My topic is my question. Is there anything you can do if you need more that 300 watts of led lights with whites series switch.
Use a relay. The trigger side of the relay will be well within the load capacity of the switch.
Things will probably be tight in your switch box so you can put the relay in the light box. If you only have a 2-wire going to the light, then you’ll need to route constant power to the light. Get a smart relay and use the switch as a scene controller to toggle the relay.
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What kind of relay. can you be more specific on how to wire it? I have a total of 9 led’s on the circuit. I do not have a neutral.
What kind of LEDs are these? Bulbs? Fixtures?
9 going north of 300w would mean each is ~33w each… While that’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility, it’s pretty unusual, so I’m wondering if there’s any chance you’re perhaps mixing up each LED’s watt-equivalent with its actual watts.
I need to be more specific my garage is wired as a 5 way 1 VTM31-SN and 3 aux switch and 7 light receptacles. I want to put this light fixture at the 7 receptacles. This would overload the the whites series VTM31-SN. What can I do to handle this load and how do I do it if possible.
Yeah, that kind of thing is exactly the exception I was thinking of… Is your garage an aircraft hanger? At 18.5K lumens a pop, 7 of those things is going to be like installing the sun itself in there 
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yes it is my garage and is not a hanger. I just want the light.
Use a smart relay capable of switching 120 VAC with a rating equal to or greater than your LED load. Since you have a non-neutral setup, place the relay in the light box where the power enters. You’ll have to rewire to send a hot and neutral back to the switch over the existing 2-wire to power it.
There will be no load on the switch. You’ll trigger the relay via automations.
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Or bindings if your hub supports it.
Depending on what you find relay wise, you may need to break apart the load into multiple relays if they are not rated for the full led load for your aircraft hanger lights.
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This sounds like a job for a non-smart relay, either mechanical or solid-state. Considering the power input as Line, the lamp as Load, and the switch’s output as Output, on the coil side attach Output and Load, and on the contact side attach Line and Load.
Make sure to choose a relay whose coil side takes 120V AC. (Most will switch 120V AC, but if you try to feed an e.g. 24V coil with 120V bad things happen.)
The OP has a non-neutral. So presuming there is a 2-wire between the switch box and the light, there won’t be a conductor available for the switched hot. Meaning there is no way to switch a non-smart relay.
Ah, I was thinking the relay was going in (or near) the switch. I’d probably use something of this style, or maybe cut in an old work box near the switch to house something bulkier.
Who is OP?
Original Poster, i.e. you.
@MrNerdHair You don’t seem to understand the OP’s wiring configuration. He hasn’t posted a diagram yet, but he has said he has a non-neutral configuration. As I posted above, this means he likely has a 2-wire between the power light box and the switch. This being the case, to power the smart switch, both conductors will be used, one for the hot and one for the neutral, LEAVING NO CONDUCTOR for the switched hot that would be required if you put a dumb relay at the switch box.
So, unless I’m missing something, a dumb relay will not solve the OP’s issue, presuming he has a non-neutral as he has stated, and has a 2-wire between the switch and the light.
If you truly believe your solution will work, please post a diagram illustrating a non-neutral 5-way configuration with a 2-wire connection from the switch to the light box.
Let’s not confuse the OP any more than possible.
I had electrican come to help me try and figure this out. He wired in a dumb relay between the switch and the lights. The relay chatters open close open close so that proves that will not work. After reading your post I am confused. What smart relay would you suggest? The relay need to support matter so it will work with homekit. And how would you wire this to make it work? I am in the dark here and need direction please.
Sure. As I mentioned previously, you can’t use a dumb relay because you advised you have a non-neutral configuration. That’s just not going to work.
I don’t use Matter devices, so I can’t recommend a specific smart relay. Someone here ought to be able to provide a recommendation. The specs are simple: A 120VAC relay capable of switching 120VAC at whatever the current draw is for your lights. You have a high wattage draw for LEDs, so you’ll need to pay attention to that load spec.
I posted previously about how to wire this, but I’ll repeat it here. This is for your electrician:
- ECollins advised he has a non-neutral, so I’m presuming that the hot and neutral land at the light box, and that there is a 2-wire switch loop between the first light box and the switch box.
- Wire the smart relay at the light box where the hot/neutral land. Since it’s a smart relay, it should be wired hot full-time.
- Wire the luminaires so that they are powered on and off via the relay
- Rewire the switch loop in the first light box so that instead of the loop, you are sending a hot and neutral to the switch box.
- At the switch box, wire the Inovelli hot to Line and Neutral to Neutral. There is no load, so nothing is attached to the Load or Traveler terminals.
Once that is in place, control the relay via automation triggered by switch presses (or however you do automation with Homekit). The switch will not control the relay directly; it will tell your hub what command to send to the relay.
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If I had a neutral in the switch box would a dumb relay work?
In theory, yes. However, you’re asking a question in a simple form that doesn’t provide enough detail to answer it properly.
If you have a neutral in the switch box, then you still need a conductor for the switched hot to trigger the relay in the light box.
You can’t just add a neutral from anywhere. You can’t grab a neutral from another branch circuit and that would violate code and pose a safety risk. Even when you grab a neutral from the same branch circuit but at a different point as the hot that is feeding it, smart switches and AFCI breakers can wonk out.
So if you want a neutral in the switch box, you have two options. In layman’s terms:
- Run a 3-wire from the light box to the switch box. This will allow you to have a hot and neutral in the switch box (fed from the light) and also have a switched hot conductor to trigger the relay in the light box.
- Run a separate hot and neutral to the switch box from another location and then remove the hot/neutral feed at the light box. This will allow you to have a hot and neutral in the switch box (fed from the new location) and also have a switched hot conductor to trigger the relay in the light box (using one of the two existing conductors between the switch box and the light box).
It seems to me that both of these are expensive alternatives to simply using a smart relay. You don’t have to understand this but your electrician does. If your electrician doesn’t understand this, get one who understands smart home technology.
If I use a smart relay will the 3 aux switches in the 5 way still work if you turn the light on and out from their location.