I've been riding the learning curve roller coaster as I try to figure out how to control a circuit of 12 dimmable flourescent fixtures to be mounted in the kitchen/dining area of our new home. The ballast we'd prefer is a Lutron Hi-Lume that dims down to 1%, although something like the Advance ROVR is also a possibility.
It doesn't seem likely that existing UPB or Z-wave dimmers can control these ballasts so it has been hard to figure out how to integrate the dimming control into the overall HA system. One option I've come up with doesn't seem like it would break the bank and it might actually work although it lacks 2-way capability. I could use Lutron's Spacer system to control the fluorescent fixtures as well as the rest of the loads in the room. I'd use Spacer switches for each load plus a 5-scene controller. The controls for this system have transparent sides so that IR can be blasted from inside the J-box. To interface with the rest of the house, I'd run an IR blaster setup to the Spacer switches so that I can invoke scenes from other rooms.
I'd prefer to use UPB elsewhere in the house so I'd want to be able to invoke scenes on the Spacer from a US2-40. Can an Elk M1 run the IR blaster or am I limited to a software solution? Are there any pitfalls I'm missing or better ideas out there?
Thanks,
JonR
It doesn't seem likely that existing UPB or Z-wave dimmers can control these ballasts so it has been hard to figure out how to integrate the dimming control into the overall HA system. One option I've come up with doesn't seem like it would break the bank and it might actually work although it lacks 2-way capability. I could use Lutron's Spacer system to control the fluorescent fixtures as well as the rest of the loads in the room. I'd use Spacer switches for each load plus a 5-scene controller. The controls for this system have transparent sides so that IR can be blasted from inside the J-box. To interface with the rest of the house, I'd run an IR blaster setup to the Spacer switches so that I can invoke scenes from other rooms.
I'd prefer to use UPB elsewhere in the house so I'd want to be able to invoke scenes on the Spacer from a US2-40. Can an Elk M1 run the IR blaster or am I limited to a software solution? Are there any pitfalls I'm missing or better ideas out there?
Thanks,
JonR
