Lutron Compatible LED Downlights?
We regularly get asked to supply Lutron compatible LED downlights. This blog posting has been written as a guide to help people save time and money and avoid expensive 'trial and error' installations. Lutron used to try and keep everything a secret and didn't publish their results until recently.
Depending on which technical department in the World you get transferred to, speaking to them may confuse matters further. We welcome any feedback, good or bad from Lutron users. This guide will show in detail what works and also what doesn't work.
Unlike Rako and other advanced lighting control manufacturers, Lutron offers many different lighting control systems such as Grafik Eye 3000, Grafik Eye QS, Grafik Eye 4000, Rania, Lutron Home Works and the new forthcoming Enrgi Savr Node. These are just a few that I've encountered but I'm sure there are many more. One LED downlight might work perfectly well with one Lutron system but not with another.
To start this Lutron compatibility guide, here is a success story:
Project Name: Lutron Dimming Story 1
System Used: Lutron Rania
Lutron Rania Dimmer Switches
LEDs Used: Philips low voltage MR16 10W LEDs. Also some 7Ws for a layered lighting effect. These LEDs have a 12V AC supply, not DC.
Problems Encountered: LEDs flickered when dimmed to around 50%.
Other Components Used: Varilight low voltage transformers along with a Lutron synthetic load.
Solution: We were not sure if the Varilight transformer was trailing edge compatible so the customer ordered some Philips Certaline 60W transformers to be sure, along with a resistive load from downlights direct. This ensured that everything on the circuit was trailing edge compatible.
The customer installed the parts but the flickering only improved slightly. He then spoke to Lutron and they said he should go into the advanced settings and make sure that it is set to trailing edge. It is supposed to default to this but sometimes does not. Once the setting was adjusted to trailing edge mode and the low end trims adjusted to "UP" the flickering stopped. The trimming function allows you to 'cut off' the bottom 10-20% of the light output, which makes sure no flickering or strobe effect can occur.
The customer noted that when dimming the 10W LEDs, he achieved flicker free dimming without the need for the resistive load but when dimming the 7W LEDs the resisitive load had to be used to get a full range of dimming.
This diagram shows the setup with the Grafik Eye, but the same wiring can be applied with the Rania.
Customers Comments: "Everything now works perfectly"
Lutron Dimming Story 2
System Used: Grafik Eye QS
LEDs Used: Flexible LED strip lights with a mains dimmable LED driver.
Problems Encountered: None
Story: Before 2013, if you wanted to dim LED strip lights on Lutron systems you had to purchase an additional 0-10V add on module costing around £135.00 +VAT. With the arrival of mains dimmable LED drivers that are constant voltage this is no longer the case. You simply wire the driver directly into the QS panel and into the LED strip tape. This provides a smooth, flicker free dimming performance. Used successfully with LED strip lights, EcoLED downlights and some wall lights.
LED downlights that we currently recommend with Lutron are:
Halers H2 (now Collingwood H2 Pro 550). The new version with green labels has been re-designed to work with Lutron and other similar systems.
EcoLED. This dowwnlight can be supplied with different LED drivers to match the Lutron system it is being used on. It even works with Lutron Rania.
Aurora i9. This downlight dims well with every system I've tried. But every project is different and depending how many I9s are on the circuit, results may vary. The best dimmable GU10 to use with Lutron is the Aurora 5W GU10 Ice lamp, which works nicely with all of the home automation systems we've tested it on.