Originally Posted By: Dignan
I agree with everything you guys have said. I hadn't thought about smart LED bulbs being able to dim further but that makes a lot of sense. I'll have to look into whether any of them are supported by my system.

[quote=K447]I had not realized that the US electrical code had been changed to require AC neutral conductor in new construction switch boxes, since 2011.[/url]
Indeed. I've had to advise many new home automation users that the reason they're seeing weirdness with LED bulbs on their dimmer switches is because they bought switches that don't tie into the neutral wire. I have some of those in my house but they're terrible switches and I'm slowly replacing them so I can put LED bulbs in.

[url]Not to mention the undersized results from inadvertently 'dimming' a non-lighting device such as a TV.

Quote:
Ugh, don't get me started. Again, this is an issue I've had to warn new home automation users about. For some reason I keep coming across people who want to automate a lamp plugged into a switched outlet, and they decide to use a dimmer switch to do this. Yes, it'll technically work...for that lamp. But you won't want anything else plugged into it and that's too hard to predict.

Originally Posted By: matthew_k
Lutron makes a plug specifically for dimming lamps ...

Originally Posted By: Lurton
The National Electrical CodeR (NECR) prohibits the use of standard receptacles for dimming purposes.
So it is against the rules entirely to allow dimming control of a standard outlet. Only allowed with special outlets and special lamp plugs.

That would imply that you cannot legally provide dimming controls to regular outlets, regardless of whether your clients promise to not plug other things into that outlet. Liability ...


Edited by K447 (14/09/2016 18:15)