That’s super helpful. Thank you!
Yes, they were out of warranty, but it is still disappointing to have had so many fail. Ford and GM used to design products with planned obsolescence, but I had sort of hoped that one could buy wall switches that would last a lifetime. Of course, most wall switches aren’t packed with circuitry.
My conclusion is the same as yours: the power surge when the circuit breaker is turned back on is frying the electronics. I don’t think it’s my wiring per se. I live in a new condo in Palo Alto, so things should be up to code. However, a power surge is the only reason I can think of that turning the circuit breaker on and off (I was working on another electrical outlet) might blow the the switch.
I bought most of these from Amazon. However, I’ll try the Lutron Caseta switches. Thanks for that - it is the guidance I was looking for. As I recall, these need a dedicated hub. However, so do my Philips bulbs, so I don’t see any issue with that. I agree 100%: I’m happy to pay more for better engineering.
Thank you again for the helpful and timely response.