Outdoor Dimming Outlet + Bulbs

Digital Lounge Suggestions & Wishlist
#1

I have yet to see this on the market yet but I’ve been searching for an outdoor-rated smart dimming outlet.

We want to hang some string lights in the backyard but finding the right balance of density (to look good and be even) and brightness (usually too bright) is difficult. We’ve been looking for dimmable string lights (or at least outdoor-rated dimmable LED bulbs) and that’s difficult but the outdoor dimmable outlet seems impossible to find.

I’m not sure if there’s just no market for this or if there’s some technical or safety reason there are no outdoor dimmers.

2 Likes
#2

Yes, something like this would be great. Currently I have an outlet wired up to a Z-Wave Dimmer switch both contained in an outdoor enclosure for our outdoor string lights. Having it in a standalone self-contained already-weatherproof device would be great.

#3

Out of curiosity, what dimmable outdoor bulbs are you using?

#4

I use these light strings: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074KKN5RD/

If you already have the strands and just need bulbs, these are the same bulbs that come with those strands: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0753R7SBL

#5

@Escher0 Nice, I like this – I guess I never realized that outdoor bulbs were dimmable. Is this pretty popular?

I’m pretty lame in that my outdoor setup is basically Halloween and Christmas lights that aren’t dimmable. But I’d love to upgrade!

I do have some Lightify Gardenspots, but those are plugged directly into an outdoor outlet and are dimmed from an app.

#6

My outdoor setup is currently nicely accented but not well lit, hence the desire to string up some lights. I’m not sure this setup is popular because, as I mentioned, there’s not too much selection on outdoor rated lights that are explicitly dimmable. There are a number of string lights with simple RF remotes that can dim and change color but that’s obviously not what we’re looking for.

The original owner of my house actually had some small lights and spots installed and rewired a very inconvenient switch inside to control the outdoor outlet it’s plugged into. (There’s a whole story of how we even figured all of this out.) I plan to very soon put that on a smart outlet and instead control it alongside another outdoor light using one of your new switches! The dream is to eventually control the string lights from the one switch as well.

#7

We just did this: put one of the gen 1 dimmers each for front and rear exterior lighting. There’s also switched soffit outlets waiting for some on off switches, though I may try some dimmers…

#8

+1 for some time of Zwave controlled café style string lights. Ideally color changing bulbs but controlled from your smart home instead of a RF remote.