Remote dimming and light control options mancave/basement (1 Viewer)

[MoCoNative]

I've looked a little and the solution has not jumped out at me.

For you sparkys out there I'm asking for a simple remote unit to control lighting in my basement. I'm going to do a suspended ceiling and put in several can lights. I have a large "L" shaped room that I want to have an area for kids play, home theater and the other leg of the "L" is music corner and old TV with Nintendo attached to it. Also a small wetbar are in the nook of the "L".

Either way, I thought it would be nice to dim the lighting to watch a movie or set a mood, but also control lighting in the three areas. Basement was roughed in when I built the house with a three gang box at the bottom of the stairs. One switch controls stair lighting, middle switch controls roughed in bulbs for code minimum basement lighting the the other is a three way with the light over entry door to basement.

Now I can put a dimmer in there, but the box is pretty full and they get warm. Box is in finished wall and I don't want to open it up. I thought, with the ceiling still open an all, maybe there is a simple 2-4 zone type of remote relay box with remote that I could put in above the suspended ceiling, or even in adjoining utility room and feed to the various can lights. Then I could control lighting as needed and still be able to just turn the curcuit on and off at the switch when you come down the stairs.

All I'm finding are overly complex smart home things. I don't want to control this system from the lunar lander with my smart phone, I don't even have one. I just want a simple zone controller with a robust remote you can leave on the end table and adjust as needed if necesarry or you can just turn the lights on or off for the whole room.

Alternative is of course a dimmer, and more switches around the room for the zones, but that is a pain to wander to the sides of a large open room to control more lights.

Does anyone know of simple box that can do this, I'm sure they exist, I'm just not searching properly I guess.

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

What kind of lighting LED or old school?

Either way check out Lutron Caseta Wireless. It might give you a place to start. For the best results design the system as a whole, don't decide on your lights until you know you can control them with a system you are satisfied with.

Caseta® Wireless – Overview

 

[MoCoNative]

Pretty much converting all the bulbs in the house to LED. Wanted to do the can lights right off with proper LED inserts. When I built the house 5 years ago, CFL was the wave of the future. Man I hate those slow to burn green light pieces of s***. Lifespan on them sucks too. Made it a point to be responsible and put them in every fixture in the house when we did. Now every chance I get I yank them and put in an LED.

I looked at the Caseta, couldn't quite figure out what components would be needed.

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

Let me look into some hardware for that system, it may be a few days so hang tight.

If you are going to go with LED cans get ones that are 0-10 volt dimming, DO NOT go with line voltage dimming. Spend your money right the first time.

Line voltage dimming isn’t as clean and doesn’t dim as low, plus there are better control options for them.

 

[MoCoNative]

I had something more in mind to the simple controls like ceiling fans use. Just a simple remote that turns them on and off and such. Seems there has got to be a simple 120 box you wire in that has zones or something.

I agree though on the voltage issue, I hadn't looked into lower voltage fixtures. I'm dimming some LED bulbs in a bathroom with a supposedly LED compliant dimmer, but they flicker and buzz some.

I've also got a modulating electric mini boiler for in floor heat in the basement that flickers any dimmed light in the house. Or I should say the lights dim further with each cycle of the element. I need to shut off all the power and follow the neutral leads back to the main and re-torque them and see if that is my problem. Could be the neutral at the meter though, I'm not sure and won't be able to check it.

 

[LAMBCRUSHER]

or the messenger wire of the service incoming... good thinking sideways on the fan remote. another option might be a low voltage commercial type lighting control relay with dimmer switch...are you unable to get into the walls? with a drop ceiling, you could just have it hardwired; tricky part would be cutting in switch boxes and dragging wire down the studbays to them, but it should be doable...the Lutron stuff really is the route to take if you can't run wires...it's approved for the application, and proven tech.

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

it's approved for the application, and proven tech.

Keep it simple, that is usually the best route for homeowners. That is why I suggested some Lutron stuff, generally it is foolproof and simple to install.

Let me look at some very basic options here, it seems the Caseta may need to use a home network, there is something somewhere that is super basic for this application.

 

[Varty Yo]

We have remote lights in our bedroom it is awesome!! Wires in at teh switch ill post a pic tomorrow