Show notes

In this episode Craig and Kevin unbox a slew of Lutron devices that Lutron was gracious to send us to test out and review. With everything from wall switches to outdoor plugs, to fan controls, Lutron has given us a variety of devices to review for everyone. We will be installing these devices and testing them to give you our honest and comprehensive reviews in coming episodes. Stay tuned as we are excited to get these Lutron devices set up.

Transcript

493 segments
KEVIN

This is episode number 197 of The Homeowner Show. Whether you DIY or looking to hire, we're here to help you find the best information and options for you and your home. My name is Kevin Hackett, and here with me is Craig Williams.

CRAIG

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to The Homeowner Show. We're so glad that you could join us for another episode of The Homeowner Show here in the studio. How you doing, Kev?

KEVIN

Well, this is, uh, tired Kevin, but, uh, you know, other than having a week hanging out with other people's children at camp.

CRAIG

You got to do camp. I got to do camp. Yeah, my camp was a little bit— my camp was a little less involved than your camp. Oh yeah, that was just because I was only there for portions of it.

KEVIN

Yeah, the one, the one that I go to, man, like this one specifically is, is heavily volunteer-led. Which is a really, really interesting model, and it's very, very good. But like, man, it's all day every day, and it's— it's— anyway, it's very, very, very good. But, uh, man, I come home just exhausted from it, which is— which is a good thing, um, in many ways. But I'm— I'm a little tired. But other than that—

CRAIG

A little tired?

KEVIN

I'm a little tired.

CRAIG

You didn't get to sleep at camp? You didn't get to bring your blankie?

KEVIN

Oh man, that's, uh— I brought a blankie, I didn't get to cuddle with it enough. How you doing, man?

CRAIG

I'm doing good, man. There's a lot of stuff going on in our culture right now that I think is interesting. And one of them in particular is the new Lightyear movie just came out.

KEVIN

Oh, dude. Okay. I've actually been— I haven't seen it.

CRAIG

I haven't seen it either.

KEVIN

Because I don't think it's out yet.

CRAIG

It is out.

KEVIN

When did it come out?

CRAIG

This weekend.

KEVIN

Okay.

CRAIG

This past weekend.

KEVIN

Okay. Well, I haven't seen it. Um, and to be frank, I'm very intrigued because of some of the content. Right? Right. Yeah.

CRAIG

That's, that's the issue, right? Is they've made it very public, the kind of content that's going to be in, and like so much to go so far as to brag that they're doing it. And I'm not, I'm not making a judgment call one way or the other. I don't, I'm not trying to tell you like it's bad or it's good. You shouldn't watch this. Although I think if you have kids, you should be cautious. Sure.

KEVIN

I agree.

CRAIG

That being said, have you heard anything about the Jurassic Park movie?

KEVIN

I haven't, but I— again, that's one that's like hot ticket item right now.

CRAIG

So here's, here's what's— here's what I think is going around the water cooler right now.

KEVIN

Okay.

CRAIG

It sucks.

KEVIN

Right? I mean, is it, is it better than Jurassic World?

CRAIG

Because apparently it's like the worst. Like everyone's saying it's like the worst one they've ever made. And that includes like Jurassic Park 3.

KEVIN

Was that Jurassic World? No, Jurassic Park 3 was before Jurassic World, wasn't it?

CRAIG

Yes.

KEVIN

Honestly, I thought Jurassic World was one of the worst movies ever made.

CRAIG

Was that the first one with—

KEVIN

No, that— yeah, that was the one where it was like a— yeah, it was like inside this small little aquarium type of thing almost. It wasn't a— it wasn't like a water aquarium.

CRAIG

It wasn't part of the new trilogy, it was part of the old trilogy.

KEVIN

Correct. Yeah.

CRAIG

Okay, I got you. I think that may have been Either Jurassic— that may have been Jurassic Park 3.

KEVIN

Maybe. I think so. I— that's what I was thinking. I thought it was the third one.

CRAIG

Okay. So, um, either way, it was horrible. Yeah. And there's lots of people that are saying that this is the worst one of all of them.

KEVIN

Great.

CRAIG

Here's what's interesting. Okay. So Jurassic whatever it is, Jurassic World 3 or whatever it is.

KEVIN

I don't know what it's called.

CRAIG

This one.

KEVIN

Yeah.

CRAIG

The newest one. The one with the dinosaurs in it. It premiered last weekend.

KEVIN

Right.

CRAIG

This previous weekend, Lightyear premiered.

KEVIN

Okay.

CRAIG

Jurassic Park beat Lightyear this past weekend after it premiered.

KEVIN

Really?

CRAIG

Yes.

KEVIN

Well, that's interesting.

CRAIG

And it barely, like by the skin of its teeth, beat Top Gun, which has been out for like 3 or 4 weeks.

KEVIN

Interesting.

CRAIG

Yeah. Like, it's a major flop.

KEVIN

Which, which is crazy because the whole talk of the summer was Top Gun and Jurassic World, right? Jurassic Park, whatever it is.

CRAIG

Well, no, they've been, they've been hyping, I mean, Lightyear.

KEVIN

Well, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I mean, like, most adults were going, I have to see these 2 movies in the movie theater. Like, that's a big deal. And Lightyear, yeah, I mean, for your kids. You know, it's kinda been one of those things we've been anticipating.

CRAIG

Well, I think that's the thing, man, is like, there's, there's been this— you, you've had Disney be so public about, hey, we're gonna push this agenda on your children.

KEVIN

Yep.

CRAIG

And people are like, whoa, pump the brakes.

KEVIN

Yep.

CRAIG

I'm not taking my kid to that.

KEVIN

Right.

CRAIG

Like, I can't, I can't, like— and, and so, like, I think you have some cautious parents who are going, I probably need to see that first.

KEVIN

Oh, 100%.

CRAIG

Before I take— and so, like, I'm not gonna pay a ticket to go preview it and then pay another ticket to take my kid to it.

KEVIN

Right.

CRAIG

I'll just wait for it to come out on streaming services. Yeah, if they haven't already canceled that, right? Because the streaming services, they've said, hey, we're going to push this on there too.

KEVIN

I know.

CRAIG

So man, it's frustrating.

KEVIN

Yeah, it's one of those deals, especially with Disney, that, that for you and me who absolutely love the franchise and have for years, all, all of a sudden, like, it gets to the point where it's like whether— no matter where you're falling on, you know, whether they should be doing this and pushing this agenda or whether they shouldn't, the problem is their agenda is being pushed, right? And, and—

CRAIG

or that they have one.

KEVIN

That's right. To me, that's the, uh, that's the biggest problem is like, you are expecting me to align with your agenda, or the alternative is just don't be involved with our her company at all, right? It's like what it seems. Here's the other thing, like, with— did you hear about the new Adventures by Disney, um, 7— what was it? 7 country— 7 countries in like 14 days or something like that that, uh, that they're doing right now? They've just, they've just promoted it. And, um, it's something like $110,000 for 2 people.

CRAIG

What?

KEVIN

Yeah. Yeah. And, it's more than that if you wanna, basically wanna, even, even those 2 people, if you want your own rooms, it's like another $20 grand or something. And so it's like, it's like all this stuff where Disney's already, like, pushing dollar, dollar, dollar, dollar, right?

CRAIG

Yeah.

KEVIN

And then they come out with this in, in the moment where gas prices are, like, an all-time high.

CRAIG

Yeah.

KEVIN

And all this other stuff in the world's going on. And, they're like, oh, by the way, for $110 grand, can come on one of our tours.

CRAIG

All 5 of you that can afford it.

KEVIN

Exactly. I was like, what? I don't know. Like, that kind of stuff drives me nuts, man. Like, it's just who you are no longer. You don't care about—

CRAIG

you're not catering to any, like, large population of people.

KEVIN

No.

CRAIG

You're just not. No. Like, and, and, and you don't care that you're not. Right.

KEVIN

It's interesting to me. And I, again, I'm not trying to fall on one side or the other.

CRAIG

Oh, I am.

KEVIN

As far as, as far as podcast goes today.

CRAIG

Sure, yeah.

KEVIN

I definitely have a bent, uh, and a, and an opinion. But at the same time, I, I did not realize that Jurassic Park had flopped so badly.

CRAIG

No, no, no, Lightyear flopped.

KEVIN

Oh, oh, Lightyear flopped because Jurassic World, even though— or Jurassic Park, I don't know what it's called.

CRAIG

Yeah, whatever it is.

KEVIN

Because it still sucks.

CRAIG

Yeah, even though, even though Jurassic Park sucks so hard, yeah, it still beat Lightyear on its opening weekend. Yeah. After it'd been out a week and everyone knew that it sucked.

KEVIN

Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah.

CRAIG

That's crazy, especially when it's like a Disney movie. Like, Disney movies almost always kill at the box office.

KEVIN

Yeah.

CRAIG

And, you know, and, and there's, there's people saying like, well, they're talking about doing the same kind of thing with the new Thor movie. And I'm like, okay, well, like, that's gonna be a different thing because it's not a kids movie.

KEVIN

It's not kids.

CRAIG

And so, and so people are gonna point to that and go, well, see, everyone's fine with it.

KEVIN

Yeah.

CRAIG

And it's not that they're fine with it, right? It's It's that like everyone knows that like based off the last Thor movie, these are not kid-friendly programs.

KEVIN

Right.

CRAIG

And so they're adult. And so adults just, because adults are more discerning about that kind of stuff, they understand what's going on. They're not being propagated to like a kids movie is.

KEVIN

Yep. And it's not, it's again, we're talking about a 2nd or 3rd movie in a row that are for kids.

CRAIG

Yes.

KEVIN

That are promoting an agenda that a lot of people just aren't comfortable with.

CRAIG

Right.

KEVIN

So it's crazy.

CRAIG

And what is— I don't even know if that— if it's like whether or not they're okay with it.

KEVIN

Oh, I agree.

CRAIG

I think it— I think it has more to do with like, we don't want you telling us— we don't want you telling our kids what to think.

KEVIN

Yeah. Yep.

CRAIG

About these things.

KEVIN

Yep.

CRAIG

I mean, like, if you wanna— if you wanna start having, like, you know, characters have difficult decisions to make about ethical situations, I think that's fine. I don't think anybody's gonna, you know, Whether they make the right decision, wrong decision, you can discuss that in a film or a cartoon. I mean, that comes out in all kinds of different ways. But when you start talking about, like, people's sexuality, right, you know, people don't want you talking to their kids about that kind of stuff. That's, that's something people want to keep at home.

KEVIN

Yeah, I do. Yeah. Frankly.

CRAIG

So I think, I think it's kind of funny.

KEVIN

Well, it's— I, I think eventually it's gonna wind up, well, like this has, just biting them in the butt, you know?

CRAIG

Oh, yeah.

KEVIN

I mean, it's just gonna What are you gonna do? I mean, that you don't just get a return on that movie once the box office is out. Right. Once it's out of the box office, you're not gonna get a return on that movie. Yeah. You're just not, especially with the droves of people that are canceling Disney Plus.

CRAIG

Well, and you have, apparently you have cast members from the movie that are, Chris Evans in particular, who's saying like, anyone that thinks differently than I think about this is just a dinosaur and doesn't matter. And it's like, Okay, fine. Like, you say that kind of stuff, but then, like, watch how your weekend box office numbers go.

KEVIN

Yep.

CRAIG

And then let's see how you, how you feel about that.

KEVIN

Yep. Yep. So, well, the other big news with Disney is that, you remember they're moving Disney Imagineering to Florida?

CRAIG

Oh, yeah.

KEVIN

Like, that was supposed to happen this year.

CRAIG

Uh-huh.

KEVIN

And, uh, I mean, it was all set to go, and now it's been pushed to 2026.

CRAIG

Really?

KEVIN

Which is a huge problem because part of the reason they were moving it was because of Epic Universe coming to Universal, like, in order to kinda get ahead of some things out there. Okay. And now Epic Universe is opening in '25. So, like, it's gonna be too late.

CRAIG

I actually don't know what Epic Universe even is.

KEVIN

It's a new park.

CRAIG

Oh, it's a new park.

KEVIN

Park they're, they're, they're opening.

CRAIG

Good for them.

KEVIN

Yeah. And so, like, it's got all this stuff that they're, that they're doing, which is kinda cool.

CRAIG

But, dude, I'm all for it, man. Anybody that can just, like, smack Disney upside the head right now. And I'm not saying, like, I want Disney to go under.

KEVIN

No, no, no, no, at all.

CRAIG

Like, no, but like, competition is good.

KEVIN

Yeah, 100%.

CRAIG

And, and so like, bring it on.

KEVIN

Yep.

CRAIG

Like, I, I dig Universal. They do just some super cool stuff over there. Um, I'm all for it. So anyway, let's, let's get into this tonight because this isn't going to be a super long episode, but we got a box of goodies we want to go through.

KEVIN

Yeah.

CRAIG

And I know we've been, we've been teasing this a little bit. Um, and, and so we're gonna, we're gonna do some specific episodes on some of these, but there's just so much to go through in this box. One, we just want to make sure that you guys are aware that Lutron even makes this stuff because some of this stuff we've never even seen in the stores.

KEVIN

Exactly.

CRAIG

And so like, I kind of feel like we were getting a little bit of an exclusive on some stuff that like is not even necessarily out there in the public, right, for people to see.

KEVIN

Right.

CRAIG

So, so this is kind of exciting stuff. Do you want me to just like randomly grab stuff?

KEVIN

Yeah, just let's just kind of go through it and see what, what you— because we've got this box full of goodies.

CRAIG

We've got a box full of goodies. One of these that's in here, and I think it's this one, right? we've reviewed before. Make sure here, let's see what this one is. Um, no, we haven't reviewed this one before. So this is an outdoor smart plug that Lutron makes.

KEVIN

Yeah, and I didn't even know that they made an outdoor smart plug. Yeah, like this is specifically designed to be a smart plug that you can— a lot of people are going to use this for like, uh, Christmas time. Yeah, for sure.

CRAIG

You know, stuff like that. Halloween blowups and all that kind of stuff.

KEVIN

Right.

CRAIG

I mean, especially right now, man, like, it's expensive as— like, they're talking about, like, you know, brownouts and different things that are going to be happening in neighborhoods with, you know, power shortages.

KEVIN

Yep.

CRAIG

So you need to be able to manage your electricity better, and this is a great way to do it. Um, let's see here. So this is, this is just a 1-to-1.

KEVIN

Yeah, yeah, it's just, it— you're not going to be plugging in multiple things to this. This is, uh—

CRAIG

So it's a 15-amp, 120-volt. And it just connects wirelessly to the hub.

KEVIN

Yep.

CRAIG

So you can control it as a separate unit on the outdoors, but it can, it can manage the outdoor weather.

KEVIN

Right.

CRAIG

And it says— and there's, there's a, there's an on/off switch right here on the front. There's even like a QR code on it so that you can download like the install and all the, you know, the information that you need. But it's, it's good to operate outside in anywhere from -20 degrees Celsius to 50 degrees Celsius.

KEVIN

Wow.

CRAIG

Yeah, that's, that's pretty impressive.

KEVIN

That's a pretty big range, to be honest.

CRAIG

That's a huge range.

KEVIN

But, and also, who knows Celsius?

CRAIG

Me, because I have to use them. Yeah, that's true. The, the air conditioning in the Homeowner Show studios is only Celsius. It's Celsius only. There's not a Fahrenheit converter.

KEVIN

I just bought a similar unit, but mine's Fahrenheit.

CRAIG

Did you get a ductless? Yeah.

KEVIN

Nice. I didn't—

CRAIG

you didn't know that?

KEVIN

No.

CRAIG

Oh yeah, I didn't know you pulled the trigger yet.

KEVIN

Yeah, put it in the shed. I found a guy that would do it for—

CRAIG

Is it already in?

KEVIN

It's already— dude, did it in like an hour.

CRAIG

How's it working?

KEVIN

Oh, it's unbelievable.

CRAIG

I mean, do you insulate?

KEVIN

It's already insulated.

CRAIG

No, no. Oh, the, the whole building?

KEVIN

The whole— yeah, the whole building's already insulated.

CRAIG

That's awesome.

KEVIN

So yeah, works great.

CRAIG

So, so anyway, there you go.

KEVIN

Cool. What's next?

CRAIG

Let's see what we got here. All right, got another box. See what we got. This— okay, so Well, we've already done the episode on the hub.

KEVIN

Yeah.

CRAIG

So this is a repeater.

KEVIN

Okay.

CRAIG

So you can extend the distance, the distance that the hub can reach.

KEVIN

Yeah.

CRAIG

So it's— you just plug it in and it repeats the hub signal.

KEVIN

Yeah.

CRAIG

So, and what's— and a lot of people hear that and like, I gotta buy hub. Like, hubs are good. Hubs are a good thing.

KEVIN

Yeah.

CRAIG

And I think we— I think we talked about this on the Casa episode. Because, like, the Casa doesn't have a hub, which makes the pieces of it a lot cheaper.

KEVIN

Yeah.

CRAIG

But it takes up a lot more bandwidth on your network.

KEVIN

Yeah. And, and each individual device you have to do something with, whereas with the hub, it's all kind of there in one, one place. Right.

CRAIG

I want to see what the—

KEVIN

we got here.

CRAIG

So yeah, it's, it's like a regular USB Jack.

KEVIN

Yeah, yeah, you literally just plug it in.

CRAIG

Plug it in the wall. It looks like it's got another plug, and I'm not really sure what that's for. I— oh no, it's a button. I'm sorry. Okay, it's just to turn it on.

KEVIN

It looks really nice too.

CRAIG

Yeah, it's just a little white square box. I mean, I can actually— like, because I have this system in my house, it actually looks really nice on the shelf. The lights on it are really cool looking, um, but it's, it's also very, um, discreet. Yeah, on the shelf. Yeah, because it's just got like one wire.

KEVIN

Yeah, no big deal.

CRAIG

So anyway, all right, listen, so this is, this is kind of cool. This is an additional Pico. For those that don't know, Pico is just a remote control device, but this is an additional Pico for a ceiling fan, right? Which will make more sense in a minute because we have a ceiling fan switch in there somewhere.

KEVIN

Correct.

CRAIG

Um, but again, it's a massive box of goodies. I didn't know this existed until they sent it to us.

KEVIN

I didn't either, but it's gonna go out in my house probably.

CRAIG

All right, we have a note.

KEVIN

Aw.

CRAIG

Sweet note from the co-op.

KEVIN

Perfect. Yep.

CRAIG

Okay, so here's the big dog. This will be the most expensive thing if you wanna get in the set.

KEVIN

Right.

CRAIG

Which is the hub and the switch and a Pico.

KEVIN

Right.

CRAIG

And it does come with the plate.

KEVIN

Yeah, which that's actually important because it snaps on rather than, like, uh, screwing in, right?

CRAIG

Yes. Yeah, it's just a snap-on.

KEVIN

Yeah.

CRAIG

Um, and so it's just for like normal lights, right? I have them hooked up to the recessed lighting in my living room.

KEVIN

Okay.

CRAIG

And they can dim, you know, and, and we end up using the Pico more than anything. Um, and then what a lot of people don't realize, one of the things that make this so cool is you can actually buy a wall plate for the Pico.

KEVIN

Yeah, which that, that is really nice because a lot of times those things, they're just They get lost.

CRAIG

They get lost. But like, the reason that you end up having 2 switches a lot of times is because it's, you know, you have 2 entrances into the room, and so you need a spot to turn the light on whether you come in this way or that way. And so you can have that without having to wire for a 3-way switch.

KEVIN

That's awesome.

CRAIG

And so that, that changes the game completely.

KEVIN

Yeah.

CRAIG

As far as wiring goes.

KEVIN

Right.

CRAIG

So I would imagine things like this have to be an electrician's friend. Even though most of them are so used to wiring 3-way switches, wiring just a standard switch is so much simpler.

KEVIN

And most of the time where you're putting this, you're retrofitting it for the most part.

CRAIG

Yes.

KEVIN

You know, this, this isn't something you'd have to go in and like rewire in order to get the 3-way switch to be in there. So yeah, this is actually the thing that, uh, probably— so we've got, uh, our, our living room has 2 fans in it, right? And it controlled by one wall plate, but it's very— it's, it's not the best. And, uh, so this is probably gonna wind up in my house, most likely. Yeah.

CRAIG

Well, let's go ahead and hand it off to you then, because you're gonna need that in order to put that fan switch in.

KEVIN

Yes, I am.

CRAIG

All right, let's see here.

KEVIN

What do we got here?

CRAIG

This— what is this?

KEVIN

Oh, that's a— is that just a box?

CRAIG

It says it's a sensor.

KEVIN

Well, look on the, uh, yeah, at the top there.

CRAIG

Here we go. It's a 4-speed quiet RF fan control.

KEVIN

Oh, I think you may have to have that for the fan to work, actually.

CRAIG

You've got some wire nuts. Yeah, this is, this is actually just the box for the fan control.

KEVIN

For the fan control.

CRAIG

would replace a fan switch and allow you to control the speed of the fan.

KEVIN

Okay.

CRAIG

So 1.5 amps. So it's just, it's just the switch. You could replace your fan switch with this.

KEVIN

Okay.

CRAIG

And I say just, it's just like—

KEVIN

Yeah. But again, the thing, the thing you got to remember about these is these are smart.

CRAIG

Yes.

KEVIN

Right?

CRAIG

Wi-Fi controlled, voice controlled with Alexa.

KEVIN

Exactly.

CRAIG

Um, or Google. Not Apple.

KEVIN

Because who has one of those?

CRAIG

Okay, so this one was interesting because this is a Lutron Aurora that works with Hue.

KEVIN

Yeah.

CRAIG

So it's a, it's a dial knob that you can put on top of an existing switch that's connected to bulbs that are Hue so that you can dim them. Right.

KEVIN

Yeah, it's actually, it's actually a dimmer knob that you put over a regular—

CRAIG

Do you see that? I mean, like, It kind of shows the picture of it.

KEVIN

Yeah, no, yeah, I can see it. I mean, it's literally just a knob that, that whenever you put it over your light switch, it allows you to turn it on and, and dim it. Yeah, depending on—

CRAIG

So I mean, this, this may be— I mean, for some people this may be a little bit overwhelming. It's saying that it has a 2-minute setup and that there's no wiring involved. Yeah, so I would imagine it has to have like a battery in it. in order to operate.

KEVIN

Well, I, I think one of the things, uh, one of the things that we discussed was, um, maybe putting it in here.

CRAIG

Yeah, I think we did. Well, we don't have any— we don't have any Hue bulbs in here. Yeah, we can get some.

KEVIN

Yeah.

CRAIG

Um, but yeah, this is, this is kind of cool, but you have to have like— so for people that don't know, like Hue is a completely different system from The cassette. The cassette, right, and has its own hub.

KEVIN

Okay.

CRAIG

And, and so you would have to have that Hue— and I think that's still the case. I think Hue still requires that you have the hub, although they may have bulbs that operate independently of the hub.

KEVIN

Okay, well, we will—

CRAIG

we'll have to look into that because this is a really cool thing. It's cool.

KEVIN

If this works as easily and seamlessly as it says that it does, this is going to be really cool.

CRAIG

So, which, which is cool because, I mean, like, Hue is a Philips company, right? And this is not Philips stuff, this is Lutron, right? So, but very, very cool that you can even have that as an option, right? Um, so, I mean, I guess if you had like an overhead light, you could just put the Hue bulbs in there and then this would allow you to have a dimming function, a physical dimming function, right? Because one of the things with Hue is like they don't have any physical assets other than the hub and the bulbs.

KEVIN

Right.

CRAIG

They don't have switches like this.

KEVIN

No.

CRAIG

So this is, this is cool.

KEVIN

Yep.

CRAIG

So if you're already in the Hue universe and you want to have some additional intelligence to your lighting, that might be a good way to go. But again, you might have— you probably have to have a Lutron Caseta Hub, right, in order for that to talk. Okay, so anyway, let's see what we got here. This— oh, this is a motion sensor.

KEVIN

Oh, nice. Yeah.

CRAIG

So you can actually control the lights in the room that are connected to the Lutron system via a motion sensor.

KEVIN

Oh, cool.

CRAIG

Very, very cool.

KEVIN

I really like that.

CRAIG

Oh, this, and it's, I mean, it's not, it's battery powered, so you don't have to wire it into the wall.

KEVIN

Even better.

CRAIG

And it connects to the system. So super, super cool.

KEVIN

Nice.

CRAIG

All right, let's put that away. Isn't this a lot of cool stuff, man?

KEVIN

Yeah.

CRAIG

There's still some stuff to go. Okay, so this is a wall plate bracket. Oh, this is what I was talking about. This is the Pico wall plate bracket.

KEVIN

Yeah.

CRAIG

So you have that that you can install next to a bank of panels or just as a separate panel or a separate switch on a wall, right? Um, I may keep that for myself.

KEVIN

Do it.

CRAIG

Because my children lose— we have 2 Pico remotes in the house and they lose them constantly.

KEVIN

You don't know where they are? Nope.

CRAIG

This is another wall plate bracket, and this looks like it's a wall plate bracket. So like, this looks like if you don't have a switch for that Hue knob to attach to, that you can just set it up as its own independent—

KEVIN

Oh, okay.

CRAIG

Thing. Yeah, that's what it is.

KEVIN

Okay.

CRAIG

Super cool.

KEVIN

Yeah.

CRAIG

And I think that's it.

KEVIN

All right.

CRAIG

That's a big box.

KEVIN

Yeah, and so look, over the next— so we've got some episodes coming here in the pipeline leading up to the 200th episode.

CRAIG

Yep, so we got some interviews coming up, and after 200, we're gonna start doing some very specific ones about some of this Lutron stuff. But we wanna hear from you guys, which 3 Do you guys want us to review, like, dig down deep? And I imagine it's not going to be the wall plates, um, but which ones would you like us to do a deep dive on? We want to hear from you guys, like, what— which ones are you thinking about? Maybe you already got the Caseta system and you're like, well, I'm looking to add on and I want to add maybe the fan switch, or, or maybe that Hue thing is interesting. How does that— how did that go for you guys? Right, like, let us know. We'll install it

CRAIG

and give you guys a full review.

KEVIN

Yeah. Yep, that's right. And, uh, I mean, again, a lot of really, really cool stuff. We're very, very thankful to Lutron, uh, for sending us this stuff. And, uh, specifically Elena. Yeah, yeah, we're trying to, uh, to make sure that you have a good understanding of what these things are, what they do, what they don't do. Um, because, and just to be quite honest, and whenever we talk to them about their products, we told them like, look, we're gonna be honest with the things that we like and the things we don't like.

CRAIG

Yeah.

KEVIN

You know, that's just who we are. And so, uh, hopefully get a really good, uh, uh, a feel for, for what these things are and what— how they'll, they'll help. Because I mean, you remember whenever we— whenever I got the, um, the Ecobee light switch and I was very frustrated?

CRAIG

Yes.

KEVIN

Because it wasn't a dimmer.

CRAIG

Yeah.

KEVIN

like, of all the things that this thing does, it won't dim my lights? Right.

CRAIG

What is it?

KEVIN

Why? Like, what it— what good is this thing?

CRAIG

Yeah.

KEVIN

You know, I mean, and, and so, yeah, I mean, if we find things that aren't great, we're gonna let you know. But honestly, like, we've already used some Lutron stuff, and man, they put out a really, really good product.

CRAIG

Yeah. Um, so I've been nothing but happy with the ones that I currently have in my home.

KEVIN

Yeah.

CRAIG

The only thing they didn't send us that was the product that I like in my house, which is the smart plug.

KEVIN

Oh yeah, yeah, well, that has the dimming capability on it, right?

CRAIG

That's been my favorite thing.

KEVIN

Yeah, pretty amazing.

CRAIG

Yeah. So which— so out of the stuff that we've got, like, what are you personally excited about?

KEVIN

Um, I think, I think the thing, uh, first of all, since I don't have the hub—

CRAIG

You're excited about putting that in your house?

KEVIN

I'm excited about putting the— having the hub available and the different products that it'll, it'll run, that sort of thing. The other thing is, um, I'm interested in the fan switch.

CRAIG

Okay.

KEVIN

Um, just because we— man, my house is riddled with switches. And some of them I'm really happy to have, and some of them I'm like, it's really frustrating. But with all of them, I wish I had actually different switches. The functionality and the availability that they all provide is really, really great. But like, a lot of them are those slider switches.

CRAIG

Oh, yeah.

KEVIN

And if you don't press them all the way down—

CRAIG

They don't turn off.

KEVIN

They don't turn off.

CRAIG

Yep.

KEVIN

And, and one of the things that you don't, you don't realize, uh, but I was talking to my brother-in-law who's an electrician about this, is he said that at that lowest, that the most dim it can get before you click it off, it outputs the same amount of power as if it's all the way up. So I mean, you're— the dimming doesn't do anything as far as how much power is being produced, right? It's still that 110 volts or whatever it is. It's just the amount of throughput that it's, that it's actually putting to those bulbs. And so you're, I mean, you're paying for that if it doesn't, even if it's dimmed all the way down, you're paying the same

KEVIN

amount. So if, like, if my kids don't, like, it down to the end, like, it's just, I was like, well, still paying for that. Been paying for that for a while. I was like, the whole, we're not gonna air condition the neighborhood.

CRAIG

Close the door.

KEVIN

Yeah. One of those. No.

CRAIG

I'm, I'm definitely turning more and more into that guy.

KEVIN

Definitely that guy, man. I'm like, I'm the guy walking through the house turning the lights off and like, somebody's got to pay for this, you know? It is what it is. So what about you? Which, which ones are you interested in?

CRAIG

I'm really interested at— in the outdoor plug.

KEVIN

Yeah.

CRAIG

So I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm interested to see what, what that one can do.

KEVIN

Yeah.

CRAIG

Um, for me.

KEVIN

Sure.

CRAIG

Um, because I have a lot of outdoor stuff that I like to automate.

KEVIN

Yeah. So, yeah, that'd be awesome.

CRAIG

Like, if I could put that—

KEVIN

Skitty. Wow. Only one? Oh, there's never just one.

CRAIG

Snuck in. Little one snuck in right behind him. Yeah. No, I would love to be able to put my swamp cooler on the porch.

KEVIN

Oh, yeah.

CRAIG

And sit in my swing and turn that on with my phone. That'd be To be doing. If I could do like that and just get somebody to pour me the drink and— It's not nachos. No.

KEVIN

Well, yeah, not, not nachos.

CRAIG

It's just not anyone in particular. I don't care who. I just want to turn the swamp cooler on with my phone and have somebody hand me a beverage.

KEVIN

Oh, man, that was a little bit of an inside joke, y'all. So sorry about that. But nevertheless, I understand your point very much. Well, all right guys, well thanks for, uh, for tuning in tonight. And, uh, it's not— I mean, it's night on YouTube and night on Facebook. Yeah, but this is coming out—

CRAIG

We're the late night Home Improvement show.

KEVIN

We definitely are. But thanks for downloading the episode. It's, uh, it's always great to have you guys with us. Um, you know, if you have not already gone, gone in and, uh, liked and subscribed to our channel, please do so and leave us a 5-star rating on iTunes, that really, really helps us as well. Or leave us just a 1-star, whatever. Be honest, right? Just be honest. And we thank you for being here. Until next time, we'll see you later.

CRAIG

See ya.

Keep going

More episodes

Top 5 Most Abandoned Cities artwork
Ep 357Aug 20, 20261 hr 7 min

Top 5 Most Abandoned Cities

This episode of The Homeowner Show dives into a wide array of current events and hot topics. Hosts Kevin Hackett and Craig Williams kick things off by discussing the sweltering heat and its impact on outdoor work.

Will New Laws Actually Lower Home Prices? artwork
Ep 356Aug 12, 202640 min

Will New Laws Actually Lower Home Prices?

The Homeowner Show kicks off with a lighthearted, albeit slightly gross, discussion about an infestation of flies and a spider web in their studio, a stark contrast to the more serious topics that follow. This initial banter quickly transitions to personal anecdotes about home maintenance and repairs.

Subscribe to our weekly email

The episode, the fix of the week, and what it should cost.