Whats Everyone Using For A Z-Wave Light Bulb Now?

I avoid automated bulbs and prefer instead to use hard-wired switches, or outlet modules to control lighting loads. Too many issues trying to get color matching across multiple brands of bulbs. Let the user select the ideal bulb and then control it externally.

Nortek/Linear decided to stop manufacturing their best selling z-wave light bulb for some reason & without explanation.

It might have been just my experience, but the five bulbs I bought all stopped working or lost connectivity after a few months of use.  I thought those bulbs were junk, and my hunch is that must have been common.

I've subsequently had good success with Jasco/GE's bulb. I bought a box of four for ~$55, or ~$14 each.

I only have a few GE Bulbs I keep using for my smart home, as I have 3 lamps that switches aren't an option.  They are Zigbee if I recall, but anything I can switch, I do so over to Leviton ZWave switches.  I do so because they match existing switches in appearance and offer the Light Almond option.  I hear many like the Caseta switches and apparently many if not most don't require a neutral.  A non issue in my home.

I want my home smart, but I want anyone to walk in and not need a description on how to operate things.  So far I've done that, using Wink.  I hear SmartThings is better with integrations, but UI is more confusing.  I don't really care as most is setup with robots, after all that is the point of HA stuff.  Alexa annoys me once in a while, but she seems fine with my wife, not me.

I'm late to this party, but Z-Wave/Zigbee light bulbs exist to eliminate a really common problem in smart homes, the lack of neutrals at switch boxes. It was very common for a long time to run the power to the light, then run a 12/2 down to the switch to break the hot, instead of running a neutral to the switch, then up to the light.

Most Z-Wave switches will not work without a neutral, or if they do, they never work quite right. Lights flicker or stay on at a low level even when the switch is "off". By contrast, anyone* can screw in a light bulb. It's not as usable, but it's workable where other options might not be.

I've been living with two smart homes for ten years, and while I prefer switches, I still have several light bulbs floating around.

Gosh darn. I just installed 4 of the LB60Z1 light bulbs in my house in October and they had worked great so far. I did take a look at the GE/Jasco. I didn't like my options with the bulbs but it's so much easier swapping a bulb than a switch.