Do all Z-wave switches have a minimum wattage.? The Intermatic ha06’s and HA14’s have a minimum wattage and when I try to use my 20w dimmable CFL bulbs they stay flickering in the off position. Do I need to go with a different model??
It is my understanding that the physics of how digitally controlled dimmer switches work, prevent them from dimming all the way down to zero, so it’s not just z-wave dimmer switches that won’t work with a dimmable CFL is any remote controlled dimmer switch. Dimmable CFLs only work with analog dimmer switches. As far as I know the only way it could work, is the switch also had a relay in it that could be used to reach the zero Watt state, I’m guessing that having both the dimmer and the relay in the device would either make them too big or too expensive, as I have not be able to find any on the market.
Seems strange that when I listen to the light in the off stage that I can hear this high pitched noise. It’s not very loud, but i can hear it. I am really liking the vera and the idea of how it will work, but by using regular bulbs it is using more electricity and i thought one of the main idea’s was to save electricity. I am also quite frustrated by the problems I am having with getting the devices to work at all. Vera works fine, but i am having problems with the intermatic switches.
You don’t have to use dimmer switches you can use z-wave relay switches with CFLs. If you really need to be able to dim the lights, I believe that dimmable LED bulbs are compatible with digital dimmer switches. The blubs are expensive up-front, but they use about 50% the energy of CFLs, don’t take time to “warm up” when you turn them on at last 20 years.
Halogen bulbs are also dim-able with a digital dimmer switch and I believe they are somewhere between CFLs and incandescents in terms of lumens per watt.
Also, 2-wire dimmers (no neutral) that are meant to get power through the filament do not work well (if at all) with CFL bulbs.