Lumaris Tunable Tape Light Low-volt cable

[rpm2023]

Hi,

Hi , thought I'd reach out because my Builder is asking if the 3x22 AWG wire that comes with the RRL-TLK-SW Lumaris Tunable White Tape Light kit is approved for in-wall applications. It doesn't seem to be CL rated. We would like to have this installed in the walls in the bathrooms to get to the bathroom nooks that will have the Led Strip lighting. The specs aren't clear in this regard (AFAIK). The wire is also available as part LU-WK1-TW.

-Thanks

[Rowdy R.]

Hi there!
So the 3x22 AWG wire from Lutron is not going to be rated for in wall use, at least not the kind that comes with the unit. Now if you can find some 3x22 AWG wire that is CL rated and you follow the same wiring scheme from the schematics on the specification sheet/install guide then you could probably get it to run through the walls. Admittedly if I'm reading the description right the usage you describe is going to be outside the normal range of expected installation specifications. This was intended to be more used as undercabinet or toe-kick area lighting, out of wall installation.

[SpivR]

I believe Lutron's intent is that the controller is hidden near the installation of the LED tape. It's provided with a wired-in AC plug, but you can chop the end of and hardwire into a junction box.

The controller only supports 16.5' LED tape. That's kinda short. The first application I considered, a toe-kick, it won't even cover the entire "L" of the counters, just the long part.

Ludicrous to think RA3 clients will pay for two or three controllers to get the lengths needed.

Afterall, we've been installing lots of LED tapes with a simple driver connected to a RA2 Maestro. I don't get this product! Lutron says it is a "complete kit" to make installation easy, but RA3 is primarily installed by pro's not consumers, so who is this really for?

(And it is not 'really' a complete kit - you still have to source a compatible extrusion channel / diffusers if you want a finished look and Lutron is not selling those.)

[LukeS]

I plan to use CL2/CL3 12 or 14 gauge speaker wire in the walls and remote mount the controller. The whole Lutron setup is a bit of a mess so I plan to use an "LED strip amplifier" they are called different things but they allow you to drive more current (more strips) than the 32W a single controller allows also will save a bunch of money on not having to buy multiple controllers with how overpriced these are. I was also looking at sourcing my own 24V tunable white LED strips as they are pretty common but I am having a hard time finding them in 1800K-3000K.

[SpivR]

I plan to use CL2/CL3 12 or 14 gauge speaker wire in the walls and remote mount the controller.....I plan to use an "LED strip amplifier" they are called different things but they allow you to drive more current (more strips)....... I was also looking at sourcing my own 24V tunable white LED strips as they are pretty common but I am having a hard time finding them in 1800K-3000K.

Cool that you can do that, but once you start re-engineering it, you void all the warranty so why not just use a 3rd party complete solution and just stick with on/off control from Lutron, if at all?

With dim-to-warm LEDs, I don't see a huge need for lots of interactive controls or automated capabilities beyond basic scheduling. Let's face it, consumers that are tech saavy or clients that want the ultimate want RGBWW, sync to music, and other techie stuff anyway.

I did notice that finding OEM LED strips with dim-to-warm to match the Lutron range is not as easy as plain old LED strips, and Lutron does claim the reason for the length restriction is so they can maintain the quality of the light and dimming precision.

Of course, we love Lutron for over-engineering everything (I mean, 0.1% dimming low-end) and great reliability, but at what cost?

And these are not COB strips, which is the current trend (or at lead fad) for truly uniform lighting without hot spots or lots of diffusion that lowers light output?

[LukeS]

Spivr,
This is not for a customer, I only use RA3 in my own house so I am not worried about warranty but if I were doing these for customers I would agree that could get messy. I wanted to note dim to warm strips are different than tunable strips which the lutron uses. The tunable strips have two independently controlled LEDS one high color temp one low color temp and varying the dim level of each crates the different color temperature. With dim to warm strips it is just a plus and minus, you lower the voltage going into the strip and the circuit on the strip dims the LEDs accordingly. Either way the Lutron LED strips are wildly overpriced, you can get 16ft 90+ CRI tunable LED strips for about $25 so I just want the controller for the integration into RA3. I guess I could have the sunnata keypad trigger an event in home assistant to use a third party controller but trying not to make this too complicated.