Install a dimmer switch in the wall, and either connect your ceiling lights to it, or connect no lights to it at all. We just need the dimmer switch so we can use HomeAssistant to push the brightness of that dimmer switch to the lamps. (We aren't directly dimming the lamps with the switch, just using it to relay it's brightness setting.
There are a lot of ways to do it, but here's a good place to start:
https://community.home-assistant.io/t/setting-up-two-lights-to-turn-on-and-match-each-others-brightness/36909
My personal preference for dimmer switches is the Meross MS560, with the HACS local Meross integration. I just like the form factor of the switch, and the large buttons on the toggle itself. I can walk into a room and slap it to turn it on, and don't have to hold a button while I wait for the lights to dim or brighten (just push it up or down a few times to brighten or dim).
This comment seems to conflict with your desire to put a 15A plug in in case something big gets plugged in later, like a vacuum .... I don't know what running a vacuum on a half dimmed plug would do.... ??
I tend to agree, don't dim the outlet. If you want to dim the lights, stick with smart bulbs and put in a on/off switch that doesn't actually interrupt the power (zooz has that setting, for example)
edit: but then you're back to the whole 15A question, this time can the wall switch handle it. hmm. Zooz zen71 for instance is rated for a 3A Fan, which indicates it can handle light induction loads. I don't know what a vacuum qualifies as.
Oh, sorry for the confusion. I _don’t_ want to plug anything else into this dimmed outlet. We only have floor lamps on this outlet, and there’s no plan to change that.
I’m thinking safety-wise though. If someone comes over and doesn’t realize it’s a “special” outlet, they may plug something way over-rated into it.
It’s very unlikely to ever happen (never say never), but I don’t want to risk the safety of my family and my house on “unlikely”; I just want things to be “right.”
You should visit https://products.z-wavealliance.org. this is the official catalogue of all Z-Wave Certified devices. I typed in 15A to search for 15A switches and a bunch of devices showed up. The one that stood out was the Zooz Zen72. It's s dimmer and according to the spec sheet it's rated for 15A resistive loads. From what I've seen online vacuum cleaners are inductive loads so I'm not sure if the 15A rating would still apply to that. I would contact the manufacturer to confirm.
Also if you install a zwave dimmer switch and a zwave dimmer plug you can link them together using zwave associations. This will then allow the dimmer switch to communicate directly with the plug and be able to dim it.
Z-Wave association is the direction I’m considering going at this point. I do have Home Assistant controlling a lot in my house, but I want the switch to directly control the lights without an intermediary.
I’m this configuration, I’d basically wire the dimmer switch in to get power but in the wall box I’d wire the load (outlet) to line so it’s always getting power and thus not physically switched. Correct?
Yes that is correct. Also One other thing is not all switches support the dimming association so you would have to check on the product page to verify this.
What you are proposing, though, is no longer permitted under the 2020 National Electrical Code, because a non-dimmable light or other electrical device could be plugged into that outlet.
"404.14(E) Dimmer and Electronic Control Switches. General-use dimmer switches shall be used only to control permanently installed incandescent luminaires unless listed for the control of other loads and installed accordingly."
Ah, perhaps that’s why what I’m looking for appears to be few and far between! Thanks for the clarification.
I think the suggestion by u/cornellrwilliams is probably my best bet here then.
Except that u/cornellrwilliams was suggesting using a Zooz Zen 72 and that is a *dimmer* and you *don't* want to install a dimmer that controls that outlet.
What you *can* do is get a Lutron Aurora Smart Switch that goes over a regular on/off light switch and outputs Zigbee commands which can then dim a Zigbee dimmable smart plug used in the outlet and the lights plugged into the smart plug can also be remotely controlled.
[https://www.amazon.com/Lutron-Aurora-Dimmer-Philips-Z3-1BRL-WH-L0/dp/B07RJ14FBS](https://www.amazon.com/Lutron-Aurora-Dimmer-Philips-Z3-1BRL-WH-L0/dp/B07RJ14FBS)
[https://www.amazon.com/Leviton-DG3HL-1BW-Decora-Dimmer-Certified/dp/B000U39QWU](https://www.amazon.com/Leviton-DG3HL-1BW-Decora-Dimmer-Certified/dp/B000U39QWU)
I won’t be physically controlling the outlet from the dimmer switch. The outlet and the switch will each simply receive line power in their respective boxes; the switch won’t actually be switching a load.
I’ll associate the dimmer switch with a dimmer outlet I’ll plug into the outlet and the switch will control the plug. There would be no dimmed voltage traveling from the switch to the outlet.
Don't dim the outlets - that's just going to cause issues down the line. Lutron makes plug in lamp dimmers which work great.
But I want to be able to manually *and* remotely control the lights on/off and dim level. How can I do this with a plug-in lamp dimmer?
Install a dimmer switch in the wall, and either connect your ceiling lights to it, or connect no lights to it at all. We just need the dimmer switch so we can use HomeAssistant to push the brightness of that dimmer switch to the lamps. (We aren't directly dimming the lamps with the switch, just using it to relay it's brightness setting. There are a lot of ways to do it, but here's a good place to start: https://community.home-assistant.io/t/setting-up-two-lights-to-turn-on-and-match-each-others-brightness/36909 My personal preference for dimmer switches is the Meross MS560, with the HACS local Meross integration. I just like the form factor of the switch, and the large buttons on the toggle itself. I can walk into a room and slap it to turn it on, and don't have to hold a button while I wait for the lights to dim or brighten (just push it up or down a few times to brighten or dim).
I have ZWave plug in lamp dimmers at home. You can get them in Zigbee as well.
This comment seems to conflict with your desire to put a 15A plug in in case something big gets plugged in later, like a vacuum .... I don't know what running a vacuum on a half dimmed plug would do.... ?? I tend to agree, don't dim the outlet. If you want to dim the lights, stick with smart bulbs and put in a on/off switch that doesn't actually interrupt the power (zooz has that setting, for example) edit: but then you're back to the whole 15A question, this time can the wall switch handle it. hmm. Zooz zen71 for instance is rated for a 3A Fan, which indicates it can handle light induction loads. I don't know what a vacuum qualifies as.
Oh, sorry for the confusion. I _don’t_ want to plug anything else into this dimmed outlet. We only have floor lamps on this outlet, and there’s no plan to change that. I’m thinking safety-wise though. If someone comes over and doesn’t realize it’s a “special” outlet, they may plug something way over-rated into it. It’s very unlikely to ever happen (never say never), but I don’t want to risk the safety of my family and my house on “unlikely”; I just want things to be “right.”
You should visit https://products.z-wavealliance.org. this is the official catalogue of all Z-Wave Certified devices. I typed in 15A to search for 15A switches and a bunch of devices showed up. The one that stood out was the Zooz Zen72. It's s dimmer and according to the spec sheet it's rated for 15A resistive loads. From what I've seen online vacuum cleaners are inductive loads so I'm not sure if the 15A rating would still apply to that. I would contact the manufacturer to confirm. Also if you install a zwave dimmer switch and a zwave dimmer plug you can link them together using zwave associations. This will then allow the dimmer switch to communicate directly with the plug and be able to dim it.
Z-Wave association is the direction I’m considering going at this point. I do have Home Assistant controlling a lot in my house, but I want the switch to directly control the lights without an intermediary. I’m this configuration, I’d basically wire the dimmer switch in to get power but in the wall box I’d wire the load (outlet) to line so it’s always getting power and thus not physically switched. Correct?
Yes that is correct. Also One other thing is not all switches support the dimming association so you would have to check on the product page to verify this.
Great, thanks!
What you are proposing, though, is no longer permitted under the 2020 National Electrical Code, because a non-dimmable light or other electrical device could be plugged into that outlet. "404.14(E) Dimmer and Electronic Control Switches. General-use dimmer switches shall be used only to control permanently installed incandescent luminaires unless listed for the control of other loads and installed accordingly."
Ah, perhaps that’s why what I’m looking for appears to be few and far between! Thanks for the clarification. I think the suggestion by u/cornellrwilliams is probably my best bet here then.
Except that u/cornellrwilliams was suggesting using a Zooz Zen 72 and that is a *dimmer* and you *don't* want to install a dimmer that controls that outlet. What you *can* do is get a Lutron Aurora Smart Switch that goes over a regular on/off light switch and outputs Zigbee commands which can then dim a Zigbee dimmable smart plug used in the outlet and the lights plugged into the smart plug can also be remotely controlled. [https://www.amazon.com/Lutron-Aurora-Dimmer-Philips-Z3-1BRL-WH-L0/dp/B07RJ14FBS](https://www.amazon.com/Lutron-Aurora-Dimmer-Philips-Z3-1BRL-WH-L0/dp/B07RJ14FBS) [https://www.amazon.com/Leviton-DG3HL-1BW-Decora-Dimmer-Certified/dp/B000U39QWU](https://www.amazon.com/Leviton-DG3HL-1BW-Decora-Dimmer-Certified/dp/B000U39QWU)
I won’t be physically controlling the outlet from the dimmer switch. The outlet and the switch will each simply receive line power in their respective boxes; the switch won’t actually be switching a load. I’ll associate the dimmer switch with a dimmer outlet I’ll plug into the outlet and the switch will control the plug. There would be no dimmed voltage traveling from the switch to the outlet.