Which Do You Like The Best?

747

Dimmer control. Which do you guys like the best. Rocker,Slide,Toggle,Rotary?

macmikeman

You left out remote control and x-10. Remote control dimmers are the coolest ones.

Gordo

Toggle.

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Looks like some pros were here.

mdshunk

Whatever the customer is paying for is what I like.

I carry the push on/push off rotary dimmers on the truck, since that is the most common for service replacements. For new work, people have been asking for toggle if they're getting regular devices, and slide if they're getting decorator devices. Touch dimmers were a fad that came and went pretty fast.

Speedy Petey

Lutron Skylark is my standard item. Very few customers dislike them.

You know what I like about push/rotary dimmers? Replacing them because they break.

I have Lightolier Onset all over my house. They have those cool (or gay depending on your POV) LEDs on the side.

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mdshunk

Yep... true. That's why every electrician's service truck has a couple.

I sorta like the one's that look like a reguar snap switch with the little slide thing next to the toggle handle. I guess it's a personal preference thing, mostly.

macmikeman

Gordo, I love that picture you have for a signature. Does it really get that good around Virginia Beach? macmikeman on Oahu.

robertc65

Smarthome is selling a line of PLC dimmer/controllers named Insteon. You can set these up to turn on at a specific Dim level. You can set the ramp up rate and ramp down rate so they will appear to fade on and off. This is just the begining of what they can do. You can use them to create virtual 3way, 4way or how ever many way you want. One switch connects to the load. The other switches just need Hot, nuetral and gnd. They communicate through the existing romex in the home. You link them together by simply holding the on button on for 10 seconds on one switch and then doing the same on every other switch you want to control the same load. You can program scenes if you like also, which can turn on multiple lights in a group to pre-programmed dim levels. You can have a scene for dinner time, movie time and party time. These are similar to the Leviton X10-Pro switches and as a matter of fact you can set them to have an X10 code so they can be controlled with an X10 controller. Unlike basic X10 they, communicate in a two way fashion so when a controller sends a signal to turn on or off a light the receiving controller will send anAcknowledgement signal back to verify that the signal was received. If an Acknowledgement is not received it will try again until it's successful. This makes them way more reliable than X10. At about $25 each they are a very good deal. Often they are onsale for $19.95

Rob

cmwacasey

I would like to ask the original question another way.which dimmer contols are the most reliable.from what I have seen,lutrons rocker with the slide dimmer is the most unreliable.my customers like them,but they seem to me to have a short lifespan.

Speedy Petey

Which Lutron are you describing? From the description it sounds like my Skylard series.
I find it hard to believe you have a bad history with them. I have nothing but good luck. I can't remember the last time I replaced one due to failure.

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cmwacasey

I will check and get back with you,speedy. Iam on my way to the shop.

mdshunk

I have yet to replace any Lutron dimmer (other than a rotary) that wasn't obviously damaged by abuse. I fried one myself installing it, but that's another issue.

Speedy Petey

Oh no you di-int.

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cmwacasey

Speedy and md,Ihave an 8 year history with the lutrons.I hate typing so I will try to keep this short.lutrons with the leds--installed about 40 8 years ago---had to later replace about 8 within the first year then the clients sold the home.I would not use the ones with the leds when I built two log cabins for the same clients.Installed about 30 in the log cabins[mod#dvw600ph-al].About 7have quit so far.In all cases it seems that there is a mechanical problem, where the switch falls apart on the inside.

sparkbill

Speaking about dimmer choices...
Does anybody have problems with customer complaints about dimmers running hot? I tend to use the Lutron "Ariadni" style (toggle with the little slide next to it), always keep them within the guidelines for derating when tabs get removed but sometimes they still run terribly hot.
I've got a statement from the factory that claims they can run at such and such a temperature and still be OK but that doesn't satisfy some homeowners.
Are there certain styles that don't run as hot or don't transmit the heat through the plate screws so much?
Thanks in advance

mdshunk

All dimmers run hot. Exactly how hot just depends on how heavily they're loaded. I will often install a dimmer one size bigger when available to aviod the phonecall.

Speedy Petey

cmwacasey, sounds to me like a waranty/recall issue. That is way too many to fail in a short time. Especially for Lutron.
I bet they (corporate) would want to know about it.

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cmwacasey

I got another broke down lutron at this very moment,--still in the wall [3way dimmer] anyone know a rep that might be interested.at this point I cannot recomend them.I have had no other electical problems in these houses.