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I have a Caseta dimmer wired up to two outdoor porch lights that have daylight sensors on them. Initially I had bulbs in there which I wasn't sure if they were dimmable or not, so replaced them with dimmable LED bulbs and it still isn't working. Would it be the daylight sensor causing a problem?
Shauncho, thanks for the post. It would seem that you have two separate issues to contend with, LED compatibility and the photo cells on the fixtures. The sensor will interfere with the proper operation of the dimmer, I would recommend that they be removed, if possible. The second issue is that while the LED lamps may be dimmable they may not be compatible. The following link will bring you to the Lutron LED compatibility tool, using the tool you can find out if the LED lamps that you have will work properly with the dimmer. If the LED is not on the list the tool will help you find a lamp that will work properly with the dimmer. The link is: http://www.lutron.com/en-US/Pages/LE...atibility.aspx
Thanks for the reply Edward. I checked out the compatibility list and I'm a little confused. I see the Feit electric A-19 on the list, but theirs is listed as an edison base with an wattage of 13. I have feit electric A-19 but mine says 9.9 watts and is a GU24 style base. not sure if that would have anything to do with it. However, just to add a little more info, I remember at one point getting the bulb to flicker on for a split second while the Caseta dimmer was wired up. I had covered the light sensor with my hand and it flicked on and off real fast. I'm thinking I may try to see if I can bypass the light sensor on these fixtures. otherwise it might be time for all new fixtures. Thanks again for the reply!
What kind of day light sensor connected to dimmer? It could be the issue with the min load requirement for the dimmer. If you have the smart bridge, you don't need the sensor. I would use sunrise & sunset setting from the APP to control the dimmer or using IFTTT if you want to do more control.
Thanks for your reply. the daylight sensor is actually built in to the light fixture itself. It's not a separate sensor on it's own. the only reason why I had them was so that in case we forgot to turn off the switch, but now that I can automate that, I guess there's no sense to having the sensor there anymore. I'll probably just try to disconnect it or bypass it and see if that works. I'll report back when I do.
You can not run the light with built in sensor off a dimmer. (the sensor will need full power all the time) What you can do is install a Caseta on/off switch.
ok well, it just got weirder...so first I tried disabling the daylight sensor on one of the lights. hook it up and turn on the dimmer and the light turns on but switches on and off every second until I turn it off the dimmer. meanwhile, the other unmodified light still doesn't work. so after some research online it seems as though this constant on/off is a sign of incompatible bulbs. so I figure screw it, I'll buy all new fixtures because HD only carried one brand/model of dimmable LED with a GU24 base.
Then I went to the store and got two new light fixtures and led bulbs that are on the compatibility list. I figure I'll change just one of the lights and see if it works. swapped out the light and put in the new bulb. Turn on the switch and it works. great. Then I turn around and see the other old housing with the daylight sensor and old CFL (dimmable) bulb lit up as well. both work fine, both dim and no flickering.
so what the hell is going on?! Why would the old fixture/bulb that didn't work before now work with this other newer light hooked up? I used to be an electrician and this makes no sense to me.