Product Library / Switches & Dimmers

Protocols: CLEAR-CONNECT^[1][5]

Plans and ongoing costs^[3]

✓ Works without a subscription: Yes.

Vendor account required: Optional — there is a documented way to use it without one.^[9]

No subscription is referenced on Lutron's specification submittal, its product-selection article or the Caséta 'Works With' page. Established by absence rather than by an affirmative statement, the same basis recorded on the Claro switch.

Maintenance and offline use^[1]

• 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.^[8][18]
• Line-voltage in-wall hardware with nothing to charge or replace. From the specification submittal: it is a 'Two-wire switch' operating at '120 / 277 V~ 50 / 60 Hz' - dual voltage is a PD-5WS-DV feature the neutral-wire models do not share - with a 5 A switching capacity. Load limits vary by load type and by how many switches are ganged together, which is why the submittal publishes a full table rather than one number: at 120 V a single unganged switch handles 600 W incandescent or halogen, dropping to 450 W at the end of a gang and 350 W in the middle; at 277 V the same load type runs to 1350 W unganged. General-purpose fan load is 3 A at 120 V with a 0.4 A minimum. LED, fluorescent and ELV loads have no published minimum at all - the submittal says 'Use LUT-MLC' - and carry a 5 A maximum unganged. It includes a 'Front Accessible Service Switch (FASS) for safe lamp replacement'. Regulatory approvals listed: cULus Listed, NOM Certified, FCC Approved (Class B, Part 15), Industry Canada Certified, IFTEL Certified, NEMA 410. Lutron publishes consumer installation instructions for this switch, but this record records no installation-effort rating because Lutron states none, and a two-wire line-voltage replacement is not a claim to make on inference.
• 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

Lutron recommends against this switch whenever you have a choice, and that is the first thing to know about it. Its product-selection article says so directly: 'The PD-5WS-DV switch does not require a neutral connection. If a neutral connection is available in the wallbox, Lutron strongly recommends using the PD-5ANS / PD-6ANS where possible', and where a neutral is present it points buyers at the PD-6ANS or PD-5ANS instead, on the grounds that those models handle LED lamps and fixtures more reliably. This is the no-neutral fallback, not the default. Second, the reason for that recommendation is a real cost: with LED, fluorescent or ELV loads the switch may need a LUT-MLC load adapter, and Lutron's guidance is not subtle - install one with those load types 'regardless of wattage', and if the status LED flashes or glows red, 'a LUT-MLC must be installed'. Even then, 'some load types may still flicker or glow in the off state'. Third, the hub is mandatory for everything a buyer is likely to want. The switch speaks Lutron's proprietary Clear Connect and nothing else, so without a Smart Bridge there is no app, no Alexa, no Apple Home, no schedule - only Pico remotes and Caséta sensors - and the switch has to sit within 60 ft line-of-sight or 30 ft through walls of that bridge. Fourth, the load table is a table for a reason: capacity drops as switches are ganged together, from 600 W incandescent alone to 350 W in the middle of a gang at 120 V, so a three-gang box is a different calculation than a single. Finally, Matter does not appear anywhere on Lutron's Caséta compatibility page, which lists sixteen platforms and partners - so a household planning around Matter should read that silence carefully rather than assume the newest standard arrived quietly.

Who it's for

Someone with a Caséta system already in the house, or planning one, who has hit the wiring problem this SKU exists to solve: an older wallbox with no neutral wire, where the neutral-required Caséta switches cannot go. It is also the model for a 277 V commercial or multi-family circuit, since it is the dual-voltage one. The Clear Connect radio is the reason people choose Caséta at all - it does not sit on the Wi-Fi network, and Home Assistant reaches it locally through the bridge - and this switch inherits that. It is the wrong pick if the wallbox does have a neutral, because Lutron itself says to buy the PD-5ANS or PD-6ANS instead for better LED compatibility; if the load is LED, fluorescent or ELV and the extra LUT-MLC adapter is unwelcome; 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.

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.