Pixi LED flat lights...redux...

Other Devices & Integrations Lighting & Load Control
#1

So we got one of the 2’x2’ residential lights to replace the old fluorescent fixture in our laundry room. 55W at full power, 3900 lumens, 2700K color temp. They’re proud of them–Home Depot sells these for $189.

Light went up with a major fight. This is a universal complaint about the beasts–that installing one, especially the 2x2 and especially as a surface mount on a ceiling, is a screaming b*tch. My sweetie and I battled through the last step (attaching the power wires and “sliding” the fixture onto the mounting plate) for about an hour, but finally were victorious.

We’re very happy with the result, if not the process. Light is much warmer than the thing it replaced, and while 2 4’ T8 tubes, according to spec, throw more light than 3900 lumens, because of the vastly superior direction/dispersion of the LED fixture, the room is much brighter.

Now off to order a VRE06-1LZ from the Amazon “sale”. Sigh. The dimmer is going to cost as much as the light. But LVE is what they spec for dimming these things. I’ll follow this up with a note on how well the thing dims.

–Richard

#2

[quote=“rlmalisz, post:1, topic:178425”]So we got one of the 2’x2’ residential lights to replace the old fluorescent fixture in our laundry room. 55W at full power, 3900 lumens, 2700K color temp. They’re proud of them–Home Depot sells these for $189.

Light went up with a major fight. This is a universal complaint about the beasts–that installing one, especially the 2x2 and especially as a surface mount on a ceiling, is a screaming b*tch. My sweetie and I battled through the last step (attaching the power wires and “sliding” the fixture onto the mounting plate) for about an hour, but finally were victorious.

We’re very happy with the result, if not the process. Light is much warmer than the thing it replaced, and while 2 4’ T8 tubes, according to spec, throw more light than 3900 lumens, because of the vastly superior direction/dispersion of the LED fixture, the room is much brighter.

Now off to order a VRE06-1LZ from the Amazon “sale”. Sigh. The dimmer is going to cost as much as the light. But LVE is what they spec for dimming these things. I’ll follow this up with a note on how well the thing dims.

–Richard[/quote]

Got the Leviton LVE dimmer yesterday, and got it installed. Have not tried going below 20%. but 20-100% works perfectly, no flicker, no buzz, no hum. Have a ZIR000 motion sensor in there, and have a pair of scenes set up to bring the light to 100% when there’s motion in the room, and drop it to 20% after the 2-minute idle window. Works fine, wish the “motion” response was a bit faster…there’s about a 1.5 second lag. I have that as a Vera command…may try doing it with Lua code instead, just to see if it’s faster.

So God help us, I’m ordering another of these 2x2 Pixis for the master bedroom closet. Should be a fraction easier to install, as we’ll have more room to work on it.

–Richard

#3

I can’t believe Leviton gets that much for those dimmers. Do you have any idea what makes these so much more expensive than the (already expensive) Cooper rf9540-n ?

I have a Cooper on order to test but I see a few have had buzzing issues with LEDs so I fear that a dozen Levitons are in my future. cough

#4

I’m guessing a little bit of increased development costs for the great dimmer plus a lot of extra profit.

#5

My guess is it is not only R&D, but also the “name” Leviton is just a big name. I know cooper has been around for a while and they are a big name, but at least to me, they are less known (on the residential side)

#6

Leviton also has to pay a license fee to Lutron for the “instant status” feature.

#7

Cooper wire also has instant status (or so the ones I looked up did). Either they are paying less in licensing fees, have a cross license deal worked out with Lutron for other technologies (meaning they pay no licensing fees or very little), or Leviton also ads a premium on top of everything because they are “leviton”.

That was my first though too @TC1, but once I saw that cooper wiriing products also had instant status, I came to the conclusion that the cost of that should be the same between the two.

#8

What is considered “cheap”? I just looked up the Cooper Zwave dimmers and they’re going for around $160 for the electronic low-voltage compatible ones (these will work with LED bulbs, almost guaranteed). Leviton equivalents go for about $160 to 180. So it’s almost a wash.

Personally, I think the Coopers are gorgeous, and come in a lot more colors. Still not crazy about spending $160 per switch when the time comes, but might not have much of choice (I’m currently putting in a low-voltage lighting system in my kitchen).

If you just need to control line voltage LEDs, then the Evolve/Linear dimmer switches are a more cost effective choice of around $50 or less each. These dimmers have universally good results with line voltage LED lights.

#9

I purchased several Cooper RF9540-N dimmers recently, and they caused all my dimmable LEDs to buzz/hum very loudly. I tried 7 different brands/models of dimmable LEDs in different fixtures on different circuits with the same issue. They were a no-go for me. Bought a Leviton VRE06-1LZ and the LEDs are silent at full power, and the hum at lower power levels is so quiet that it can only be heard within about a foot of the bulbs, so it’s a non-issue.

They’re way more expensive, but whatever ELV circuitry is in the VRE06-1LZ dimmers makes a huge difference in terms of acceptability.

If you’re only looking for on-off switches, rather than dimmers, the Cooper RF9501 works great. But we’re going for a uniform look, so we’ll stick with Leviton Vizia across the board.

#10

@JamesDVB, just a suggestion, did you try the Evolve LRM-AS dimmers? They generally get good results with LED lights, but only cost <$50 for the white ones, $4 more for different color trim kits. The only disadvantage I see is that they don’t have dimmer level indicators and they don’t support instant status.

#11

[quote=“TC1, post:8, topic:178425”]What is considered “cheap”? I just looked up the Cooper Zwave dimmers and they’re going for around $160 for the electronic low-voltage compatible ones (these will work with LED bulbs, almost guaranteed). Leviton equivalents go for about $160 to 180. So it’s almost a wash.

Personally, I think the Coopers are gorgeous, and come in a lot more colors. Still not crazy about spending $160 per switch when the time comes, but might not have much of choice (I’m currently putting in a low-voltage lighting system in my kitchen).

If you just need to control line voltage LEDs, then the Evolve/Linear dimmer switches are a more cost effective choice of around $50 or less each. These dimmers have universally good results with line voltage LED lights.[/quote]

I thought the RF9540-N was going for around $90? (I assume this is the one you’re talking about). This isn’t “cheap”, I guess, but is better than the Leviton VRE06-1LV at ~$180.

Are you talking about another Cooper model that I overlooked?

#12

[quote=“tbully, post:11, topic:178425”][quote=“TC1, post:8, topic:178425”]What is considered “cheap”? I just looked up the Cooper Zwave dimmers and they’re going for around $160 for the electronic low-voltage compatible ones (these will work with LED bulbs, almost guaranteed). Leviton equivalents go for about $160 to 180. So it’s almost a wash.

Personally, I think the Coopers are gorgeous, and come in a lot more colors. Still not crazy about spending $160 per switch when the time comes, but might not have much of choice (I’m currently putting in a low-voltage lighting system in my kitchen).

If you just need to control line voltage LEDs, then the Evolve/Linear dimmer switches are a more cost effective choice of around $50 or less each. These dimmers have universally good results with line voltage LED lights.[/quote]

I thought the RF9540-N was going for around $90? (I assume this is the one you’re talking about). This isn’t “cheap”, I guess, but is better than the Leviton VRE06-1LV at ~$180.

Are you talking about another Cooper model that I overlooked?[/quote]

Funny thing Tbully, when you bring up Coopers Z-wave dimmers that one is not even listed as a current model. I was looking at the RF9535-N

But you are correct, various sites have the 9540 at about $90. Maybe it’s a discontinued model?

#13

[quote=“TC1, post:12, topic:178425”]Funny thing Tbully, when you bring up Coopers Z-wave dimmers that one is not even listed as a current model. I was looking at the RF9535-N

But you are correct, various sites have the 9540 at about $90. Maybe it’s a discontinued model?[/quote]

Here’s a link that suggests otherwise. I was actually thinking it was a newer model based simply on a higher number than RF9535: ;D

[url=http://www.cooperindustries.com/content/public/en/wiring_devices/products/lighting_controls/aspire_rf_wireless/dimmers.html]http://www.cooperindustries.com/content/public/en/wiring_devices/products/lighting_controls/aspire_rf_wireless/dimmers.html[/url]

This could all be solved if their tech support would return the 2-3 messages I’ve left with them over the past 2 weeks. While I doubt I will have technical issues, the fact that they can’t respond to a simple product-line question makes me want to look more closely at another “premium” brand.

#14

Agreed, something is only a “value” if the company stands behind its products.

#15

@TC1, no, I haven’t tried the Evolve dimmers. Z-Waver also recommended them, but the two downsides I see are the lack of instant status and the fact that the ramp rate (fade on/fade off timing) can’t be changed (I’d like them instantly on rather than fading on). The instant status is the main concern, as I have ideas that would require instant status. For the price difference though, I’m considering trying the Evolves.

#16

Understood JamesDVB. It sucks that the only light devices that support instant status in the Z-wave world are at a substantially higher cost, when in reality, they all use the same integrated circuit inside (for the z-wave functionality).

My guess is that if one had enough light switches to add to their house, it might justify Insteon integration costs, which would be offset by the lower priced light devices that support instant status.