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.
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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.
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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.
Nick
I’ve had one of their power panels installed in my garage for a few years now because that’s all the electrician could get his hands on during COVID. Works well, it’s just different because all of the wires connect to the power panel and not to the breaker itself. It allows you to run all of the wires and connect them and then snap the breakers in later.
John S
I don’t do much residential, but I have ended up using the Leviton panel once on a residential job for a commercial customer. I really like the design, particularly being able to land almost all of the wires before we had all the breakers.
Like so many things that use square tip, the set screws can’t handle the highest torques they’re rated for without stripping out. And the flat blade slot isn’t that deep either.
But mostly, I hate adding Internet of Things crap to WiFi. I have no reason to trust Leviton’s security. Will my breakers one day try to steal my credit card info? WiFi specs are always backwards compatible, but WiFi 6 works better without anything from an older spec on it, they could do that again, and who’s replacing breakers for WiFi upgrades. I’d like to see something like this on Thread / Matter if there’s a spec for it.
Kilroy
Information security was my first thought as well.
This is a cool concept that will appeal to some people, but it’s not for me.
Not to sound paranoid, but… It’s easy to think, “I have nothing to hide,” until a person or company gets access to the system/data and can tell when you’re not home, turns off your sump pump breaker, uses how much sleep you’re getting (could be estimated based on electricity usage) to do an insurance rate hike, etc.
Cars are already sharing data with information data brokers behind the scenes (not to mention Uncle Sam), and there isn’t a great way to confidently stop it or effectively opt out. I’d prefer that my circuit breakers not do the same.
For a lower tech option that still has Internet connectivity, I like using smart plugs (I’ve had good experiences with those from Kasa) to schedule & turn things on/off via a smartphone app. Works well for those of us who are on “time of use” based electric plans, where our $/kWh rates vary by the time of day.
ToolGuyDan
The breakers themselves don’t speak WiFi. The LWHEM (or, or Gen1, the LDATA) acts as a bridge. So for those worried about obsolescence, there shouldn’t be any scenario where the breakers would eventually need to be replaced, just the interface-box.
I certainly don’t like that Gen2 dropped the Ethernet option in favor of WiFi-only.
I ran for a while with my LDATA entirely walled off from the Internet. Everything worked fine. So at least it’s not dependent.
McFly
The “s” in IOT stands for security
BigTimeTommy
Gotta make every single electric device that exists connect to the internet so corps can mine possible scrap of data at all times 👍
Jim Felt
Hard no. Though I’ve used nearly everything else Leviton makes for hard wired applications for decades. Decora through the wifi versions on this iPhone for remote lighting control etc.
Updates in recent years are automatic and so far flawless.
Their on line and (US based!) telephone support is unmatched IMO.
Mopar
I’ll echo what Jim Felt said. The Leviton hard wired stuff has been flawless as I’ve renovated the current home. Smart switches and outlets, smart plugs with dimmer capability (surprisingly few reliable companies make those), not to mention the many outlets I’ve replaced with outlets+usb chargers. One thing that put them at the top of the pack is virtually all their hardwire stuff can be had in all the normal Decora switch/outlet colors, not just white. The smart switches also look and function the same as regular switches. I still have a Kasa in my dining room, and to turn it off *or* on you press the bottom of the switch, and there are dimmer buttons at the top. It’s been years, and I still mess up turning that switch on.
Robert
At those prices, the Return On Investment for saving money by turning off things like a hot water heater nightly, seems low. Additionally, would nightly cycling of the breaker reduce it’s life?
IOT security is a concern. Now would you be malware blackmailed to get your Leviton power panel re-enabled by some hacker?
Jared
Wouldn’t you just pull the smart breaker out and snap in a dumb one?
Robert
Yes, but you’ve just ate the cost of all the smart breakers. Why put yourself in that situation in the first place?
WastedP
So these can shed nonessential loads during a power outage. The switching is done via wifi. If the power’s out, and wifi goes out, then you’re dead in the water?
Mopar
What Stuart quoted wasn’t clear about that, but from Leviton’s website:
” The Whole Home Energy Monitor integrates with Automatic Transfer Switches via contact interface and will automatically shed Nonessential loads when grid power fails.”
Remember, the breakers are not stand alone wifi devices. I’m guessing there is no wifi in them at all. They are also proprietary, and require a matching load center with their whole home energy monitor hardware installed. It sounds like the transfer switch connects to the LWHEM , and then that would know when the load center was on generator and would control the breakers accordingly.
Pretty slick, and I wouldn’t personally worry too much about my panel getting hacked. I would be far more worried about what happens when the surge that took out my grid power also takes out that LWHEM? What still works? What doesn’t?
Before I retired, our newest athletic facility had the latest and greatest Hunter irrigation system. All the valves were basically networked on a shared buss, No separate wires to each zone valve, I could just reprogram the valve to be on whatever zone I wanted. All remote control, I could monitor and control everything from my office 5 miles away. It was great. Except at least once a year a power surge or nearby lightning strike would fry a zone valve and/or controller board . When the controller board went, there was no water to any of the fields until a tech could come out and replace an $800 circuit board. I hear after I left, the controller failed again and took an $8000 variable pressure booster pump with it.
WastedP
Thanks for the clarification, and the warning.
Mopar
As far as shedding non-essential loads, to me that means there are also essential loads, and while I <3 my high-tech toys, my preference is to keep essential stuff as simple and low-tech as possible. For me that meant using one of these to control essential loads during an outage:
https://www.amazon.com/50-Amp-10-Circuit-Manual-Transfer-Switch/dp/B00YCRLLMI
Plus all the internet/wifi stuff is on a decent sized dedicated UPS.
Adam
So do I need a battery backup UPS, just to plug my router/ISP modem into, so it can alert me I don’t have power?
Kilroy
On a serious note… My WiFi thermostat lets me know when I don’t have power. No power = modem down = no WiFi = system can’t make its hourly connection to the thermostat = system sends email alert to me.
It’s a good “back door” / inadvertent way for me to be notified about power outages when I’m away from home, and the hourly “nag” emails from the system give me a rough idea of the length of the outage and how concerned should be about the safety of the food in the freezer/fridge.
The same thermostat looks (and operates) like a regular wall-mounted digital thermostat, I can (optionally) change my WiFi settings or boot it off the network if anything goes really wrong and still have a thermostat.
Mopar
On a serious note… that means some outside source is monitoring/intercepting your thermostat and it’s functions and has the ability to over-ride your control.
Sounds like when I had my old house, the power utility offered me a “free” wifi thermostat and something like a $25/year rebate with the agreement that they would be allowed to over-ride my settings during high use periods.
HARD PASS.
David Z
Smart thermostats usually have a connection to a server. And the ones I’d choose would be able to operate locally when needed. None of this necessarily relates to a utility company at all. Honeywell, for example, has more to lose than gain if they mandated that they will control your HVAC. Their whole purpose is to enable you to have greater control, remote control, and visibility to your HVAC usage. The ability to do this via an app, versus the largely still-archaic thermostat interfaces is another
Being able to easily move the set temperature a little if things seem to warm or hot is itself a great feature. There are thermostats that support that without remote (server-based) control. That may be a more comfortable option for some.
Others, like me, may consider the extra functionality worthy of what you might consider a risk. Of course, we can just turn off the wifi in them if we’re worried when going away for extended periods; we’d still have all the normal scheduling and controls running locally.
Again, smart does not mean control by the utilities.
Mopar
I didn’t say it did. Just that it becomes a possibility when you have a thermostat that talks to networks you don’t control.
I went and checked with my old former power utility, the one I mentioned in the prior post. . They still offer the rebate program, although now you only get $60 back for allowing them to control your thermostat, but they practically give you the thermostat.
https://www.uinet.com/smartenergy/rebatesandprograms/ui-smart-savings-rewards
Troy H.
I’m still waiting on something that allows full local control. I just don’t want to invest into a system that could go away if the manufacturer loses interest.
I really don’t think that the branch circuit is the right level to be doing any type of energy efficiency control. Breaker level control would be great for load shedding if you have a whole home generator or solar with batteries that have a capacity limit. In general, I wouldn’t control my HVAC this way except in an emergency. Realistically, lighting and small electronics that you have connected to plugs don’t make up that much of your energy usage and if they are a problem, then using a smart switch or a smart plug is a much better option than a smart breaker.
Traditional breaker manufacturers like Eaton and Siemens appear to be working on smart breakers. The control system is always going to be the most important part for me. I would like to be able to control things with a local solution like Home Assistant rather than a cloud app. Many people list internet (wired and cellular) during Beryl. I don’t want my solution to rely on that.
jim
Used the square d (now schneider powe link solenoid breakers commercially – could easily(?) be used in resi as well
Troy H.
Siemens has a solid state breaker that is interesting.
Nathan
I don’t really want remote breaker control. No. Monitor and even the overall power monitoring would be nice but only if it did 2 things
1)report out only on my local network to a service I run on my own PC/box
2) monitor circuits and draw and allow me to connect more circuits than my 200a panel takes while load shedding to keep the total happy. (Ie I have 200a service but my circuit total is 320a and the panel knows some circuits are shedable as needed or even just off certain times of the day)
Jim Felt
And here I thought I was the only one with split breakers in my oversize 200Amp panel.
Probably like you have 100-150 “extra Amps” that I’ve never gotten near the actual 200 Amp rating.
Scott Heller
Houses last 50 plus years. Tech like this changes completely every five years or so. Is there a long term support agreement, or will we have to buy a new panel regularly?
The information security argument was already made above, but double.
I had a professor for cyber security insist the only viable format for long term notes was ASCII text. You can always find an app to read it. Classic breakers are closer to the ASCII argument.
Troy
That’s my concern too. I’m building a new house and some powered sheds and decided to use Leviton load centers and regular (non-smart) breakers for a few compelling reasons, but even then, I’m not super confident in my ability to get their breakers 10 years from now. Their availability has been spotty since they came out and I’ve found some random closeouts on their panels at HD, and there’s just a general vibe they’re not selling well and might be discontinued at some point. None of that makes me feel like their already expensive smart breakers are worth the investment.
JR Ramos
I could see this being most beneficial for those who travel a lot or for second homes/seasonal and such. I’d want to know how robust it is against lightning strikes and potential surges because it’d be much more expensive to replace than traditional components.
Water heater as an example…assuming an attempt at nightly savings…does it cost more to heat up a tank from room temp vs. maintaining the temp in a well insulated tank all night? Probably depends on a few things.
I guess I can see this as beneficial for a small/medium office building as well.
I think smart and IOT thermostats and a few things are great but I don’t think I’d want this. I’d at least want to research a lot more and talk to installers or owners if possible. I rather prefer the idea of me being the one to determine in real time what is essential load in a power outage, too, even if that can be configured at the panel.
What happens if the app is pulled from an app store for whatever reason, or is suddenly incompatible with an OS update? What if your phone is damaged or lost and you don’t have a second phone to access control? No web connection beyond the phone seems like a terrible drawback or risk. We’ve seen that happen with quite a lot of apps/devices in one way or another and if Google is forced to spin off some businesses in the near-ish future, you can bet that Android and the Play Store will be chosen in addition to Chrome if they go that direction. Given Android’s…stuff…over the last many years as buffoons at Google have monkeyed so badly with it, there’s no telling how a spin off would shake out.
Remote security is absolutely a concern too…seems so unlikely for something like this but holes are everywhere and cheap exploit devices are everywhere (if it can’t be done on an app/OS). Better be some failsafes for those who might depend on medical devices at home.
Peter Fox
Residential Circuit Breakers as a Service….. No Thank You!
There are some things that warrant remote control and monitoring. They are either mission critical and demand a requisite level of quality, dependability, and security. Or they are convenient but not critical and should be low cost and easily replaceable when obsolete (or obsoleted for reasons of profit).
This lands somewhere solidly in the middle, too important and expensive to be disposable but not expensive enough to likely be built to the level that is needed for 25+ years of reliable service.
Jim Felt
Just as a Leviton WiFi reliability note I’ve used their outlets and switches for at least 10 years.
Never had a failure and slowly have added more kinda just for fun. Especially if an updated feature set appeals to my uses. Or curiosity.
Albert Collins
08/26/2025
Dear Loyal Leviton Customer:
We are excited to inform you that your Leviton panel and circuit breakers will be transitioning to our exciting new subscription service soon. If you set up your early-bird draft payment account within the next 10 days for only $9.99 per breaker (additional panel fees are separate), we can lock you into that rate and guarantee no increases for the next 6 months! Act now – this offer is limited!
S
I saw this at a trade show about 2-3 years ago. At the time, availability was horrendous. I couldn’t even get a straight answer out of leviton resellers to who could order it, or what kind of lead time to expect.
It sounds like availability is improving, but I’ve still got a lot of major reservations on the system.
I do like that all the wires connect via the breakers, making AFCI, or GFCI conversion a simple matter of just a breaker change. That’s a big question mark in the industry as the AFCI transition starts to come into play, on how to bring up older houses to newer code without bleeding homeowners dry on rewiring costs.
But the breaker costs are really high, contrasted to the competition, and being a non-standard product, it means that any issue is at least a few days from a repair, as parts need to be ordered instead of just dropping by a supply house and grabbing an in-stock breaker the same day.
I also don’t fully agree with packing more tech into things. Just like a TV/DVD/VCR combo. Far too often one or two features fail, but the remaining feature is far too useful, or cost prohibitive to get rid of, so the new gear ends up getting stacked on top of the broken equipment to attempt to maintain functionality…
While I tend to trust leviton as a brand, I’ve also seen far too many home automation services rise and vanish over the years to trust the main breaker panel to a new concept that would cost far too much to replace, should leviton bean counters suddenly decide they’re bored with the idea. But leviton also is rarely at the cutting edge for wifi doo-dads. So security holes are likely large enough for a jumbo jet. I much prefer wifi plugs the a wifi breaker, because they’re easier to change
And while breakers do have a rating to be used as switches(not sure if these are), I also don’t trust using the breakers as a switch. That much constant use wears breakers out.
JR Ramos
On replacements…..this is a great example of planning ahead (more so than usual). People with this system and who don’t have a local stocked supply should keep a spare or two on hand so that they don’t have to wait on that lead time or shipping. Good idea anyway with most parts & consumables where downtime is a big hassle.
TJ Cornish
I presume energy management functionality like this will eventually be mandated (the example of the water heater turning off overnight being a good example), but I’m sure not going to be the first to make that jump.
Mopar
I’m oldish, so hopefully not in my lifetime. However, I’m already mostly off-grid, or off-grid capable. I’m in a pretty rural area where that’s a necessity, so it wouldn’t be all that hard to make the leap to fully off the grid 24/7/365.
eddiesky
I hate to state but AFCI just sucks. Ghost trips. Matter of fact, I was watching my toaster light up that is on an AFCI. My electrician told me, sorry, its code but yeah, he get so many calls on them.. .and they are Leviton mostly.
Maybe if I was building a smart home, but there are other panel makers now with integrated systems, that let you add PV and battery systems. And monitor device usage.
ToolGuyDan
Bad AFCI is awful. But good AFCI will stop a fire, so I went full AFCI/GFCI on my panel. FWIW, no ghost trips on any of mine, except for one GFCI trip that turned out to be a diverse-path neutral (i.e. a miswiring, but not a particularly dangerous one).
Saulac
I am surprised to see discussion on spares, but not about the app, or more specifically, expected lifetime, support for the app, and also phone update. I actually happy if without the phone apps, they will operate like normal breakers. I have seen a few outdoor lighting systems where phone apps is the only user interface. Hard no for me.
ToolGuyDan
They operate like normal breakers without the app. They also work whether or not you’ve ever configured them in the app, or hooked them up to an LDATA/LWHEM. You could conceivably build out a whole panel of smart breakers and never install the bridge and they’d just sit there acting like regular breakers, ready in case one ever showed up. (As I said elsewhere, the breakers themselves don’t have WiFi or any inherent Internet capabilities, so that wouldn’t be a security issue).
ToolGuyDan
I have a Gen1 panel. Difference between Gen1 and Gen2, Stuart, is that Gen2 can turn themselves back on remotely. Gen1 can turn themselves off, but then you have to manually flip them on (like a normal breaker trip).
LDATA (the Gen1 interface box) has Ethernet, so I hard-wired it (seemed like the right thing to do anyway, since it’s hanging out somewhere with a bunch of potential EMI). The newer interface box doesn’t offer that option, alas; it’s WiFi-only. I really hope they reconsider, as I still have one more panel to do.
One thing not mentioned anywhere has been that these panels are, if you’ll pardon the subjectiveness, *pretty*. Especially with the glass front cover, they genuinely add to the decor of wherever they’re placed, instead of being an eyesore. Plus, the combination of clear cover and LEDs for trips is great to be able to spot tripped breakers from all the way across the garage.
Worries about surges might be justified; I don’t know. I installed a 120kJ whole-house surge protector at the same time I did the panel, so that has seemingly protected me so far. The whole-house protectors are so useful that it would have been worth installing one anyway.
One area that falls far, far short: the labels for the breakers in the app are limited to something like 20 characters, all on a single line. There’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to have “breaker for the north- and east-wall outlets in the kitchen and also half the can lights plus that one weird outlet in the garage near the utility sink”. But I can’t.
Nor can I do any other useful tags, which would then allow me to do something like, “show me all breakers with at least one basement endpoint”. My only view is the “panel view”, which more or less looks like the panel, albeit stylized.
The good news is that there is Home Assistant integration, via https://github.com/rwoldberg/ldata-ha . It seems to work pretty well. I’ve also been pleased by the AFCI/GFCI (which I added to every circuit whether it needed it or not); no false trips, and at least two genuine trips have made me feel much, much safer with a baby in a house full of lowest-bidder or friend-of-the-previous-homeowner wiring.
Lastly, best prices I’ve found have consistently been at Dale Electric. Maybe you could get an affiliate relationship, Stuart? They aren’t always the cheapest, but when they are, they’re the cheapest by a LOT, especially after their quantity discounts kick in.
Overall, I’m very happy with my Gen1 panel. Gen2 will happen to replace my other legacy panel in the next year or two. AMA. 🙂
MattT
Pass. Just one more thing to mine my data, compromise security of my house, and get bricked when the company loses interest.
Greg Rhoades
“there doesn’t seem to be a web interface that could work with PC or Mac devices.”
Indeed there is -> you just login to My.Leviton.com and you can monitor/control from any web browser. Can see everything the phone/tablet app presents, just on a larger screen.
Good for a laptop, a TV, I’ve even seen it on the front of a Samsung Fridge…showing the real-time energy draw, etc.