Social media served up a Home Depot ad for Leviton’s Smart circuit breakers, and I am intrigued with what it can do.
Leviton’s Smart Circuit Breaker offers:
Real-time monitoring – view energy consumption via the app.
Remote control – turn breakers on or off via the app.
Scheduling – save energy custom schedules based on time or day.
Alerts based on tripping or loads, LED indicator diagnostics.
They also say:
Proprietary – designed for use with the Leviton load center, Leviton 2nd gen smart circuit breakers require a whole home energy monitor (LWHEM) to operate.
That means that you can only use these circuit breakers with a Leviton distribution panel and WiFi hub.
The breaker shown here is a 120V 20A breaker with AFCI and GFCI protections, and Leviton also has ones without this feature.
Leviton’s Gen-2 smart breakers are ~$109 without and $196 with AFCI/GFCI protection. Their standard branch 20A breaker is $7. These prices are via Home Depot, the list prices are a lot higher.
They connect via WiFi.
I can see some benefits. For example:
For applications with Automatic Transfer Switches, Leviton 2nd Gen Smart Circuit Breakers with Remote Control can be configured as either essential or nonessential. When backup generator power becomes active, an automated response will shed any loads configured as nonessential.
Or:
Setup a schedule to turn OFF your hot water heater at night, or remotely turn off the circuit connected to your high current pump while on vacation.
The downside is that you’ll need a Leviton load center and also additional Whole Home Energy Monitor.
For a new install, homeowners would be looking at ~$500 for the load center and monitor, and then $100-$200 on average for each breaker, depending on features, plus labor.
It seems that Leviton launched their 2nd generation products in August 2023, and the 1st gen in early 2020.
The Gen 2 upgrades aren’t perfectly clear to me, but at the least it seems that the new breakers now have an on-device indicator for remote “off” status.
Looking at the Gen 2 press release, Leviton says:
The scalable and affordable Load Center is ideal for contractors and homeowners alike as it can install up to 25% faster
There’s also this part:
Basic and smart circuit breakers can be intermixed in the Leviton Load Center, providing homeowners with a modular and cost-effective way to get the benefits of smart functionality while avoiding the headaches and high upfront costs associated with all-inclusive smart panels, or sacrificing panel space with aftermarket relay modules.
So it seems you don’t have to use the Smart Breakers for every circuit.
Also:
upgrading an existing Leviton Load Center to a Smart Load Center is as easy as removing standard circuit breakers out of the panel, snapping the new 2nd Gen Smart Circuit Breakers in their place, and installing the Whole Home Energy Monitor.
It seems that they made upgrading easy for users that already have a Leviton load center.
I’m sold on the idea, but not yet on the product. I don’t think I was even aware the Leviton made power panels and circuit breakers, let alone WiFi-connected Smart Breakers.
According to a Leviton web article, there’s an app for iPhone/iOS and Android devices, but there doesn’t seem to be a web interface that could work with PC or Mac devices. Leviton says the same app can be used for Decora Smart, WiFi lighting, and load control products.