potential home buyers.
'It is easy to install for contractors, provides home builders with a smart, safe and aesthetically pleasing product for their customers, and simplifies the daily lives of homeowners,' says Leviton president and chief operating officer Daryoush Larizadeh.
Beyond the smart features, the Leviton Load Center promises a focus on electrical safety, including patented GFCI lockout technology that Leviton claims exceeds UL standards. That, in addition to the ability to turn circuits off in the Leviton app, might help the Load Center feel like a worthy upgrade over retrofit devices like Neurio and Curb that clamp onto your existing breaker box to track its energy use.
Leviton won't have a price for the Load Center locked down until this summer, when it's made available through Leviton's network of electrical distributors.
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