Advice on switch selection for LED dimmers

Thanks for all the incredible threads and help. I’ve just got my hub and an in the midst of remodeling my kitchen/dining room area. Before I hit “buy” and set off on installing, I’d greatly appreciate validation that I’m selecting the right switches and bulbs.

There are 3 “sets” of lights - the dining room lights (the 4 X’s at the top), over peninsula lights (the two X’s in the middle), and 6 kitchen lights (the 6 X’s at the bottom.)

[unfortunately I can’t post my image because I’m new - which I totally get from a moderation perspective :slight_smile: ]

My instinct is to have 3 switches on each panel where the switches at the top/dining room panel are the masters and would use: http://www.amazon.com/Linear-WD500Z-1-Z-Wave-500-watt-Dimmer/dp/B00E1OVFAK

Should I use the exact same switches for the other panel and just not connect them to the hub so they match aesthetically?

Also, what are the best LED bulbs for these 6 inch can recessed lights?

Any favorite for z-wave outdoor lights with no smart switch? Thanks in advance all - hugely appreciated!!

The lowes sunset effect leds from sylvan is have great build quality and become warm as you dim like traditional bulbs.

My personal recommendation is to look towards the Leviton Vizia Z-Wave line of switches.

I use the Linear ones you listed and the Linear 3 ways with then. Everything works very well. The switches have a slightly different look (the load ones have the air gap switch) but it looks fine. I use Cree bulbs for my recessed lights.

Like I said, everything works very well and the lights dim to a very low setting. I recommend the Linears because they are good quality and not very expensive…which can add up when you have lots of switches. I’m slowly replacing a good chunk of switches around the house with them and my wife is fine with it since the cost is reasonable.

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Thanks all - really appreciate the quick responses. I’ll let you know how things turn out!

Some advice, bolded important stuff

I love the linear zwave switches. Work very well. I would also look into the new revised GE line of zwave dimmers and on/off switches that all have neutrals, before older ge zwave switches(dimmers) didn’t require neutral, which is a big no-no for led bulbs. The new GE dimmers 12724(dimmer) requires a neutral and if u got alot of 3,4,5 way switches that have traveler wires and neutrals then GE route is a little cheaper than getting linear zwave switches, plus GE 3,4,5 way setups don’t require a aeon minimote to associate slave and master switches like the linear/evolve zwave switches. So for example for my upstairs lights I have a 5 way setup, so 4 switches needed and fortunately they all have traveler wires and neutrals so GE setup would cost about $100, whereas a linear/evolve setup would cost about $140-160 and that doesn’t include the aeon minimote(which is another $30-40 dollars) needed to associate switches to complete 5 way setup. Now the GE slave switch does not have zwave, while the linear/evolve slave switches have zwave so that is where the saving come. There is pros to linear/evolve slave switches having zwave. For example, I have 3 hue BR30s in a circuit and because the linear/evolve slave switches don’t need a load and have Zwave built in I can wire the circuit as “always hot” and make the ST recognize the slave switch and put the 3 hue BR30s on a smartapp like “dim with me” so when I hit physical switch ST sees the switch as on and the hue leds can turn on and when off they can turn off without cutting the power to bulbs. This eliminates people turning off the switch by accident, cutting power to bulbs making it so one cannot control hue bulbs without manually hitting the switch to on. I know this is alot so take what u need from this info… i’ve researched alot of options and just sharing what i’ve learned. Good luck and take care.

I bought the GE switch from Lowes and my wife hated it plus it buzzed when dimmed. So I got http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-Z-Wave-Controls-3-way-Remote-Scene-Capable-Locator-Universal-LED-Dimmer-White-Ivory-Light-Almond-R02-DZMX1-1LZ/205298585?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053 and wife likes it. Even more it does not buzzed when dimming LEDs.

Where are you finding these GE switches? I have seen the 12724 for $46 each and the 12723 companion for $40. At these prices my 5 way would cost $130. I too am looking for a 4 and 5 way cost conscious solution for my home with LED lights. My home has been recently renovated to include a neutral wire at all switch boxes.

@nmeyer078 The GE dimmers at Lowes (at least all the ones i have checked) are the old model GE switches # 45612 that do not have neutrals so they don’t work well with dimmable and non dimmable LEDs and CFL and causes buzzing. The new GE dimmers model # 12724 require neutrals and reportedly work great with LEDs and CFL’s.

@chaospup here is the GE dimmer 12724 ($41.27) http://store.homeseer.com/store/GE-12724-Z-Wave-Wireless-Lighting-Control-Dimmer-Switch-P1895C189.aspx
and here is the aux switch ($18.99) http://store.homeseer.com/store/GE-12723-Z-Wave-Add-On-Auxiliary-Switch-P1896C189.aspx

So for my 5 way setup with GE dimmer I would need 1 dimmer switch $41.27 and 3 aux switches $18.99 each. and would be little less than $100 if shipping is included.

For the same 5 way setup with linear dimmer and aux switches it would be about $200 because the 30-40 dollar aeon minimote is needed for associating the linear aux switches to master.
@chaospup I plan on doing this same setup for my 5 way and have high hopes for this setup, plus you save quite a bit versus buying 5 linear/evolve master and aux switches that are about $35 each, regardless of if you buy a master or aux linear/evolve switch.

@tenzingsherpa Thanks for the info, I have to broaden my on-line shopping net. Thanks again.

Does that aux support dimming? Its hard to tell. I have a bunch of Linears, but I also have a ton of three and four way switches I need to still replace. This would be significantly cheaper if this combination is the right one.

Anyone have a side-by-side, in use comparison with a Linear so we can see the lights, etc. Can I put it next to a Linear without too many issues in terms of looks? WAF here… and to be honest, my approval factor. I’m a bit of a stickler about it! :smile:

Because of the subtle differences in plastic color and major difference in the airgap, I think they look terrible next to each other.

crap… (twenty characters)

@brianlees Now that is a good question about the aux supporting dimming. Now I have not tried the older ge dimmer and aux combo myself, however if the old aux and dimmer combo supported dimming i figure the new GE dimmer and aux would. I’m almost positive though that this aux would support dimming if paired to a ge dimmer. If anyone can confirm this please let us know. If not i can confirm this when I get some free time to dig into my 5 way dimming setup.

I also realized one issue that prevents me from switching mid-stream to the GE switches - their lights are blue and the Linear are green. Oh well…

Thanks for the help thus far - I’m loving my new setup and most of my lights are working great. The only issue I’m still having is successfully getting my Linear WD500Z with WT00Z-1 switches connected to one another. I’ve read the other threads mentioning that an Aeon Minimote is required to get the accessory switch to pair successfully with the primary switch. I now have the minimote, but sadly I’m not clear on exactly how to pair them
.
If anyone has gone through this process with a Wink system and could walk me through the steps as basically as possible, I would be eternally grateful. Thanks!

How do the new GE dimmer’s sound when dimming a load? All of my old GE’s connected even to a light ~60w incandescent load buzzed like crazy. Replacing some of my overheads with LEDs and need to decide on a dimmer.

@swamplynx I have 5 GE 12724 dimmers some with Aux switch for 3/4 way setup and none of them are buzzing.

1 has two 7w dimmable LED can lights
1 in 4-way config controls six 12w LED can lights
1 in 3-way config controls three 12w LED can light
1 has a 60w incandescent bulb in the attic
1 has four 12w LED bulbs - at first install I did hear a buzz coming from the bulbs but replaced the bulb and the buzz went away (failing LED bulb?)

The only issue I have seen (not an issue to me but some might have) is that I can only dim to 15-20% and have to have dim level at >20% if I want the lights to turn on low. this is due to the start current needed for the lights to stay on (or something like that that many of the ST Community can explain :stuck_out_tongue:)

Make sure you have that neutral wire in the switch box or these switches will not work.

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Thanks for the intel. I actually like the rocker style UI of the GE unit better and the blue indicator LED light is consistent with the rest of my switches, so this is great news.

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Thank you ST Community! After a lot of research, some trial and error, finally got the scheduling and effect I’ve been wanting for a long time!!