4 way lighting + Dimmer recommendations?

[grahamk]

I hope it is OK to ask these types of questions here.

 

I need to settle on a brand (or method) for 4 way lighting. I have 5 4 way installations in my house that are on straight toggle switches that I would like to retrofit with zwave and I suppose I should add dimming while i am at it.

 

Micro switches appear to be the best bang for the buck. Are people having good luck with those? Are there any brands that have best functionality for the $$? Are there wiring considerations i must account for before going this route? My house is 30 years old - but it does seem to comply with current wiring codes.

 

There also seems to be a question of supportability with Aeon micro dimmers and the Isy. Is that universal or do all of these switches require the multichannel zwave that I have read the Isy does not yet support? Do you lose all functionality without the multichannel or just some subset (I do not care about monitoring power levels).

 

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

Graham

 

[jon102034050]

I just installed the following in a 4 way setup:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-VRMX1-1LZ-Universal-Magnetic-Voltage/dp/B005Y8JC6Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451320070&sr=8-1&keywords=vrmx1-1lz

 

The VRMX1-1LZ supports Zwave instant, which is pretty awesome.  Also, for some reason, the VRMX are now cheaper than the DZMX, which is supposed to be Leviton's budget line...  Anywho, if you do decide to proceed with the switch, make sure you're getting the appropriate cooperating switches (VP00R-1LZ or VP00R-10Z).  The VP00R-1LZ requires a hot at each remote switch location, which (to my understanding) isn't how a typical 4 way is setup (if the remote locations are just a single switch).  So, I had to go with the VP00R-10Z (only difference is the LED indicator).  

 

So far, the setup is working great.  The coordinating switches are really cheap because they actually aren't zwave enabled switches (to my knowledge), but rather just standard switches that interact with a main zwave switch.

 

edit - just saw your house is 30 years old, this may not work for you depending on if you have neutral wires...

[stusviews]

The wiring in virtually every multiway configuration can reconfigured to provide line and neutral at every switch box. The one exception is when the supply is at the ceiling box and there's a 2-wire cable from there to the switch box. Even that can be overcome, if needed.

[grahamk]

Thanks - I need to track down the wiring. There is an X10 4 way setup in there now which I can recall required some tweaking, but that's all I remember.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

[Brian H]

The X10 Companion switches. Used Line and Control connection back to the X10 switch controlling the load and responding to the Companion.

I would think you could rewire the traveler wires to provide Line and Neutral needed for the Insteon Switches.

The Insteon Modules Full Users manual usually have a multi-way diagram in them.

[Guitartexan]

I have installed Enerwave switches in my house. You'll need a three way master switch and two or three slaves. They do all require the neutral to function. I have opted for 100% z-wave in my house and I have had no communication issues. Programs are easy to write and the Enerwave products are working reliably. I purchased them from Top Greener Electric Supply on EBay.

 

 

GT