Has anyone had any luck with scene controllers?

I’m looking at the leviton VRCS4-1lZ scene controller. There are several products on Leviton’s site that seem similar, and I haven’t read the info on every single one…

I would like to use the buttons on this device be used to trigger a “Lights & Switches” activity or a smartapp, like turning all lights in a group on to 25% and then back off again?

This would be nice for kids needing to go to the bathroom at night. Hit the “Bathroom” button and all lights go to 25% for XX minutes then they dim off…

This is a feature that the Control 4 folks hyped when I was exploring that option. As inexpensive as Control 4 was compared to Crestron, etc, it was still 5 figures for a fairly basic system…

Since this controller simply uses power, and doesn’t connect to a load, you could try to mount the switch in the Leviton Table Top Scene Switch Cradle (see link), and you have the buttons right on a nightstand… That would be kind of cool, I think…

I think you could do your example with a SmartApp and a regular zwave switch.

But, if interested in more buttons, consider this. Just installed one (with a simple command strip) and I may install others around the house. Cheaper than the Leviton controllers - can get more than one for the cost of a Leviton. And, the form factor is actually quite good. I’m REALLY picky about how things look and I think it looks fine.

Not really a “nightstand” solution, but have you checked this out:

It is definitely a great value.

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And the Aeon Labs Aeotec Minimote works very well (Z-Wave), with just a bit of a delay between press and resulting action(s).

I keep wanting to trace this delay and see if the Device Handler and Button Controller SmartApp could be a little more efficient…

Great deal on White V1’s (they seem to function as V2, firmware upgrade is free):

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I have a Minimote on my nightstand as well and I can attest that it works nicely.

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I like the general concept of the leviton product, because you can label the buttons. I don’t think a smartapp on a phone or tablet is a great option…

The mini-mote would work in a pinch, but a guest wouldn’t know what the various buttons do…

If someone wakes up in the middle of the night and needs to navigate to the restroom, the don’t really want to grab a phone or tablet, find and open Smartthings, find and tap the right smart app… They would probably be changing their knickers my then… :smile:

The cradle thing that leviton offers looks like any decora device could be installed, and it has a power cord, so any button device that simply sends commands to the system would be installed, since all they need is power when installed in-wall…

Still don’t know if Leviton’s device listed above can be used with ST…

The walking to the bathroom example you give can easily be solved with sensors - motion or pressure (see a few posts about pressure). I would much rather not press anything when getting up in the middle of the night…and I don’t. Example - kitchen lights come on to 10% when I start walking down the stairs and go off 2 min after no activity at night.

Also, the Smartenit three button device I mention above is an excellent alternative that can also work on a nightstand.

I emailed Smartenit sales yesterday discussing the increasing interest here in the community for their product, a desire for a device with more buttons, and also suggesting they work with ST for official integration. They responded quickly. Didn’t know about interest in the community, they are discussing a device with more buttons internally, and they said reaching out to ST was a good idea and they would do that.

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