Luton dimmer switch/LED compatibility?

[lilcuda]

First off, I'm somewhat of a noob when it comes to home electrical wiring, etc.

I want to start replacing our old light switches and push-and-turn dimmers with Lutron paddle switches. The regular single pole switches don't confuse me, but 2 way and 3 way switches are still a bit of a mystery.

Anyway, is there a site that explains what dimmer switches work with incandescent and CFL & LED? I'm looking to replace a dimmer for a light that currently has an incandescent bulb, but I will eventually switch to an LED bulb. I don't want to have to change the switch in order to use LEDs in the future. Lutron's site is quite frankly, TMI. It's information overload.

Is possible or am I dreaming?

Thanks.

 

[exranger06]

Lutron sells two different kinds of dimmers: one that's compatible with only incandescent and halogens, and one that's compatible with basically everything: incandescents, halogens, CFLs, and LEDs. Just look for one that says "CFL and LED compatible" on the box. That one will work with the incandescent bulbs you have now, and it'll be ready for the LEDs in the future.

 

[cybrdyke]

What he said ^^^^
The part number will have a "CL" in it, as in DVCL153P.
Alot of them will operate both as a single pole and a 3 way.
If you have lots of 3 ways and 4 ways, then consider the Caseta. www.casetawireless.com
It's made by Lutron. It makes 3 ways much easier to deal with.
CD

 

[lilcuda]

Thanks for the info!

 

[lilcuda]

One more question - what if the existing switches are not grounded? My house was built in 1966 and most of the switches are not grounded.

 

[cort]

One more question - what if the existing switches are not grounded? My house was built in 1966 and most of the switches are not grounded.

Although not ideal, I think you will be fine without a ground wire.

Incidentally, you may have a grounded system anyway. If you have metal boxes and the wire is run in conduit or armored cable, then there is a good chance your system is grounded.

 

[exranger06]

Most of the switches in my house were not grounded. When replacing the switches, I added ground pigtails and connected them to the new switches. It's not hard to do, and brings it up to code.

 

[ssbtech]

I have some of these in my place http://www.lutron.com/en-US/Product...rs-Switches/MaestroDimmerSwitch/Overview.aspx


I like them. Partly because they confuse guests, but mostly for the features.

You can program the switches so that the lights come on to a pre-set brightness. I have mine set to 75% bright, but you can simply double-tap for full bright to override this setting.

You can set the speed of which the lights ramp up or down.

Press-and-hold the switch will enable a turn-off delay.

Multi-location dimming for those pesky three-way setups.

Yada yada....

 

[lilcuda]

Although not ideal, I think you will be fine without a ground wire.

Incidentally, you may have a grounded system anyway. If you have metal boxes and the wire is run in conduit or armored cable, then there is a good chance your system is grounded.

My switch boxes are dark brown phenolic plastic.

 

[lilcuda]

Most of the switches in my house were not grounded. When replacing the switches, I added ground pigtails and connected them to the new switches. It's not hard to do, and brings it up to code.

What did you connect the pigtails to?

 

[exranger06]

My house is wired with romex, so all the cables have a ground wire in them. So there are already ground wires in the switch boxes, they just weren't connected to the switches. A lot of them have two ground wires connected together, one that comes from the feed and the other goes to the light fixture. I untwist them, add a pigtail, and twist them all back together again and connect the pigtail to the switch.

 

[sands35]

FYI - just because the LED says it is dim-able, doesn't mean it won't hum when on lower settings. Going through this PITA right now to find a LED that has

a) right color temp
b) high CRI rating
c) low light setting when dim
d) doesn't hum

About to give up and just use halogen A19s in the bathroom.

There seams to be a difference in performance between Lutron and Leviton. Though I can't say which is better or not. Only that some LEDs work better on one rather than the other.

 

[ssbtech]

^ when changing from incandescent, I skipped the CFLs, LEDs and went directly to halogens

 

[cybrdyke]

FYI - just because the LED says it is dim-able, doesn't mean it won't hum when on lower settings. Going through this PITA right now to find a LED that has

a) right color temp
b) high CRI rating
c) low light setting when dim
d) doesn't hum

About to give up and just use halogen A19s in the bathroom.

There seams to be a difference in performance between Lutron and Leviton. Though I can't say which is better or not. Only that some LEDs work better on one rather than the other.

The new Philips 9.5A19 with WarmGlow is the best one currently IMO. 2700k when fully bright, dims down to 2200k, which mimics the way an incandescent lamp turns golden when it dims. I dont know of any others that do this and it's nice. CRI in the 80's. No hum.
Lutron is better. Look for any model with CL in the part number when using LED lamps.
Good luck
CD

 

[ssbtech]

Ok, I might as well piggy-back on this thread.

Any suggestions for a set of line-voltage under-cabinet LED puck lights?

I originally did things with little halogen lights, but they get very hot, enough that the heat can be felt in the cupboard above.

They're currently wired with a 120v coming into a plastic junction box that was part of the kit. From there, there's 120v outlets that the lights are plugged into.

I'd need a system where whatever transformer can replace this junction box then branch out to the lights. I have the abovementioned Lutron Maestro dimmers.

Cheers.