I'm a network security professional and the biggest detractor to cloud connected Internet Of Things devices for me is twofold: 1) Lack of open standards for firmware upgrades (which means that these devices will eventually serve as insecure attack vectors one day). 2) I don't WANT my IoT devices to all direct connect to the cloud. For those of us who would actually be power users of this technology, the option should exist to control what interacts with the cloud at our edge devices, not the IoT device itself. The other side of this that I have to balance is that most "module" switches like Sonoff that I can reprogram and upgrade myself are latching on the AC side, but the input to command that is momentary. I can't just retrofit a standard AC switch. It would be a perfect world if that were not latching. Leviton, pay attention. Your target market is not the "end consumer", but the users who know how to orchestrate this stuff together already.
Just installed their older gen 1 system that needed a WiFi hub. Incorporated it into Apple HomeKit. Very very easy. Except the signal strength was very subpar as compared to the competition (and honestly for the line of sight short distance it was a fail for signal strength). Removed and installed their gen 2 switches, which do not require a hub. Even easier setup and now a good signal too. The competition switches feel a bit more premium on their switch feel and plastic click sound, but the price of Levition and their 3 scene selection unit (demoed in the video) is super compelling, I'll be buying it for my house. I wonder how that speaker unit sounds. Podcasts yes maybe. The rep should have mentioned Siri as well, more private. Alexa/google voice is way too creepy (listening data gets sent back to their servers) I wish this company the best. Glad to see their products
I think virtual switching is really gonna take off in this country. I see a lot of it with kinetic switches from my subscriptions to UK electricians. Although the kinetic switch system does have the benefit of not having batteries that homeowners are not going to know about but the trade off that they're not as fancy with dimming.
Joel honest feedback from my side. Most manufacturers need to up their game on publishing detailed technical information including from UL testing. For example if I wanted to selectively coordinate between a dual AFCI/GFCI breaker with a AFCIs/GFCI receptacle downstream I may just be able to get a trip-current curve for the breaker but I will not get a trip time current curve for the AFCI/GFCI receptacle. That really is not good enough. Leviton also needs to improve documentation more technical information we can read about the functionality side and don’t need sales blurb. I want to hear from the engineers designing and testing this stuff, hear about more the safety, thermal, and power quality side. At the moment I have to do all that testing myself.
Was a sparky for 50 years and never read or heard about coordinating an AFCI circuit breaker with a AFCI receptacle ( Was told that all residential AFCI breakers & receptacles have built in GFC )I. I retired from one of the highest rated hospitals in the USA and they would just order plan Jane HG TR GFCI receptacles and off the shelf bolt in Square D AFCI breakers. Why do you ever need to coordinate them ?
Nothing like losing your internet connection during a storm and you lose control over your lights. 😂 It’s happened 3 times now this winter so far in the Cities.
So, the thing I like about Lutron is that it's not dependent on wifi, and it's not dependent on the cloud. I'd like to love Leviton, but Lutron has them beat here.
Lutron makes load centers? And not sure about Wi-Fi de[endnency criticsm. 1)you need robust wi for for soooo many things in hosue, not just smart things. Even just basic phone, email etc. cellular wireless not there yet and won’t be in list neighborhoods for a long time and / premium costs. And you need an app to control lutron. And lutron hub requires solid stable Wi-Fi signal right >
The virtual 3 way is great. I put one (different brand, but whatever) in my parent's new garage addition and put the remote right inside the house at the door. When the garage was built, there was no practical way to wire in a 3 way to inside the house, so they just lived with the huge inconvenience of a dark garage. A trip to Home Deopt and some quick work by amateur me got them a rather convenient setup.
That's pretty cool as long as it speak in an open protocol. I mean the company's probably not gonna go anywhere in the coming years but the technology is going to change and it's gonna need to be able to be integrated into other systems. The biggest problem with home automation right now is that everything is it's one Island. Just watch the LTT saga.
I would consider myself a smart home enthusiast. I love my Leviton panel but I have zero interest in their smart breakers for that very reason. I'm using an Emporia for individual circuit monitoring, but even they are borderline with their cloud token requirement for API access.
These things get a lot of hate online. I chose Leviton Decora Wi-Fi smart switches and dimmers for my home build in 2020. I use HomeKit for my smart home. Definitely some stutter-steps in those initial switch models. After multiple firmware updates, and adding the 2nd gen switches and dimmers, these things have been super reliable. I have well distributed Wi-Fi availability throughout my house. Very satisfied with these devices.
Open API? If your smart switches require the cloud to operate, you don't own them... Leviton marketing should better differentiate their load center products from the smart/cloud breaker products. When I was in the market for a new panel, it wasn't immediately clear that I could get a Leviton panel without all of the expensive smart breaker stuff that I didn't want. The panel/platform should be the selling point because its awesome. The smart functions were an instant turn off to me because I don't want another app nor the added expense.
the Smart panel is interesting. Although I think anything that gets installed should absolutely have ethernet. it's installed it's not moving it's already got wires running to it why not just run the ethernet cable and then it's permanently attached? Then it can just jump over to the structured home wiring center right next electrical panel into a switch and up to whatever Internet provider Wi-Fi router/AP. I am only slightly disappointed that I replaced my panel four years ago.
At least Leviton is still following the UL rules and making switches and outlets that only accept 14 gauge wires in the backstab. Don’t know if anyone’s noticed but the new square D outlets and switches they came out with will allow a 12 gauge wire to slip right in the back. Even though on the back it says it’s only for 14 gauge. I wonder if they did it on purpose to gain market share lol 😂.
I'd have attended something like this as long as there was a free lunch involved. :D Leviton makes fine GFCI's in my opinion but the Z Wave stuff doesn't work as well as the leading competitor.
Lunch and learns are pretty normal in like business offices, but this is the first time I've heard of a company having outside contractors in for something like that. But it absolutely makes sense. If $50 in pizza and soda turns into thousands in profit, its a good ROI.
Unfortunate that Leviton hasn't come out with a Zigbee version of the companion switches. The wifi ones require Internet access to work via their cloud, so no guarantee they'll work in ten years. Zigbee is an open standard, and Leviton makes Zigbee switches.
Imagine having to replace a switch in your home every 10 years 🙄 I have 100 year old switches in my home and they still function flawlessly All this new 'smart' tech is nonsense.
Please tell Leviton the thing I hate about their GFCI receptacle is the always on green light. I’d much rather see when there is a trip than go have a light saying it’s on. I installed an Emporia Energy kit in my 35 year old CH panel and I can monitor 16 circuits. Obviously I can’t control the breaker. I love the intelligent breakers and beautiful panel.
@@JK-hd2zb yes, but it’s aways on, AND more importantly, it does not provide an indication of failure. I’d rather no light until something is wrong - then show an indication only when working. As much as Eaton TR receptacles are awful and hard to use, I prefer their implementation of no indication, and a yellow led when tripped. Do your customers like having that green light on all the time in the middle of their 10,000$ kitchen remodel? Lol - ok, I’m sure they don’t have gfci in that kitchen, but they could.
@@MrKen59 EATON has improved there TR receptacles. The most recent one I bought about a month or two ago are by far the best TR receptacles I have ever installed. Did not even get any complaints form my family afterwards about how hard it was to plug stuff in.
@@darienredsox1878 thank you - I’ve had better luck with Eaton as well. aAbout two years ago, I had so many problems with their TR receptacles where my customers couldn’t plug in certain appliances.
Not sure why they haven't come out with a Zigbee version of the companion switches! You can just bind zigbee devices together, and the zigbee Decora switches are great.
ah, I've used them for years along with HAI (pre/post buyout) lord dude... to have a professional conversation as you are freaking "EATING" lord... Ah, look down shaking my head! I have conversations with my guys on exaptation of behavior and adequate when doing face to face with clients & vendors!
Question: I live in an apartment that has a main lug panel (no main breaker in the panel). There is also no breaker to cut the power between the panel and the meter. It is not a split bus panel; so, to cut power to the apartment would require flipping 16 different breakers. In addition, the breaker box lists that it was made by “I-T-E circuit breaker company, Walker division”. On doing some research, this was the name I-T-E used after about 1955 (when they took over Walker electrical company) but before 1968 (when they merged with Imperial-Eastman and changed the name to I-T-E Imperial). This means that today in 2023, the panel box is anywhere from 54 to 67 years old. I have spoken with the manager about the panel and they insist that I don’t know what I am talking about. They say the panel has to have a main disconnect and can’t be as old as I am saying. However, they won’t even send the maintenance man to look at the panel, let alone an electrician. Should I be concerned?
I’m open minded but haven’t heard anyone, even the electrician posit this video, justify reason for wanting remote control,of a panel ? If I’m not on side, I want my generator to kick in automatically and critical circuits on it, easy to designate a priori. And if on site , I can adjust which circuits I wear to owner manually. I’m waiting for anyone to justify the cost and complexity of such a critical element of your house.
Some interesting products, but man that sales guy has a brain lag or something that frustrates me for some reason haha. I shouldn't say that, he's fine and probably an off day. The overall features and basics are good but wanted to know more specifics. I'd like them/Leviton to be more technical about it. APIs? Engineering documentation? What system are they running and protocols, what is the communication architecture?
How did my house function by being "stupid" for 37 years...ckt breakers just don't do nutin' but protect the wires in case of a fault...how boring.....what happens if the people in the house are stupid, and the load panel is smart, do they get into arguments? Do AFCI breakers argue with GFCI circuit part about who is in charge?
No one should be using Type AC GFCI. In fact I wanted to hear about other type GFCI similar to the nomenclature used in Europe. With the increase in DC back feeding from electronics, EV and solar we should be moving away from Type AC, type A towards a type B or type B+ GFCI/RCD.
I like a light to be either ON....then OFF.....it doesn't need to be discovered, in a cloud, on a network, monitored by some other entity, pretty soon it does get beyond goofy..i don't need to know what some outlet is doing from 100 miles away....it's all nonsense.
What happens when they discontinue the cloud service, or start charging for the service?
The rep seemed so excited about the products lol
I'm a network security professional and the biggest detractor to cloud connected Internet Of Things devices for me is twofold: 1) Lack of open standards for firmware upgrades (which means that these devices will eventually serve as insecure attack vectors one day). 2) I don't WANT my IoT devices to all direct connect to the cloud. For those of us who would actually be power users of this technology, the option should exist to control what interacts with the cloud at our edge devices, not the IoT device itself.
The other side of this that I have to balance is that most "module" switches like Sonoff that I can reprogram and upgrade myself are latching on the AC side, but the input to command that is momentary. I can't just retrofit a standard AC switch. It would be a perfect world if that were not latching.
Leviton, pay attention. Your target market is not the "end consumer", but the users who know how to orchestrate this stuff together already.
Just installed their older gen 1 system that needed a WiFi hub. Incorporated it into Apple HomeKit. Very very easy. Except the signal strength was very subpar as compared to the competition (and honestly for the line of sight short distance it was a fail for signal strength). Removed and installed their gen 2 switches, which do not require a hub. Even easier setup and now a good signal too. The competition switches feel a bit more premium on their switch feel and plastic click sound, but the price of Levition and their 3 scene selection unit (demoed in the video) is super compelling, I'll be buying it for my house. I wonder how that speaker unit sounds. Podcasts yes maybe. The rep should have mentioned Siri as well, more private. Alexa/google voice is way too creepy (listening data gets sent back to their servers)
I wish this company the best. Glad to see their products
I think virtual switching is really gonna take off in this country. I see a lot of it with kinetic switches from my subscriptions to UK electricians. Although the kinetic switch system does have the benefit of not having batteries that homeowners are not going to know about but the trade off that they're not as fancy with dimming.
Joel honest feedback from my side. Most manufacturers need to up their game on publishing detailed technical information including from UL testing. For example if I wanted to selectively coordinate between a dual AFCI/GFCI breaker with a AFCIs/GFCI receptacle downstream I may just be able to get a trip-current curve for the breaker but I will not get a trip time current curve for the AFCI/GFCI receptacle. That really is not good enough. Leviton also needs to improve documentation more technical information we can read about the functionality side and don’t need sales blurb. I want to hear from the engineers designing and testing this stuff, hear about more the safety, thermal, and power quality side. At the moment I have to do all that testing myself.
Was a sparky for 50 years and never read or heard about coordinating an AFCI circuit breaker with a AFCI receptacle ( Was told that all residential AFCI breakers & receptacles have built in GFC )I. I retired from one of the highest rated hospitals in the USA and they would just order plan Jane HG TR GFCI receptacles and off the shelf bolt in Square D AFCI breakers. Why do you ever need to coordinate them ?
Nothing like losing your internet connection during a storm and you lose control over your lights. 😂
It’s happened 3 times now this winter so far in the Cities.
what's "the Cities"?
@@csf1757 Twin Cities, Minnesota. Sorry, live here long enough and you just kinda get used to calling it “the Cities.”
I mean they have buttons so you won't...
So, the thing I like about Lutron is that it's not dependent on wifi, and it's not dependent on the cloud.
I'd like to love Leviton, but Lutron has them beat here.
I agree Lutron is just that bit better…..
Lutron makes load centers? And not sure about Wi-Fi de[endnency criticsm. 1)you need robust wi for for soooo many things in hosue, not just smart things. Even just basic phone, email etc. cellular wireless not there yet and won’t be in list neighborhoods for a long time and / premium costs. And you need an app to control lutron. And lutron hub requires solid stable Wi-Fi signal right >
Lurton Caseta is a great product
The virtual 3 way is great. I put one (different brand, but whatever) in my parent's new garage addition and put the remote right inside the house at the door.
When the garage was built, there was no practical way to wire in a 3 way to inside the house, so they just lived with the huge inconvenience of a dark garage.
A trip to Home Deopt and some quick work by amateur me got them a rather convenient setup.
That's pretty cool as long as it speak in an open protocol. I mean the company's probably not gonna go anywhere in the coming years but the technology is going to change and it's gonna need to be able to be integrated into other systems. The biggest problem with home automation right now is that everything is it's one Island. Just watch the LTT saga.
I would consider myself a smart home enthusiast. I love my Leviton panel but I have zero interest in their smart breakers for that very reason. I'm using an Emporia for individual circuit monitoring, but even they are borderline with their cloud token requirement for API access.
Their wifi stuff requires their cloud and isn't really open.
These things get a lot of hate online. I chose Leviton Decora Wi-Fi smart switches and dimmers for my home build in 2020. I use HomeKit for my smart home. Definitely some stutter-steps in those initial switch models. After multiple firmware updates, and adding the 2nd gen switches and dimmers, these things have been super reliable. I have well distributed Wi-Fi availability throughout my house. Very satisfied with these devices.
My Journeyman at the time outfitted his house like that, only costs thousands of dollars for it to be obsolete in 5 years.
I've been installing a similar product for years called Echoflex. It's pretty user friendly and easy to install. Quick and easy.
Open API? If your smart switches require the cloud to operate, you don't own them...
Leviton marketing should better differentiate their load center products from the smart/cloud breaker products. When I was in the market for a new panel, it wasn't immediately clear that I could get a Leviton panel without all of the expensive smart breaker stuff that I didn't want. The panel/platform should be the selling point because its awesome. The smart functions were an instant turn off to me because I don't want another app nor the added expense.
Nice to see them catching up with some of the smart devices that other manufacturers have had for years. The modular devices are pretty slick though
Leviton...fantastic customer support...mind quit after almost 2 years and it was replaced for free no queztions asked..
the Smart panel is interesting. Although I think anything that gets installed should absolutely have ethernet. it's installed it's not moving it's already got wires running to it why not just run the ethernet cable and then it's permanently attached? Then it can just jump over to the structured home wiring center right next electrical panel into a switch and up to whatever Internet provider Wi-Fi router/AP. I am only slightly disappointed that I replaced my panel four years ago.
This was good. Thanks Joel.
Sorry, dad joke. All that talk about 3 ways was turning me on.... lol. Nice to see some innovation from Leviton.
Pizza and Mt. Dew? You tell those Leviton clowns that real deals are made at Ruth's Chris.
Minnesota electrician here, most trades people are not fancy, and in MN, they love their Mt Dew, it’s the nectar of trades people.
Me personally? I’m with you on Ruth Chris’s, it’ll just never happen though.
@@AdamS-lh2ug Don't get me wrong, I'll show up at a lunch and learn for some free pizza and SWAG. I'm not above that at all. I was just joking.
@@lugoismad I was too. I have had too much Pizza Hut and Mt Dew on overtime Saturday’s! 😂
Are they "Matter" compatible?
At least Leviton is still following the UL rules and making switches and outlets that only accept 14 gauge wires in the backstab. Don’t know if anyone’s noticed but the new square D outlets and switches they came out with will allow a 12 gauge wire to slip right in the back. Even though on the back it says it’s only for 14 gauge. I wonder if they did it on purpose to gain market share lol 😂.
I'd have attended something like this as long as there was a free lunch involved. :D Leviton makes fine GFCI's in my opinion but the Z Wave stuff doesn't work as well as the leading competitor.
Lunch and learns are pretty normal in like business offices, but this is the first time I've heard of a company having outside contractors in for something like that. But it absolutely makes sense. If $50 in pizza and soda turns into thousands in profit, its a good ROI.
What do you regard as their leading competitor?
@@johnwhite2576 Lutron is probably the most far ahead
Leviton is ok. I prefer Eaton switches and plugs.
Leviton, learning from big pharma. Get their business through the installers stomachs. Do you get any continuing education points for this seminar?
Unfortunate that Leviton hasn't come out with a Zigbee version of the companion switches. The wifi ones require Internet access to work via their cloud, so no guarantee they'll work in ten years. Zigbee is an open standard, and Leviton makes Zigbee switches.
thank you... very informative
More things to break or be defective. Give me a good Ole toggle switch
Imagine having to replace a switch in your home every 10 years 🙄 I have 100 year old switches in my home and they still function flawlessly
All this new 'smart' tech is nonsense.
Please tell Leviton the thing I hate about their GFCI receptacle is the always on green light. I’d much rather see when there is a trip than go have a light saying it’s on.
I installed an Emporia Energy kit in my 35 year old CH panel and I can monitor 16 circuits. Obviously I can’t control the breaker. I love the intelligent breakers and beautiful panel.
Love the green light. Green is good
@@JK-hd2zb yes, but it’s aways on, AND more importantly, it does not provide an indication of failure. I’d rather no light until something is wrong - then show an indication only when working. As much as Eaton TR receptacles are awful and hard to use, I prefer their implementation of no indication, and a yellow led when tripped. Do your customers like having that green light on all the time in the middle of their 10,000$ kitchen remodel? Lol - ok, I’m sure they don’t have gfci in that kitchen, but they could.
@@MrKen59 EATON has improved there TR receptacles. The most recent one I bought about a month or two ago are by far the best TR receptacles I have ever installed. Did not even get any complaints form my family afterwards about how hard it was to plug stuff in.
@@darienredsox1878 thank you - I’ve had better luck with Eaton as well. aAbout two years ago, I had so many problems with their TR receptacles where my customers couldn’t plug in certain appliances.
I'm convinced that Joel is actually Jay Duplass, going full method for his role in the upcoming romcom, "Sparks Fly".
🤣
What happens in 50 years and they shutdown the leviton cloud service for this? Is it a paperweight?
It will be as useful as a standard 50 cent switch, only controllable in person manually with no schedules.
What if i lose the switch in the dark
Is the Leviton load center accessible with Apple home like the decora dimmer 2nd gen?
way better than span.
Can't wait for a firmware update to brick my house...
Did he talk about Thread?
Step 1: Bribe electricians with pizza.
😂
And they're still using WiFi, noooooo thank you. Lutron ClearConnect FTW. Heck, Zigbee or Zwave is better. RA3 if you're going more "Pro"
Not sure why they haven't come out with a Zigbee version of the companion switches! You can just bind zigbee devices together, and the zigbee Decora switches are great.
@@pfak I'm all-in on Lutron Caseta for switches but tons of Zigbee and Zwave elsewhere. Tying up WiFi bandwidth is so ... elementary
ah, I've used them for years along with HAI (pre/post buyout) lord dude... to have a professional conversation as you are freaking "EATING" lord... Ah, look down shaking my head! I have conversations with my guys on exaptation of behavior and adequate when doing face to face with clients & vendors!
Never go wrong with pizza 🍕
eating with the microphone on is very distracting
Question: I live in an apartment that has a main lug panel (no main breaker in the panel). There is also no breaker to cut the power between the panel and the meter. It is not a split bus panel; so, to cut power to the apartment would require flipping 16 different breakers. In addition, the breaker box lists that it was made by “I-T-E circuit breaker company, Walker division”. On doing some research, this was the name I-T-E used after about 1955 (when they took over Walker electrical company) but before 1968 (when they merged with Imperial-Eastman and changed the name to I-T-E Imperial). This means that today in 2023, the panel box is anywhere from 54 to 67 years old. I have spoken with the manager about the panel and they insist that I don’t know what I am talking about. They say the panel has to have a main disconnect and can’t be as old as I am saying. However, they won’t even send the maintenance man to look at the panel, let alone an electrician.
Should I be concerned?
I’m open minded but haven’t heard anyone, even the electrician posit this video, justify reason for wanting remote control,of a panel ? If I’m not on side, I want my generator to kick in automatically and critical circuits on it, easy to designate a priori. And if on site , I can adjust which circuits I wear to owner manually. I’m waiting for anyone to justify the cost and complexity of such a critical element of your house.
Some interesting products, but man that sales guy has a brain lag or something that frustrates me for some reason haha. I shouldn't say that, he's fine and probably an off day. The overall features and basics are good but wanted to know more specifics.
I'd like them/Leviton to be more technical about it. APIs? Engineering documentation? What system are they running and protocols, what is the communication architecture?
yaayyyy, sooo good. Lets hackers control you Leviton bathroom light via cloud during all IT cybersecurity fail in 2025
Virtual 3 way.......ooooogggaaahhhh....
Google Lutron pico
This video can use a Misophonia warning.
How did my house function by being "stupid" for 37 years...ckt breakers just don't do nutin' but protect the wires in case of a fault...how boring.....what happens if the people in the house are stupid, and the load panel is smart, do they get into arguments? Do AFCI breakers argue with GFCI circuit part about who is in charge?
😂😂😂
No one should be using Type AC GFCI. In fact I wanted to hear about other type GFCI similar to the nomenclature used in Europe. With the increase in DC back feeding from electronics, EV and solar we should be moving away from Type AC, type A towards a type B or type B+ GFCI/RCD.
pretty sure he was referring to the types of usb ports on either side of the GFCI
I like a light to be either ON....then OFF.....it doesn't need to be discovered, in a cloud, on a network, monitored by some other entity, pretty soon it does get beyond goofy..i don't need to know what some outlet is doing from 100 miles away....it's all nonsense.
mic is way to close while you eat and drink...........