Exten Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 So my house was outfitted with the Leviton line of X10 compatible switches and pads. I dumped all that and completely redid everything with insteon. Big expense that was....both times. So with the subject of the incandescent bulb ban on the horizon.....what am I gonna do? Will all these LED bulbs I'm seeing work with my new crop of Insteon switches - will they be dimmable and remotely ISY controllable? Does Insteon have anything on the horizon that will work for those of us that have a substantial investment in their switches? How screwed am I?
Xathros Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 Hi Exten- I am using about 85% LED bulbs in my Insteon system. About 60% of those are on dimmers. Dimming performance varies from model to model on the bulbs but overall is not too bad. Unlike Incandescent, LEDs generally won't come on until you reach 15 to 20% dim level on the ramp up and will drop out somewhere around 10% on the ramp down. Again, depends on the bulb, Color temp does not change much at all from dim to bright. Otherwise they seem fine. -Xathros
Brian H Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 The ban just added 40 and 60 watt bulbs to the 75 and 100 watt ones baned in the last two years. The replacement halogen ones to replace the banned ones should be no problem. I tried a 72 watt replacement for the old 100 watt ones and it was fine. So there are still some replacement that act like incandescents. If you wanted to go that route. Many of the Dimmable LED bulbs work fine with Insteon Dimmer type devices and should also be fine with the On Off relay types. There are threads here and on the Smarthome forums on Dimmable LED bulbs. Not all brand and models are 100%. I have one Philips that flickered on a X10 Lamp Module but was 100% OK with Insteon Modules. Looking at the threads will give you ones that worked fine and others that maybe not 100% I actually saw a thread in the Candlepower Forums. On a LED bulb that changes color temperature. To more closely match an incandescent being dimmed. http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/sho ... -LED-lamps
Exten Posted January 3, 2014 Author Posted January 3, 2014 So I guess I have to try several kinds in order to find out what will work best with insteon switches. Good to know that there are some options before replacing every switch in the house yet a 3rd time. If it comes to that....they will become standard bat toggles or decora paddles and I will not spend any more $ on the subject of fancy automated light switches.
apostolakisl Posted January 3, 2014 Posted January 3, 2014 I have had great luck with Cree bulbs. Home Depot sells the CR6 which is for recessed cans and they have 40 and 60 watt A19 bulbs in Cree. I also have some Phillips bulbs, they perform well, but the Cree are much cheaper, have great specs, have good warranty, and so far haven't failed me.
Exten Posted January 3, 2014 Author Posted January 3, 2014 Okie dokie....I'll try Cree first. Thanks all.
gatchel Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 Okie dokie....I'll try Cree first. Thanks all. It may say Ecosmart on the box.
apostolakisl Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 Okie dokie....I'll try Cree first. Thanks all. It may say Ecosmart on the box. This bulb http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cree-60W-Equ ... 204592770# And this bulb http://www.homedepot.com/p/EcoSmart-6-i ... 202240932# Are the 2 that I have used extensively with great success. The second one I have at least 70 of between my home and my office and the first I have about 20 of. Gatchel is correct that HD brands some Cree with Ecosmart, but, conversely, all Ecosmart are not Cree.
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