I was wondering what others? thoughts are on the following topic. I?ve seen countless posts within this community from others looking for workarounds when using Leviton Incandescent Dimmers such as the VRI06-1LZ with Dimmable LED or CFL bulbs. These workarounds range from using certain bulbs that just seem to work to installing resistors inline that always use current. Personally, I?m reluctant with either of these approaches. I?ve tried to limit my installation of VRI06?s knowing the government?s active plan to phase out traditional incandescent bulbs. I think dimmable lights are very useful/cool and I?d like expand my use of them with Leviton VIZIA RF Plus style dimmers, but I?m getting impatient.
The reality is that Leviton builds ?universal? LED/CFL dimmers that are not Z-Wave enabled such as the 6674-P0W or IPL06-10Z that sell for under a $30.00. It seems reasonable that a $70 dimmer should be able to offer similar capabilities. They obviously know how to build such a device, why have they not expanded their VIZIA-RF line to include one? Is there any interest from this community in actively trying to influence a new product?
Finally, does anyone know when Leviton announces new products? Does their acquisition of HAI change their plans with the VIZIA RF + Line? What do you think?
Leviton Vizia RF VRE dimmers are supposed to handle this, but you’ll want to hold onto your chair when you see their prices.
As to the pricing questions, that’s really a question you should direct to Leviton itself. The folks here are just consumers of the tech, and while we keep paying, they’ll likely keep charging… 8).
That said, these are the only ZWave devices I have that haven’t broken/failed in some manner in 4+ yrs of use.
The smart folk at Fibaro have solved the problem of dimming LEDs and switching CFLs by offering a Dimmer Bypass (FGB001). This is a small two-wire component that is connected across the load to divert the small quiescent current of the dimmer so it does not pass through the lamp. I suspect that it contains some active electronics as it does not dissipate much power (<= 1W).
The FGB001 is offered (and presumably only approved) for use with the Fibaro FGD211 500W dimmer but I wonder how well it would work with other Z-Wave dimmers? If your dimmer has a low quiescent power consumption (the FGD211 is spec’d as < 0.8W), it may be worth a try.
In any event, if Fibaro can make such a product, so could other manufacturers. Unless, of course, they just want you to buy their whizzy new models…
Best Home Automation shopping experience. Shop at Ezlo!