Recessed light LEDS

[mparadis]

As part of my two room rebuild I am going to integrate some recessed lighting as I have no ceilings currently. I was wondering if anyone has experience using LED recessed lights and controlling them with a z-wave / zigbee three way outlet. Am starting at the beginning with this build including new lines from the electrical panel so any help is appreciated.

[Deleted]

Maybe I am not understanding, but why not use a binary light switch or a dimming switch.  I put LED recessed lights in my Family Room and used Leviton Dimmer switch.  It works great.  In other locations I use a GE binary switch.

[Vito]

You could also use Philips Hue bulbs, which would allow you to change the color of light for each bulb.  It's one of those things that once you have it, it's difficult to go back to ordinary lighting.  I have quite a few of these, and use them as recessed lighting throughout my front porch and balcony.

[mparadis]

Hue bulbs are probably out of my price range but my concern was over the LED's part of the recessed lights. A lot of switches, including some z wave ones dont play nice with leds and I would be looking for a dimmer style.  Is the Leviton a three way?

[Deleted]

The Leviton supports 1000w, the GE dimmer supports 500W.  I am using the Leviton dimmer with 8 LED (15 W each) recessed lights.  The GE ones have LED bulbs and the package advertises support for CFLs and LEDs, one of them is driving 6 bulbs (each bulb is 12 W).  The only thing I have found is that if driving a fan, you need to make sure you get a switch specifically for it.

All the switches I bought support 3-way hookup with auxiliary switches.  As far as cost, I paid $60 for the Leviton dimmer and $40 for the GE dimmers.  I think the price difference is in how many watts it supported.  The good news is that the auxiliary switches (needed for 3 way) run less than $20.  I have used the GE ones for a 4 way wiring and for a 3 way in multiple locations. 

The only complaint I have is that right now, the Almond+ does not detect a change in state when I turn on/off the lights via the auxiliary switches.  I hope they fix it in an upcoming firmware.

Hope that helps.

[pete]

Yeah here gone to using virtual links (well on UPB) for three way lighting switches.  The aux traveler wires were there to utilize as I was replacing many 3-ways here.

Nowadays with LED lamps no need to worry about maximum wattage.  I still have a few 1000 watt switches around (kitchen, chandelier et al).  They do get warm and have massive heat sinks on them. 

I have 14 recessed spots (or floods?) in the kitchen on one switch while a few in separate sections of the kitchen.  Wife likes the kitchen to be daylight.  The main switch with the load is linked to 4 other switches virtually which do not carry the load for the main in ceiling cans.  The new LED Par 30's have dropped considerably in the last year and now all dim OK from what I have read.

Recently here purchased a few LED cob lights which dim via the automated switch but the dim levels are totally different than the incandescent lighting. 

[mparadis]

Thanks for all the info. I'll be able to set up what I want hopefully this way. Do the GE / Leviton three way switches use the standard 3 way wiring schematic with a traveler wire? Thanks!

[Deleted]

When you say "standard", if you mean the way you wire a regular light switch, the answer is no.

That being said.  Wiring the auxiliary switches is fairly straight forward.  On the back of the GE/Leviton dimmer, there are five wire terminals; LOAD, LINE, NEUTRAL, GROUND and TRAVELER.  The traveler line is unused except in 3 (or 4) way wiring.  On the back of the auxiliary switch there are three terminals; NEUTRAL, GROUND, and TRAVELER .  The traveler line connects the auxiliary switch to the dimmer switch. 

All this makes using existing wiring simple.  I did a bit of reading online before getting started and learning from others helped a loT. Here are some things I learned:

1.  Makes sure you have a neutral line (some older homes don't). Zwave needs it and whining on forums gets you laughed at
2.  I always get LOAD and LINE mixed up.  Fortunately both the Leviton and GE switches don't break if you mis-wire.  They just won't work.  The LED on them is a great indicator.  No LED light, try swapping LOAD and LINE.
3.  Always wire up the main dimmer/switch first and make sure it works.  Then add each auxiliary switch.
4.  Buy some extra 12 gauge white wire and lots of wire caps; you'll need them
5.  If you are putting a few switches next to each other, remove the edge tabs BEFORE you wire everything up.  They are much easier to remove when they are not all done up.
6.  Use the forums.  Honest questions get answered quickly and can save you time and money (I know this first hand)

Sorry for the long post but I hope this helps.

[mparadis]

Helps a ton thanks and I meant standard three way switch wiring. Thanks for all the tips!