A Nightmare of a Morning

We've had a number of Leviton smart switches in our home for quite a long time and, until the past year, they worked flawlessly.  However, one by one, they started failing or burning out about a year ago.  This wouldn't be so bad if we were still able to use them manually but that wasn't the case for us.   The switches failed completely.

Having smart switches has always been a major first-world convenience for us especially when we travel.  No matter where we are located, we can still control our lights.  Actually, our thermostat and cameras are also able to be controlled no matter where we might be visiting.  This is a tremendous plus as far as we're concerned and especially when we travel in the winter when we must be sure our furnace is keeping the house above freezing.

So, a significant number of our Leviton smart switches were broken and this morning I decided to replace four of these smart switches.  It should have been a very simple little project but it turned out to be a bit of a nightmare.

I chose to start with the switches at our front door because I knew that gang of switches would be the most difficult.  This gang of switches is located right above our mantle but also right below a shelf.  This made accessing the switch junction box frustratingly difficult.  

It was physically difficult to fit my big mitts in that small space but it was also difficult to see what I was doing when I had my big mitts in front of the switches!  It was like trying to replace these switches in complete darkness.  

These smart switches are big and bulky which makes fitting all the wiring behind these switches a very tight squeeze.  That only made this project even more difficult.  

This photo, at left, is the one showing the gang of switches that is squeezed between the mantle and a shelf.  It really is a tight fit.  

These new switches show a red indicator light when they are turned "On".  When turned "Off", they are indicated with a green light.  I'm not sure that makes much sense but that is the way they are designed.  Hmmm...  I wonder if I can change that in the app?  I'll have to look into that.  I guess green means the switch is working.  Red would be a warning that the switch is still turned on.  

When I finally got the wiring and switches in place and working the way they should, I found that these new smart switches are slightly larger than the standard Decora size.  This means that my switch plate covers were not fitting.  I had to painstakingly file each of the holes in the switch plate covers until they were large enough to fit over and between my new smart switches.  That was messy, frustrating and time consuming.  

In the end, what should have required only about 30 minutes required about three hours of frustrating work.  On the positive side, we now have four new smart switches controlling our outdoor lights.