ISO deal on 3-way wall switch for fluorescent ballasts

I know this usually works the other way, but I’d like to find a 3way toggle switch to control some lights in my garage. They are on standard fluorescent ballasts so I want to avoid a dimmer. Has anyone seen a sale? It doesn’t have to be an amazing deal. Just stubborn and hate paying retail.

Zooz switches are good price even if not on sale.

Latest version is supposed to work in 3-way config with standard dumb switch and no wiring changes. I’ve got 4 of them waiting for me to have time to install.

https://www.thesmartesthouse.com/collections/zooz

I have two Zooz switches in my house, they come with 3 way instructions - I’m not using the 3 way. They work great with Smart things.

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I’ve got two of these

And two of the newest dimmers

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Awesome, thanks everyone. I’ll have to try these, they are indeed cheaper than I’ve seen the GE on sale. I have a dimmer and add-on switch combo now, but the lights ramp up and I’m afraid I’ll damage a ballast. Theae look promising and if they work with a regular switch that’s a big bonus.

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Hi guys
Is it ok to use this toggle switch(ZooZ Zen23 2.0) for a basement light that has I think eight max ten 32W T12 fluorescent light. Which Watt limit does this fall into? I see 150W for Led and 960W for incandescent. Does it matter if it has an electronic ballest or the old style starter?
@Thesmartesthouse

That’s definitely the 150W limit and we don’t recommend using the switches with tubes (whether electronic ballast or old style starter). Any type of fluorescent tube light will cause power spikes at start-up that may damage the electronics so we recommend changing fluorescent tubes to LED before installing any type of Z-Wave switch to control them. It will be hard to fit into the 150W limit either way. Maybe the GE 1000W switch (model 14299) could work better here? We’ve never carried it so it’s best to check with Jasco support first.

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@packerprogrammer out of curiosity - why do you want to stick to fluorescent instead of upgrading to LED?

Because I’m cheap mostly. And from my experience just swapping out to an LED tube has nowhere near the life. I’ve had bad luck with them.

I found some cheap 2 x 4 led fixtures. Now the issue is it’s close to 120w but I Wish I could use ZooZ ZEN27

Hmmm, that sort of answers my original question. Before I install any z-wave switch I should replace the tubes or the fixture. That makes it easy…more expensive, but easy.

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Bypassing ballast to replace fluorescent with LED takes about 5 minutes each. I just replaced every single one of them in my house last weekend. Now I will start replacing the switches. My family has a habit of never turning off lights.

Time isn’t really the deterrent for me, it’s the cost. LED bulbs aren’t cheap especially when the bulb i’m replacing is just being disposed of. Plus, I had issues with the life of the LED bulb. But, you do mention a valid point. Although the LED tubes I purchased were designed to be used with an electronic ballast…i can see how it would still potentially damage it. If I choose to replace another florescent with LED, I’ll remove the ballast.

@TheSmartestHouse

Thanks for the info. I wasn’t aware of the fluorescent bulb spike. This may explain why I lost a switch on a fluorescent tube light and why the replacement switch will still occasionally get confused and require me to pull the air gap. I guess it’s off to the hardware store to pick up a couple of LED tubes

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More than the price, the issue is I wont use any smart switch with fluorescent tubes. There are plenty of articles out there about smart switches not working with these. If I need to automate, LED is the only option.

I bought the Hyperikon bulbs from Amazon, excellent reviews. I got a piece of paper in the package that said for limited time they are giving 10-year unlimited warranty extension, regular warranty is 5 years.

Yeah, that’s the thing though. Since I’ve now learned not to use smart switches on florescent tubes, the added cost of automation makes manually flipping the switch way more attractive :slight_smile:

Or just using a dumb motion activated switch.

Inovelli says their switches work with them. I’ve had one running for about 6 months with no problems.