TITAM - Technical issues that affected me

So I purchased a wall-mount kit for a Caseta remote control, to see how it works.  It was almost what I expected. The wall mount itself is just a little clear bracket.  The Pico snaps in. It did not come with the Claro plate adapter (I thought it would).  It turns out the plate adapter comes with the Claro wall plate itself.  Which makes sense once you realize all the Claro devices would use the same adapter plate. Of course, you don't see this in the store.  All you see is this.  So you won't realize the adapter plate is in there. So together they make a complete mounting solution for either surface-mounting or box-mounting a Pico remote. Lutron wants you to screw the mount into the wall.  I prefer to use Command strips.  Fortunately there are two handy areas to put Command strips that won't push the mount off of the wall: Cover up with the adapter plate and you won't even see them. It does take quite a bit of doin...

LED bulbs have finally got to the point where it is worth replacing 60W candelabra bulbs in our "main" entryway fixture with LEDs.  The issue was always brightness and - with CFLs - the turn-on time.  Home Depot has a decent price on Philips 60W equivalent candelabra bulbs , which do provide equivalent brightness. Of course, on install, I found our Leviton "Anywhere Switch" kit (model 6696) did not work with these bulbs.  The switch refused to turn fully off, allowing enough current for 3 of the 15 bulbs to remain dimly lit.  This is a common issue but it didn't exactly make me happy, because it is time for a switch replacement.  As I keep bitching to my wife, it's never easy, and there is ALWAYS SOMETHING. This does make me wonder if this switch has been leaking electricity 24/7 in my home for the past ten years.  Hope not. Finding a replacement is not easy.  Home automation "solutions" have utterly exploded and everyone wants to sell you a ...