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LED Compatible 2-Wire Dimmer Switch

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    LED Compatible 2-Wire Dimmer Switch

    Just wanted to say, I love Insteon. I have a lot of products set up and a lot of them work great. The only problem I have is that the 2-wire switches that you offer are not compatible with LED bulbs. I would love if you made some 2-wire dimmer switches or just regular on/off switches that worked with LED's without a neutral wire. A lot of homes may have a neutral wire, but not a neutral wire run to every switch in the house. LED's are the way of the future and i'm tired of replacing halogen bulbs that burn out way too fast and are "low consumption" but actually just burn out faster. Not to mention that they are very wasteful, and cause a lot of pollution and take up a lot of space in landfills.

    #2
    The reason this is a problem, and is with anybody's 2-wire switches (really just Lutron as almost nobody else sells 2-wire dimmers) is that the switch needs to power itself. This means that either the current it used returns down a neutral wire, or for a 2-wire dimmer is sent through the bulb down the line. Technically, you can indeed use the 2-wire dimmer with LED bulbs, but with just one it will ordinarily be enough current to also turn on the bulb. If you have 4-5 bulbs in the switch though, that's enough load that it won't light up the bulbs (for most bulbs) and it'll work fine with it. Essentially, it comes down to the 2-wire dimmer needing a minimum amount of load.

    Obviously ideally you'd run a neutral to the box, but if you can't and you don't have enough lights to meet the minimum load requirement, the Lutron LUT-MLC adds a dummy load that simulates having a small incandescent bulb and allows the 2-wire dimmer to work properly with just a single incandescent bulb.

    Also, the reason that the Lutron are better about handling fewer bulbs is that the largest power user on an Insteon switch is the LED lighting. If you dim it or disable it, the power used goes down and can often bring the power usage low enough that 2 60W or 1 75-100W LED bulb won't light up when the switch is off.
    Last edited by jec6613; 07-13-2019, 09:55 AM. Reason: Adding info on switch power consumption.

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      #3
      Thanks for the info! So essentially I could wire a lutron LUT-MLC like so: (one wire connected to the load wire from the switch, the other wire connected to the load wire going to the light) if I didn't have the minimum load (if I understood correctly - but this is only needed if you don't have the minimum load required). I'm going to flat out say it I use the 2-wire dimmer with LED's and honestly for years it has worked great, one of my switches, however has crapped out, it is stuck on, and makes a constant clicking noise (like a relay). When I removed it and took it apart, there is no visible damage. I see some stuff that could have leaked from a capacitor but I think it's just glue.

      What's strange is that the 2-wire switch has enough power for the status LED's.

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        #4
        I have attached some photos of the inner workings of the 2474DWH defective 2-wire dimmer. It has worked for about 3 years, first with halogen lights, and then with multiple different LED lights.

        I also want to mention that I have a lot of other switches set up and working flawlessly with LED's, particularly these LED's: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

        I can send this switch to Insteon, if it will help you guys diagnose what went wrong or maybe help make the 2474DWH 2-wire work better with LED's.

        I know it is capable for it to work with LED's, it is just not listed as being capable of doing so, I'm just sure there is room for improvement.

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        This gallery has 3 photos.

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          #5
          You can send it to Insteon, but sometimes switches just go bad and need replacement - not often, fortunately, but it does happen. Clicking is never good in a switch without a relay.

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            #6
            It's great that it worked outside of what it was designed for but I highly doubt they would take you up on your offer. Something working outside of it's parameters doesn't mean it's capable of something in the eyes of the manufacturer.

            As Jec6613 stated it was designed for incandescents and sometimes devices do go bad . With that said, since it was used in ways that it wasn't designed for they would probably blame it on that

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