Triggering automation from Lutron switch slow

I recently got a good deal on some Lutron Caseta switches that I installed in my living room. I have an automation that also controls a zigbee bulb when the main lights (on the Lutron switch) are turned on/off. There is about a 3-4 second delay after switching the main lights before the bulb responds. However, if I switch the lights off via the Pico remote paired with the switch, the bulb responds pretty much instantly.

Can you post the full yaml of the automation? That will help try to track down where the issue might be.

Also, I’m assuming you are using a Lutron bridge (which one if so?) and the official Lutron integration? Also also (lol), which Zigbee controller are you using? ZHA? Zigbee2MQTT?

- id: '1707566527557'
  alias: Living Room Floor Lamp Turn On
  description: ''
  trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id:
    - switch.living_room_main_lights
    from: 'off'
    to: 'on'
  condition: []
  action:
  - service: light.turn_on
    metadata: {}
    data:
      brightness_pct: 100
    target:
      entity_id: light.the_home_depot_ecosmart_zbt_a19_cct_bulb_light
  mode: single

There is also, the opposite “off” automation

I have the (not pro) Lutron Caseta Smart Hub, using the official integration.

I’m using ZHA and a TI CC2531

Thanks!

Hmmmm :thinking: Nothing looks amiss there. I’m wondering if simply rebooting the hub and/or HA might clear it up. What’s the response time from HA to trigger the bulbs directly? Is it as fast as using the Pico remote?

I have always had exactly this problem with Caseta switches. Literally for years. If you find a way around it, you will be my hero forever!

I have exactly the same issue.

Also using the Caseta Smart Hub (not Pro), official integration. I’m using Z2M, but this doesn’t matter since latency is all on the Lutron side, not the Zigbee side. Quite annoying.

When I hit the switch, the bulb turns on (fade is 0.25sec, but this shouldn’t matter). HA sees the light turn on (it cannot see Lutron switches unless they are Picos), but only after 3-4 seconds. It turn executes the automation near instantly.

Why it takes 3-4 seconds for the Lutron message to arrive with HA, I don’t know.

I dug deeper in this, and found the root issue. Unfortunately, it’s by design, and can’t be changed, at lest directly. Oh well, at least we know for sure what it is now. The solution is to use a Pico if at all possible.

From Lutron tech support, on a Hubitat forum:

Lutron RF dimmers always wait 3 seconds before reporting changes made locally at the dimmer. This is because the user is often fine-tuning or adjusting the dimmer with multiple back-to-back events (on/raise/lower/etc), so the dimmer waits until local activity has stopped (3 seconds after the last local activity) before reporting the final level back to the system. The level reported by the dimmer is intended for status purposes only, and is not intended to be used for triggering other events.

A better solution is to use Pico and Keypad events. These are reported immediately to the system, and will result in much faster response time, as the events from a Pico are intended to result in other devices (dimmers, for example) changing in response to the button events. If setting up automation, Lutron recommends using button events rather than level status updates if quick response time is desirable.

Thanks for sharing that, @iotisunderrated. I guess it makes sense.

Although it would probably be better if the On and Off buttons had instant feedback and the delay was limited to the fine tuning that happens in the up/down buttons. I doubt they would ever change that, though…

Can you explain the difference between a keypad and a Pico event? I know that Pico events are easy to capture in HA, but does that mean I can also capture events when I press a button on Diva or Claro switches? I tried to monitor all events, but with all the other data coming into HA, I couldn’t capture anything. As long as the Lutron integration reports anything, though, I should be able to capture events.

Thanks!