Higher Voltage Options for Insteon 6-Button Keypad?

[KHouse]

I've got a new build where I'm trying to install an Insteon 6-button keypad to control the garage lights.

The garage is rather large so there are (12) four foot LED light fixtures in the ceiling, and the light switch gets pretty hot when the lights are on.  The electrician said the lights are drawing exactly 600 volts, and so recommends a 1,000 volt light switch, however, wanting to use Insteon to control this I'm wondering if there is an alternative or if someone has a recommended work-around / solution?

Appreciate any help.

[Guy Lavoie]

600 volts? In a home or industrial? I've never heard of such voltages in a residence. For an industrial setting, you'd need to use something like DIN on/off module to control a contactor.

I'm guessing that he meant watts. The DIN module would be the best option.

Edited Monday at 11:50 PM by Guy Lavoie

[larryllix]

Something wrong there. Fixtures do not draw voltages. They draw current.

Fixtures may be rated at 600 volts for maximum potentials, but that is not what they are necessarily fed to operate.
Even in industry 600 volt lighting runs off of 346 volts, from each phase to neutral.
In many places, 600 volt systems are not common, but use 480 volt systems, making the phase to neutral voltage used for lighting 277.

Even then safety codes force use of metal switch plates and other enhanced mechanical equipment techniques.

[Brian H]

I agree. Electrician has made a incorrect statement.

You need the actual voltage the lights are wired to, type of lights, maybe the current they use and the wattage. If the shop gets warm I may think of halogen or fixtures using vapor discharge.

More data is needed to even see if an Insteon switch is capable of safely controlling them directly or maybe controlling a contactor to then control the lights.

[bobbob21]

The 6 buttons switch Insteon sells currently is rated at 20A, 1800W incandescent.  Not sure what the equates to for Leds but seems like it should handle the load.  Check out their website.  Infact the switch you already have may have the same rating.

[paulbates]

I think the electrician meant 600 watts. Having said that, there are the actual watts an LED consumes vs effective watts, which is how it compares to an incandescent. You need to know which the 600 is. 600 watts for a garage sounds like a lot so I'd assume that's effective, but don't know. It will say it on the fixture/bulb box. Electrician will know.

If you are using a dimmer, I'd suggest using an on/off instead, not sure ambiance of a dimmer matters in a garage.

If that doesn't solve the heat from the switch, split up how the lights are wired so they are on separate switches, and create a scene between the switches so that they act as one and all the lights go on/off at the same time

Edited Tuesday at 12:46 PM by paulbates

[Andy P]

agree with @paulbates - I had a similar issue with UFO lights in a barn. I ended up splitting the lights across two circuits. The added benefit was the ability to turn on/off half of the lights when I didn't need full illumination. Then i used an I3 4 button keypad to control the switches in different scenes.

btw each light is 18,000 lumens and 150 watts (which is 120 lumens per watt - pretty standard at the high end). So 7 of these was also more than I felt comfortable putting on one switch.

Edited Wednesday at 09:09 AM by Andy P

[KHouse]

My apologies...watts not volts.  (The lights are 227v though btw).  It seems as though the 6-button switched is "maxed out".

On 3/25/2025 at 7:14 AM, bobbob21 said:

The 6 buttons switch Insteon sells currently is rated at 20A, 1800W incandescent.  Not sure what the equates to for Leds but seems like it should handle the load.  Check out their website.  Infact the switch you already have may have the same rating.

Thanks!

Thanks for the help folks, much appreciated.

[IndyMike]

3 hours ago, KHouse said:

My apologies...watts not volts.  (The lights are 227v though btw).  It seems as though the 6-button switched is "maxed out".

Thanks!

Thanks for the help folks, much appreciated.

It sounds like you are using a Insteon 2334-232 Dimmer as the controller for your garage lights.  I'm guessing this because a dimmer will get hot when overloaded whereas a Relay (On/Off) switch will simply erode (or weld) the contacts and stop functioning. 

The specification for the 2334-232 is 600W incandescent or 150W LED (https://shop.insteon.com/products/dimmer-keypad-6-button).  If you truly have 600W of LED load on the circuit, you are way over it's rating.  It's not the easiest to find the LED ratings for these devices, but I'm surprised that your electrician didn't look harder.  It's incumbent on him to ensure that the installation is safe.  

The 227V (??) rating is likely the "maximum" voltage the where fixture will operate safely.  LED fixtures incorporate internal power converters that will often handle between 120 and 277V.   Your 2334-232 is actually specified to operate over 120 to 277V.  If you are in the us, you are using plain Jane 120V/60Hz

The normal device used for a high wattage installation like this would be an On/Off switch (as @paulbates indicated).  I actually have a similar installation in my garage that consumes 432W and I am using a 2477S.  The Manual for the 2477S does not have a separate specification for "LED load".  It simply specifies "1800 Watts" and I am well within that - ignorance is bliss.  

 The current 6-button KPL On/Off switch is unfortunately nor rated for 600W either (https://shop.insteon.com/products/insteon-remote-control-on-off-keypad-6-button) The webpage shows 450W Led load maximum.  Not sure how to interpret that since it likely uses the same relay that is in my 2477S switch (should have the same ratings).

If you can provide some additional information on the Make/Model/quantity of fixtures you are using, that would be helpful.

[KHouse]

19 hours ago, IndyMike said:

It sounds like you are using a Insteon 2334-232 Dimmer as the controller for your garage lights.  I'm guessing this because a dimmer will get hot when overloaded whereas a Relay (On/Off) switch will simply erode (or weld) the contacts and stop functioning. 

The specification for the 2334-232 is 600W incandescent or 150W LED (https://shop.insteon.com/products/dimmer-keypad-6-button).  If you truly have 600W of LED load on the circuit, you are way over it's rating.  It's not the easiest to find the LED ratings for these devices, but I'm surprised that your electrician didn't look harder.  It's incumbent on him to ensure that the installation is safe.  

The 227V (??) rating is likely the "maximum" voltage the where fixture will operate safely.  LED fixtures incorporate internal power converters that will often handle between 120 and 277V.   Your 2334-232 is actually specified to operate over 120 to 277V.  If you are in the us, you are using plain Jane 120V/60Hz

The normal device used for a high wattage installation like this would be an On/Off switch (as @paulbates indicated).  I actually have a similar installation in my garage that consumes 432W and I am using a 2477S.  The Manual for the 2477S does not have a separate specification for "LED load".  It simply specifies "1800 Watts" and I am well within that - ignorance is bliss.  

 The current 6-button KPL On/Off switch is unfortunately nor rated for 600W either (https://shop.insteon.com/products/insteon-remote-control-on-off-keypad-6-button) The webpage shows 450W Led load maximum.  Not sure how to interpret that since it likely uses the same relay that is in my 2477S switch (should have the same ratings).

If you can provide some additional information on the Make/Model/quantity of fixtures you are using, that would be helpful.

I believe I'm using the dimmer 2334-232.  I have another one handy and the box shows 600W.  So that has got to be the problem.

The lights are "Astrelights LED Linear Strip Lights".  SKU  ALI-00-41VT-003.

Shows many different wattages on the box, so not sure if it's adjustable on the fixture itself or they just sell them in those fixed wattages.  I do know the color temp is adjustable on them so maybe the wattage (brightness is too).

It's a large garage (3 bay + extra 20' wide by 54' deep.  So there are 12 of these fixtures.

 

[KHouse]

Sorry, forgot to mention, this is for a commercial facility and the lighting is 277v.

[IndyMike]

2 hours ago, KHouse said:

Sorry, forgot to mention, this is for a commercial facility and the lighting is 277v.

OK, 277 volts would correspond to a 480V 3-phase installation (277V is one leg of the 480V 3-phase).  That is truly a commercial install.  If you are trying to communicate with devices on all 3-phases you will need RF coupling devices on all 3-phases.  That's a different topic, but mandatory for 3-phase (passive coupling will NOT work).

The SKU you provided led to the following specification: https://www.ali-corp.com/Upload/File/f184035e-11c7-4c50-92ae-1d016b64d611/Linear Strip-1，.pdf

Your lamps can be powered by by voltages ranging from 120V to 277V.  Unfortunately, the specification indicates that they must be dimmed by a separate 0 - 10V signal.  If this is the correct specification, you should NOT use a Insteon Dimmer with these lamps.  The lamps were designed for a dedicated switch (or relay device) to supply power, and a separate 0 - 10V dimmer.  

Insteon does make a 0-10V dimmer, but it installs at the device and is controlled via RF (https://www.insteon.com/0-10v-ballast-dimmer).  I have never used one of these.  It is rated for 277V, but I am not certain that it is appropriate for a commercial installation.  You would obviously need a separate RF controller for the dimming function.

 

 

[KHouse]

4 hours ago, IndyMike said:

OK, 277 volts would correspond to a 480V 3-phase installation (277V is one leg of the 480V 3-phase).  That is truly a commercial install.  If you are trying to communicate with devices on all 3-phases you will need RF coupling devices on all 3-phases.  That's a different topic, but mandatory for 3-phase (passive coupling will NOT work).

The SKU you provided led to the following specification: https://www.ali-corp.com/Upload/File/f184035e-11c7-4c50-92ae-1d016b64d611/Linear Strip-1，.pdf

Your lamps can be powered by by voltages ranging from 120V to 277V.  Unfortunately, the specification indicates that they must be dimmed by a separate 0 - 10V signal.  If this is the correct specification, you should NOT use a Insteon Dimmer with these lamps.  The lamps were designed for a dedicated switch (or relay device) to supply power, and a separate 0 - 10V dimmer.  

Insteon does make a 0-10V dimmer, but it installs at the device and is controlled via RF (https://www.insteon.com/0-10v-ballast-dimmer).  I have never used one of these.  It is rated for 277V, but I am not certain that it is appropriate for a commercial installation.  You would obviously need a separate RF controller for the dimming function.

 

 

Thanks for all of the detail info/explanation!  I'll work on a solution here with the electrician now that I'm a little more educated on it.

[Andy P]

You probably did the calculation, but at 5200 lm/fixture, 12 fixtures, 1080 square feet you are around 58 lm/sqft. That is  fine for general lighting but you would want more like 75 lm/sqft if it is a work area.