Need help starting out!

Hello everyone! Please feel free to point me in the right direction if this has already been posted. I’ll try to be brief with my questions and setup info. Here goes!

  1. I currently want to start with my Media Room / Den with smart devices. Here are the devices I currently have but have not installed yet:
    A. Lutron PD-6WCL-WH Caseta Wireless 600/150-Watt Single Pole In-Wall Dimmer, White
    B. Philips 65W Equivalent Soft White BR30 Dimmable LED Warm Glow Effect Light Bulb (8 bulbs total)
    C. Philips 455840 60W Equivalent 2200K-2700K A19 Dimmable LED Warm Glow Light Effect Light Bulb, Soft White (6-Pack) (12 bulbs total)

I have a Yamaha AVENTAGE RX-A1060BL coming in the mail and thinking about also getting the Harmony Elite hub and remote.

I want to make sure everything will work together. I’m mostly concerned about the light bulbs and dimmers working together. I thought my first project would be to get the lights to dim when I pushed play for movies/netflix/etc and then to come back on when I pushed pause or stop. Is this possible?
Also would like Amazon Echo integration at some point.

Again, sorry for the long newbie post, so here are my biggest questions:
1 ) What dimmers work the best in terms of speed and integration with the lights I just bought? My desire is ultimately to be able to control them with my phone and other commands. Not sure if the Lutron way is the way to go.
2) If I wanted to expand into other areas of my home for smart home automation with lights and triggers, what do you all recommend for stability, consistency and customization? (Thinking about setting a trigger like a garage door opening, if it’s after 5pm, then having foyer lights come on, kitchen lights, hall lights, come on automatically).

Thanks for your help and I’m sure I’ll have many questions!

Lutron doesn’t work with SmartThings, so you will need a different switch. People generally have success with the GE z-wave switches. among other brands. Dimming lights when you start a Harmony Activity it pretty straightforward, but raising them back up when you pause is a bit trickier. I believe some people on here have done it, so I’ll let them chime in.

Welcome! :sunglasses: Lutron are my favorite switches, but there is no SmartThings integration with them.

The following thread should answer a lot of your device questions:

And this on protocols:

http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=Supported_Network_Protocols

Did you also buy a Phillips hue bridge? That’s the recommended integration method with SmartThings. It can be either the V1 (round) hue bridge or the V2 (square). The difference is that the V2 Phillips hue bridge also has HomeKit compatibility.

I would strongly suggest using the HUE bridge for your HUE lights. For automation, you won’t see much of a difference, but the bridge will work when internet is out if you have local controls.

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