Yep. < 50 W. Ignore the "60 W equivalent" (or whatever) they advertise. That's not the wattage they use, just a basis for comparison of light output vs incandescent bulbs.
Based on what I could find so far, you divide the maximum load of a dimmer by 10 to find out the sum of power for the maximum number of led lights it can support.
This seems to be consistently stated on several sites - see citation below.
This means in my case I would need a dimmer with max load of about 450W - hence my question.
The low wattage of LED bulbs means that in theory, you could connect numerous bulbs to the same dimmer switch. If you have a dimmer switch with a 400W maximum load, for example, then surely you could connect 80 5W LED bulbs to it (80 x 5W = 400W)? This is not the case, however. LED lights generate an inrush (or spike) of power when switched on, which may exceed the stated wattage of the bulb momentarily.
A rule of thumb commonly used to calculate a load for LED dimmers is to divide the stated maximum load by 10. For example a 400W dimmer switch should have no more than 40W of LED bulbs connected to it, which would equate to eight 5W bulbs.
I think code technically says the dimmer must match the max possible load so if the next owner swaps your leds for incandescent the dimmer will still handle it. But, it's your house and I think most people disregard that for common sense. If you sell the place, put it back if you are concerned.
I'm successfully running 22 4 watt bulbs on 1 dimmer which is rated at 400 watts. If I put 22 incandescent bulbs in I'd have an issue, but who the hell is gonna do that in this day and age?
That "rule of thumb" is way off. And, most manufacturer's already provide ratings for different bulb types. @thebearmay mentioned Innovelli. Jasco/GE, for their current dimmer, says
Maximum loads: 600W, 2-gang 500W or 3-gang 400W incandescent, 300W dimmable CFL/LED
I believe another issue may be whether your LEDs are amenable to being dimmed. Many dimmers need a load resistor/capacitor to ensure the dimmer sees a minimum load.
I would recommend the Inovelli Z-Wave Dimmers. Sounds like they would meet your needs. I think they are in stock right now. The Lutron Casseta might also work, as long as you have one of their pro hubs linked to Hubitat.
Both my LED soffit lights and gazebo lights are too bright at 100%. Did a lot of looking online and bought two Eva Logik ZW39 Z-Wave dimmers (not rated outdoor but they were not exposed to precipitation). They would go offline quite often.
Went outside the box and purchased 2 TreatLife outdoor dimmers. They can handle up to 400 watts. Now the caveat. These are only WiFi. HE can’t do anything with them.
If you are insistent on HE integration, try the Eva Logik ZW39. Perhaps you will have better luck than I. They would go offline quite often so they got tossed in the drawer.
Thanks, all!
For the moment I will stay with Zigbee, as I don't have any z-wave devices.
I have ordered a Samotech SM311 as there were some positive reviews on a different thread, and I will let you know how it goes when it arrives.
Here is an update. I have installed 2 Smaotech Sm311. One controls 8 dimmable LED spots, each 4.5W. The other controls 5 dimmable LED spots, each 6.5W.
In both cases, it works without problems.
Thanks all for your suggestions.
