Lutron Spacer Installation 101 (Rev. 1/17/06 - Adding IR Emitters) (1 Viewer)

[Jay Mitchosky]

About 12 feet.

 

[Erich_Weidner]

Has anyone compared the Lutron Spacer System line versus Leviton's Decora Home control line? http://www.leviton.com/sections/prod...d/npleadin.htm

It looks like it uses the existing A/C wireing for communication (similar to if not actually X10). This would solve some of the wiring of I/R emitter issues for retrofit installations vs. the Lutron system.

In my small HT, I'm just looking to control...
1. Cieling fan
2. Cieling fan light
3. two wall sconces (wired to same switch)
4. Rope lighting.

Any advice as to which way to go?

-Erich

NOTE: URL edited by Administrator

 

[Patrick.C]

A big thumbs up for Hank's Electric as a supplier for Spacer System components. I couldn't beat their prices anywhere, and my order was drop shipped straight from Lutron with free freight.

 

[Jon Bell]

I'm planning to install the Lutron Spacer System in my HT. I have a pretty basic setup-- I'll just need two 600W dimmers. I'm wondering if anyone out there would be willing to loan or rent their remote to me so that I can load the commands onto my Sony Remote Commander. I'm trying to avoid buying a $65 remote that I'll never have to use again once I get the commands onto my universal remote.

 

[Brian Schween]

Thanks Jay for the extremely informative summary, well done! Could anyone please answer a question for me ?
We had our house built with Cat5 run to all major gang switches and thermostats, for (hopefully) some type of home automation in the future. I now have an IR repeater system (Niles) in my home theater cabinet, and am using a IR receiver (Niles) and pronto remote to control my a/v equipment. I'm just wondering if there is any way I can utilize this same repeater system and the already installed Cat5 to control Lutron Spacer System dimmers ? I'm hoping the Cat5 runs weren't a waste of money, that was the only wiring I thought I would need (at the time).

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Some Spacers have a clear back. You could try to run IR from the Niles block to the back of the Spacer to control it. That could work for a room. If you are wanting to do whole home lighting there are other options as well. Control4 and Creston are both releasing light switches that use wireless for control, and OnQ and HAI are using lightswitches that use a digital version of X10 for control that is a lot more reliable than X10. Lutron has Radio RA.

 

[Bobby C]

Good timing on the question for me! I just bought some Buffalo IR repeater flashers, receivers & repeaters, I have everything hooked up except for my Spacer System Dimmers. I just installed the Spacers - I have 2 side by side in a double ganged box. I haven't played with them much, I'm about to do so. As I understand it, the Spacer System remote controls 4 zones combined for the 2 dimmers. This is fine, I can come up with 4 settings for my 2 zones that will achieve what I'm looking for. So if my understanding is correct, the 1 remote will control both units. Would I use 1 or 2 flashers to control these 2 units - 1 signal (if I understand correctly) would control both. If 1 flasher, where would I mount it to control both dimmers?

Thanks,
B

 

[Adam Gregorich]

If you have the spacers with the clear back an IR sensor placed on the side of one on the end should go through up to 3 that are side by side.

 

[Bobby C]

Thanks Adam!

 

[Jeffrey Johnson]

I installed a Lutron Maestro remote dimmer switch, which works great, except for one problem (which several of you have mentioned): the IR receiving eye has a very limited reception angle/range. The problem is that the switch is at the top of the stairs and my home theater is at the bottom. I have to get just the right angle to get it to work.

I'm interested in an IR repeater system (like have been mentioned here), but this is the only device I need it for, so I'd rather not spend $100+ dollars to control only one device.

Does anyone know of an inexpensive one-input, one output receiver/emitter combo that would work for this? WIth the way everything is laid out, running a cable/wire between the two is not a problem at all.

Thanks!

 

[Bobby C]

Jeffery,

I went with a Buffalo system from PartsExpress.com - the biggest cost is the repeater device. I think the cheapest you can get by is just under $100, I don't know of anything less.

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage....7&WebPage_ID=3

B

 

[Jay Mitchosky]

You are correct - one remote would run both dimmers. You could use one or both flashers. The spec allows for one flasher to control up to five (5) switches (they can be dimmer or straight on/off) in a single gang, with the flasher located in the middle and firing left/right/down. You could have up to two 5-gang systems controlled by the two flashers, or a total of ten (10) independent lighting zones. These zones could be actually be anywhere in the house, but the actual switches would need to be in a single gang with no partitions between.

If you use only one flasher (which I would recommend as it will easily control two dimmers) you would clip it to the top of either dimmer as directed. If you had three dimmers it would be in the middle. Hang on to the second flasher and you could use it for another gang in the future if necessary.

My installation includes five zones all housed in a single box. Since there is no chance that I will need the second flasher to control anything else, and since I pre-wired two cables from controller to gang, I used both. One on the Zone 2 dimmer and the other on Zone 4. You can see this in my installation pictures. So there is plenty of light to go around and control all the gangs. Note that these flashers are uber-powerful. One was controlling all the dimmers even when it was hanging outside of the gang prior to final installation.

Hopefully that makes sense. Let me know if you need any clarification.

 

[Tom Rosback]

Jay, et all:



Works great. Spacer System dimmers all have clear backs, and an IR sensor in back, so all you have to do is stick an IR blaster in the wall box and you're good to go. No limit to the number of dimmers you can control this way, and no need to purchase the Lutron controller, unless you want the convenience.

The Spacer dimmer I have does not have a clear back box, so this trick doesn't work.

Not sure about the Maestro.

The workaround for me, when I just had a single Spacer dimmer at the top of the stairs, was to position an IR blaster in the opposite wall, pointing directly at the dimmer. The small hole for the blaster was not noticeable.

 

[Craig W]

Has anyone tried using a regular Niles IR flasher. I would like to know if a blaster is really necessary? Or maybe I would be able to use the dual flashers and mount one on each side of the four-wide gangbox?

I am setting up with 4-main dimmers plus 5-accessory dimmers and will also be using the Niles IR system for controlling lighting and components housed in a cabinet.

The lighting of the room will feature 8- 5" can ceiling lights with nickel trim, 2- 4" can soffit lights with wall lighting trims and 4-wall sconces(two in the back and two in the front).

I am looking forward to finishing this basement HT project, but its going very slowly. Hopefully by the end of year, but its going to be close.

Speaking of electrical work, I just discovered that my breaker panel is a safety hazard. I urge all who are doing electrical work to see if your panel is a Stab-Lok panel made by Federal Pacific Electric. If it is, then I reccommend you replace it. FPE had an issue with double-pole breakers not breaking the circuit properly and house fires have been caused by them. FPE changed hands several times and are no longer in the breaker panel business. I don't believe there is much one can do to get replacement cost from FPE, but I know for sure either in NJ or NY there currently is a Class-Action suit regarding these panels.

I have heard estimates as high as 10% homes in the US have FPE panels. If your home was built before 1990, then look to see what brand of panel you have.

 

[Jay Mitchosky]

I have no experience with Niles products but presumably any home control system with programmable IR relays would work. You can get the codes to the Lutron remotes off Remote Central, but I'll bet Niles already has a set. The Lutron Master Control is nothing more than an IR repeater at the end of the day. It's transferring remote codes from one area (ex. the main room) to another (ie. the gang of zone switches).

That said the master control would simplify the whole layout and gives you a manual access point as soon as you walk in the room. Plus it's not that expensive. Biggest challenge is that it's designed primarily for new installations where you can easily run the traveller wires.

 

[Erich_Weidner]

This is a very informative thread, Thanks folks!

I've just about settled on a Spacer system for my small media room. (13'x14' room). Direct view Loewe Aconda (so no need for a projector)

Design goals:
Use a Harmony Remote (IR) to drive the "scenes".
I also wanted to drive the ceiling fan with the same (as part of some "scenes"), but the Spacer system (nor any other lighting control package I've looked over) doesn't seem to support this. From what I gather I can't just use an incandescent Spacer dimmer for the fan. I may give it a go with a regular spacer switch (fan speed still would have to be controlled via a pull chain) and see what happens with that...)

Zones
I would have three zones.
1. Wall sconces (Spacer Dimmer)
2. Ideal-lume Fluorescent backlight (Spacer switch?
3. Rope lighting (Spacer Dimmer)

As my gang of switches are located by the entrance door (behind all seating), I'm guessing I'm not going to have much luck getting the IR signal to bounce back. I was thinking of putting a remote master on one of the side walls towards the front of the room (it would be ugly on the "viewing wall") to catch signals and via the travelers blast them back to the "entrance gang" of Spacer Units.

I originally wanted to simply use a Spacer lamp dimmer for my ideal-lume, but the spec sheets list it only for incandescent/halogen lighting. This looks like it would have taken a separate "action" with the remote to aim at the lamp control (physically different location than the other Spacer IR receivers, I didn't like this idea).

At this point, I'm thinking of adding an outlet controlled by a Spacer switch (not dimmer) to control it.

I still haven't decided if I want to locate the Equipment in the closet of this room (I thought I did, but then I like to be able to see the control panels of the receiver & DVD players. The HTPC will definitely go in the closet.

 

[Don.l]

Very informative. I may consider using this type of lighting in my HT. I don't really have that big of an HT so maybe not. I am definitely using IR for components and getting the parts at Parts Express.

Don

 

[Jay Mitchosky]

I'm glad this thread is still getting some use. Don, I don't know if size limits you from this type of product. Actually, some very dramatic lighting and control through multiple zones could actually expand the perceived scale of your theater. It adds to the wow factor. When people see my room they are invariably amazed at how the lights fade in and out from scene to scene. In reality it's a very simple process and system but to those unfamiliar with the tech it blows them away.

 

[Craig W]

Has anyone ever had an issue with the Lutron Spacer System switches not operating properly?

I have a SPS-1000M connected to two SPS-ADs. The tap switch on the ADs work, but the tap on the main dimmer does not work at all.

Just curious if anyone has had a problem with these switches before.

The replacement Lutron sent works, but they sent the wrong color.

 

[Darren_N]

Hello all,

I am looking to install a remote controlled dimmer for the 4 recessed lights in our HT. It should be pretty basic and I think I know how it is supposed to work but wanted to check with the experts here on the forum. First of all, here's the dimmer I will probably use:



Our lights can be operated by 2 different switches. This means that they are 3-way switches, correct? I only want to put a dimmer on one of these switches so I'm planning to replace one of the switches with the dimmer switch and leave the other as a "regular" switch. Will this work? As long as I don't touch the "regular" switch while I'm using the dimmer there shouldn't be a problem, right?

Of course, I know next to nothing about wiring so I could be planning to do something that will burn our house down.

So could someone let me know if this is how I should do it? And if it isn't, any suggestions?

Thanks.

With regards,
Darren