This summer I installed about 20 Inovelli White dimmer and fan switches through my home. Everything has worked great, but a few months ago I started to have issues with the Inovelli White Dimmer that controls the outdoor lighting.
This switch is the farthest from the others, as it is physically located in the garage of my home. However there is another Inovelli White switch in the garage that works great. There has not been (much) of a connection issue detecting the switch within Apple Homekit, however the pathway lights attached to the switch have started to stutter on and off and flicker rapidly.
The lights are 11x Kichler 15236 BTK lights with 100 watt light bulbs in each.
It worked great for a few weeks with no issue before the flickering began. Once they’re turned on and start flickering (which now happens immediately), the only way to turn off the lights is to pull the air gap (trying to turn them off in the app or at the switch won’t work, it shows them flicking on and off in the app but turning them off doesn’t ever trigger).
Making this slight “smart” was one of the most important things in my getting the house made smart since the on/off switch for these pathway lights was so poorly located before that they just rarely were ever used.
My guess is that you’re having issues because you have grossly exceeded the dimmer’s maximum load. The white dimmer is rated at a maximum of 600W incandescent. Your load is 1100W, almost twice the dimmer’s specified max load.
You have two options:
Replace the incandescents with LEDs, ensuring that you do not exceed the 300W LED maximum
Replace the dimmer with an On/Off
If you want to use the dimmer with LEDs or elsewhere within the rated load, I’d factory reset it. However, it may be permanently damaged from the excessive load. You won’t know until you reset it.
You can find the published specs on the product page:
Maximum Load (Watts): 600W Incandescent, 300W LED, 150W CFL
You need to observe the Incandescent Load, not the Max General Purpose Load spec. The incandescent spec takes into account the inrush current (a larger draw right at startup) associated with incandescent bulbs.
Are you sure you have 100W bulbs? The Kichler fixtures you are using are rated for a 75W bulb maximum. If you wanted to use the Inovelli On/Off with incandescent bulbs, you’d have to reduce to 50W. Honestly, it makes more sense to switch to LEDs.
So this would just be popping in 11 new LED bulbs (what sort of wattage bulb would I look for?).
Sorry if this seems dense, but when I had the electrician come and install the Inovelli White switches this summer we were having the same issues on a fluorescent light (overheating) in the garage that the White switch was hooked up to and the electrician replaced that fluorescent light with LED. But he charged us $200 for that (so I think he did some mechanical/electrical wiring work, not just swapping out bulbs). I just want to make sure this isn’t going to be a “you have to replace all these fixtures with something that can run an LED bulb…” or something.
Yep, same issue. TBH, any electrician that knows what he or she is doing would know that you don’t use a dimmer on a fluorescent fixture that contains a ballast. The On/Off would be appropriate here as well. (Or swap out for LED tubes, as you did.)
Your Kichler fixtures should be able to accept LED bulbs. The specs reflect an E26 base, which is what most know as a standard light bulb base . . same base as the bulbs in your house. I found another Kichler spec that says the bulbs are A19, which is the standard household bulb pear shape. So basically, the fixture should accept “standard” light bulbs. Before you buy all 11, buy one and make sure it fits.
The only thing I’m not sure of is whether you need a bulb rated as an outdoor (wet location) bulb. While people sometimes use regular bulbs, they’re not rated for a harsh environment. To be cautious, I’d check with Kichler to ask about compatible bulbs.
In terms of wattage, I’d first decide on a color temperature. 2700K bulbs provide softer light, but this is a personal preference. Once you know the color temperature you want, you can decide on the wattage. Again, maybe buy one bulb to see the results. Bulbs are typically listed with an “incandescent equivalent”. You’ll typically find 40W, 60W and 100W incandescent equivalent bulbs, which typically draw between 8 and 16W.
The 100W equivalent bulbs usually draw about 16W, so even with 11 of them, you’ll be within the specified load rating for the Inovelli On/Off switch.
Thank you so much for your detailed explanation! It really helps!
I’d first decide on a color temperature. 2700K bulbs provide softer light, but this is a personal preference.
I definitely want a warm, yellow/incandescent glow, not a “white” light like holiday lights.
The 100W equivalent bulbs usually draw about 16W, so even with 11 of them, you’ll be within the specified load rating for the Inovelli On/Off switch.
Great! So I’ll be well within my load limits if I replace all of them even with 100W LED bulbs. I’ll definitely look for some and see what we have locally. I’m in a rural area, but surely Home Depot carries something.
That being said, you mentioned earlier that I may have damaged the Inovelli White Dimmer by having attempted to run it (very little, less than an hour total since July). If that is the case, I’ll need to replace it with a White On/Off?
To me, the on/off makes more sense for a landscape lighting application, in part because it gives you a bigger cushion, max watts-wise. That being said, IF your new bulbs are dimmable and the total wattage doesn’t exceed the rating of the dimmer, you could use the dimmer, probably in the on/off mode (although it’s still a dimmer-type switch), if it’s not damaged.
