Product Library / Switches & Dimmers

Protocols: CLEAR-CONNECT^[7][33]

Plans and ongoing costs^[5][32]

✓ Works without a subscription: Yes.

Vendor account required: Optional — there is a documented way to use it without one.^{[11][23][24][41][43]}

No subscription is referenced on Lutron's product-selection article, its troubleshooting article, its installation page or the Caséta 'Works With' page. Established by absence rather than by an affirmative statement, the same basis recorded on the Claro switch and the PD-5WS-DV.

Maintenance and offline use^[3][4]

• Works without the internet: Yes — the core function runs on the device or your home network. A vendor cloud may still be involved in remote access.^{[10][23][27][42][43]}
• Line-voltage in-wall hardware with nothing to charge or replace on the switch itself. Lutron's installation instructions for the PD-5ANS and PD-6ANS carry the warnings that come with that: 'WARNING: ELECTRIC SHOCK HAZARD. May result in Serious Injury or Death. Turn off power at circuit breaker or fuse before installing'; 'CAUTION: Use only with permanently installed lighting loads or with general purpose fan loads'; and 'For indoor use only.' The same page also carries lithium coin-cell warnings — 'Risk of Fire, Explosion, Leakage, and Burns. Do Not Recharge, Disassemble, Heat Above 212 F (100 C) or Incinerate' — which apply to a Pico remote packaged with the switch rather than to the switch itself, and are repeated here with that distinction stated so nobody reads them as a battery in the wall. The electrical ratings, read for the first time from the specification document: 120 V~ 50/60 Hz, a neutral connection required, and maximum loads of 600 W incandescent or halogen, 5 A LED, 5 A fluorescent, 600 W ELV and 3 A of fan, with a 10 W minimum on incandescent, halogen and ELV loads (the minimum is one bulb for LED and one ballast for fluorescent) and no derating when the switch is ganged. The 120/277 V dual-voltage rating that the no-neutral PD-5WS-DV carries does not apply to this switch.
• Security updates: No security-update support date is on record for this model yet. We haven't yet checked whether Lutron publishes one, so this is a gap in our research — not a statement about the manufacturer.

The catch

The headline is unusual, because it is Lutron pointing at this switch rather than away from it. Lutron's own product-selection article tells buyers that where a neutral wire is present in the wallbox, it recommends this model or the PD-6ANS over the no-neutral PD-5WS-DV, on grounds of how they handle LED lamps and fixtures. So the catch here is the wiring precondition rather than a compromise - this is the model to buy when the wallbox has a neutral, and it is no help at all when it does not. Check the box before ordering. Second, that same precondition is what buys you the good news: the LUT-MLC load adapter that the no-neutral model may need with LED, fluorescent and ELV loads is not part of this switch's story, and Lutron's troubleshooting guidance discusses the adapter in connection with the PD-5WS-DV rather than with this model. Third, the hub is mandatory for everything a buyer is likely to want. Clear Connect is proprietary and there is no radio in this switch that any other system can see, so without a Smart Bridge there is no app, no Alexa, no Apple Home and no schedule - only the switch on the wall and Pico remotes. Fourth, the electrical ratings on this page come from Lutron's own specification document for its Caséta load controls, and they differ from the sibling models' ratings, so size a circuit from this switch's row rather than a sibling's. There is a related oddity worth knowing while you are there: Lutron's own PD-5ANS submittal link points at a document titled for the PD-5WS-DV and PD-6ANS. Finally, Matter does not appear anywhere on Lutron's Caséta compatibility page, which lists seventeen platforms and partners - a household planning around Matter should read that silence carefully rather than assume the standard arrived quietly.

Who it's for

Someone building or extending a Caséta system in a house whose wallboxes have a neutral wire - which is most wiring installed in recent decades - and who wants plain on/off control of a light or a general-purpose fan. This is the model Lutron itself recommends in that situation, on the grounds of LED lamp and fixture compatibility, and choosing it avoids the load-adapter question the no-neutral model raises. The Clear Connect radio is the reason people pick Caséta at all: it does not sit on the Wi-Fi network, and Home Assistant reaches it locally through the bridge. It is the wrong pick if the wallbox has no neutral - that is precisely what the PD-5WS-DV exists for, and this catalogue carries that record too; if you want dimming rather than switching, since Lutron classifies this as a switch and describes no dimming for it; if there is no Lutron hub and no intention of buying one; or if the plan depends on Matter, which Lutron does not name for Caséta anywhere on its own compatibility page. Anyone specifying it for a job should still check the full load table in Lutron's specification submittal, which this profile only summarises.

Sources & method

Numbered sources below back the facts marked with the matching number above. This is a research profile: compiled from manufacturer documentation, certification registries, and published testing — we state facts, not verdicts, and we have not physically tested this unit. How we work →

Compatibility and lifecycle information reflects the last-verified date above and can change without notice (firmware updates, cloud-service changes, discontinuations). It is provided as-is, for information — verify with the manufacturer before purchasing. Spot an error? Tell us and we'll fix it. Full terms: Terms of Service.