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Help! Need advice

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ctfjr

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Oct 30, 2011
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Basketball Capitol of the World
Well the short story here is I hired a contractor to remove a 2000 gallon underground oil tank at my house. He hit the underground service with his backhoe. Bottom line: he pulled the neutral right out of our 400 amp service box. By the time we realized it, it was too late. We lost a crapload of everything that was connected to the electric service, including ~100 dimmer switches in the house.
Our original switches are 'Decora' style. I am looking for LED compatible dimmers that can be used in multiple control points. ie in our bedroom we have 3 lighting circuits and 5 different control locations (15 total switches). All have 100% functionality (they can dim from off to full on).
In searching the interwebby I am overwhelmed with the choices - especially since I have no experience with any of them. Does anyone here have something they would recommend?

Thanks!
 
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nadogail

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Coronado, CA
Call your insurance man, he can call your contractor's insurance man and they "should" work together to make you whole.

Unfortunately, should do and does are not always have meaning.
 
P

pacemade

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Alaska
The point of hiring a contractor is to save you the headache, I would seriously be getting on the contractor to handle the problem.
 
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justsam

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Penngrove, California
I am a big fan of Lutron dimmers, especially in terms of controlling CFL's or LED. I cannot give a particular model number, since it will depend on how many watts are required. They make all the 3way and 4 way that you will need. They are a privately held company and in my opinion the product quality is a cut above others. The cost may be a little more so I would not just turn it over to the responsible party to fix, or they will pick the lowest cost alternative.

This may be the time consider SMART switches, if you are so inclined. Lutron also makes these products, but use their proprietary protocols. You may want to consider a more generic ZWave product if automation is your thing.

I am sure there will be other devices damaged as a result of the disconnected neutral. Make sure to check anything that was plugged in, which could be many devices, before you reach any type of settlement.

400 Amp is a large service. Is this a large home, all electric, or?
 
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C

ctfjr

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Oct 30, 2011
Messages
167
Location
Basketball Capitol of the World
justsam said:
I am a big fan of Lutron dimmers, especially in terms of controlling CFL's or LED. I cannot give a particular model number, since it will depend on how many watts are required. They make all the 3way and 4 way that you will need. They are a privately held company and in my opinion the product quality is a cut above others. The cost may be a little more so I would not just turn it over to the responsible party to fix, or they will pick the lowest cost alternative.

This may be the time consider SMART switches, if you are so inclined. Lutron also makes these products, but use their proprietary protocols. You may want to consider a more generic ZWave product if automation is your thing.

I am sure there will be other devices damaged as a result of the disconnected neutral. Make sure to check anything that was plugged in, which could be many devices, before you reach any type of settlement.

400 Amp is a large service. Is this a large home, all electric, or?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply justsam. As a mater of fact I was looking at the Lutrons (among others) online. Monday the electrician is coming back to install a sample of 5 pieces to see how they look/operate. If we were staying in the house I definitely would go for some type of automation compatible switch.

Our house is not all electric. Actually it uses less electricity than most (oil heat, gas dryer, gas cooktop, gas grill, hi eff ac, lo watt lights). I wanted the electric company to run a copper feeder from the street because of the long run ~500 feet. They told me they would only run copper for a 400 amp service. So I put in a 400 amp service. It was only when this clusterfook happened that I discovered it was Al wire after all :(

Some of the items we lost include: refrigerator oven & dishwasher (all repairable) plus those that weren't repairable:
microwave, Kurig, 3 UPS',computer server, computer firewall, tv, home theater system, all circulator relays, thermostats, laptop, monitor etc

As far as insurance goes, let this be a lesson to everyone. My homeowners has REPLACEMENT cost. It also has a $5000 deductible. Here in Connecticut their insurance only has to pay ACTUAL CASH VALUE. So, if the TV we lost cost $500 3 years ago their ins co will probably just give me $2-300. My ins co will pay me whatever it costs to replace it. Either way way I'm screwed. I've decided to go with my ins co. I will get back from them whatever % they collect against my deductible - so if they end up getting 80% back, I'll get 4000 of my 5000 back. We will see.
 
Z

zmaxmotorsports

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Jan 11, 2013
Messages
11,948
Location
South of omaha
ctfjr said:
Thanks for the reply justsam. As a mater of fact I was looking at the Lutrons (among others) online. Monday the electrician is coming back to install a sample of 5 pieces to see how they look/operate. If we were staying in the house I definitely would go for some type of automation compatible switch.

Our house is not all electric. Actually it uses less electricity than most (oil heat, gas dryer, gas cooktop, gas grill, hi eff ac, lo watt lights). I wanted the electric company to run a copper feeder from the street because of the long run ~500 feet. They told me they would only run copper for a 400 amp service. So I put in a 400 amp service. It was only when this clusterfook happened that I discovered it was Al wire after all :(

Some of the items we lost include: refrigerator oven & dishwasher (all repairable) plus those that weren't repairable:
microwave, Kurig, 3 UPS',computer server, computer firewall, tv, home theater system, all circulator relays, thermostats, laptop, monitor etc

As far as insurance goes, let this be a lesson to everyone. My homeowners has REPLACEMENT cost. It also has a $5000 deductible. Here in Connecticut their insurance only has to pay ACTUAL CASH VALUE. So, if the TV we lost cost $500 3 years ago their ins co will probably just give me $2-300. My ins co will pay me whatever it costs to replace it. Either way way I'm screwed. I've decided to go with my ins co. I will get back from them whatever % they collect against my deductible - so if they end up getting 80% back, I'll get 4000 of my 5000 back. We will see.
Click to expand...
Id let his insurance pay,then they can go back after the locate co.;)
 
C

cybrdyke

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Joined
Sep 9, 2014
Messages
3,449
Location
USA
www.lutron.com for the standard dimmers
They make a model called Maestro which offers some wireless capabilities as well. If you had a Maestro wireless dimmer, it can talk, wirelessly to occupancy sensors, daylight sensors and motorized window shades.
Lutron also makes a new family of products called Caseta. www.casetawireless.com With caseta, you can have hand held remotes, scene buttons, and all kinds of other features.
CD
 
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