Maestro LED+ Dimmer Switch

Great product, works very well with LED lighting. Used this product for years when I was working as an electrician, now that I am retired I still gravitate towards using the best. My latest install was a new HEAT,FAN,LIGHT and used the Lutron Maestro for the light so that I could have a night-light by dimming the light down enough so that it was now a night-light.

I purchased this Lutron Maestro switch as a substitute for the Lutron DIVA I tried previously. I replaced the bulbs in my track lighting fixture (http://amzn.com/B005D86XBE ) with LED bulbs (http://amzn.com/B00LGZCVSW ) and found that with the DIVA, there was still noticeable flickering no matter how I adjusted the dimmer low limit. This Maestro switch solved that. PROS: ~ As with the DIVA, the MAESTRO switch came with EXCELLENT instructions. I really mean excellent. Lutron includes clear pictures, good descriptions, and enough information for even a DIY customer to install the switch themselves. ~ They also include extras like 3 wire nuts and the small jumper cable you might need depending on your switch layouts. ~ Functionally this switch works perfectly. I can dim the GU10 LEDs down to a pretty low level without any flicker. To accomplish this, I had to follow the directions and adjust the minimum dimmer level higher until the flicker went away. Even with the adjustment, the lowest level is still pretty low. ~ Lights fade in and out. This is also adjustable, which means in total, you can adjust the high and low dimmer limits as well as the time it takes for the lights to fade in and out. Personally, I don't need much adjustment there, but if you are picky, you have options. Better to have them and not need them! ~ Comes with the push in style wiring. I choose NOT to use the push in connectors because I think they tend to loosen over time and that might lead to an arc or worse. Most good electricians will opt to use the screw terminals over the push in connectors for that exact reason. Its your choice, but I picked the confidence of the screw terminals. CONS: ~ The only thing I can say against this switch is that, like the DIVA, it requires a deeper gang box. Its similar to the size of an old GFCI outlet and so you just need to account for that. It will be a reeeeaaalll tight squeeze if you are trying to stuff this into a shallower remodel box. EXTRA: ~ For me this isn't a PRO or a CON, so it went here. The maestro switches use momentary buttons instead of a toggle or rocker switch. The momentary button does have a nice confident click and the nice a thing is you can click the top or the bottom of the switch and will still turn the lights ON if they are OFF or vice versa if they are already ON. Basically all you need to do is slap any part of the switch and it will do what its supposed to. ~ If you are going to wire this switch as a three way using a regular mechanical switch as the other switch, you need to make sure you read all the way through the directions and rewire the mechanical switch as indicated. If you fail to do this, the three way circuit behaves very strangely due to the electronics in the Maestro switch. SUMMARY: If you are doing any remodeling or installation with LED lighting, this is a good switch to try out. Since it costs roughly the same as the DIVA you can decide which style of switch you like better, a rocker or a momentary with fade. I think its personal taste unless you run into a situation like me, where the DIVA switch wasn't functioning properly and so you might need to try this Maestro.

This is an honest review of the Lutron Maestro LED Dimmer switch that I have purchased and installed in multiple locations throughout my home. Pros: These LED dimmers are an excellent option for dimming overly bright LED lights, which is why I have used them all throughout my house, including in the kitchen, bar, bathrooms, office, hallways, and so on. They are also very easy to install. My favorite feature is the functionality with the saved dimmer settings that keeps the light in my rooms soothing instead of overly bright. Opportunities: Personally, I think these switches are great as is, though they do sometimes confuse guests. Overall: If you’re sensitive to bright lights or you simply want to upgrade your switches, these LED dimmers are a great option.

I've installed several of these dimmers in our home, in both one and two dimmer configurations. They are both attractive and functional, and they allow you to use multiple dimmers on a 3-way circuit without any rewiring. They work well with both incandescent bulbs, compact fluorescents and LED lights that are dimmable, and provide the fullest range of dimming I have seen with these types of bulbs. They come pre-programmed to bring lights to full brightness quickly, and to turn lights out by slowly dimming them, allowing you to see where you're going even after turning out the lights. A pair of small buttons allow you to set the brightness level, and that level will be maintained even after a power failure. Double tapping the switch always brings it back to full brightness, however, which is very convenient. Every aspect of how these dimmers function is programmable, from ramp-up and ramp-down times to dimming modes. However, the programming sequence is not at all intuitive, so most people will undoubtedly use the default program. Programming involves tapping specific buttons in a specific sequence - it's a bit like programming some cars or resetting the check engine light, where you may have to turn the ignition on, then off, turn on the left turn signal and blink the headlights twice. One thing that may not be clear from the instructions is that you are not limited to using only one companion switch with this master switch. If you have the wiring for it, you can wire several companion switches in parallel, all of which can control the same light. There is also a version that includes two dimmer switches in one unit, which is very handy when space is limited. One caution is that these are electronic dimmers and they need a small amount of power to function. That power comes from current flowing through the circuitry, even when the switch is off. It's difficult to find in the instructions, but they require a minimum 40 watt load to function. That's no problem with an incandescent bulb, but many LED's use much less than that. For example, a light fixture that has two 1600 lumen bulbs (equivalent to 100 watt incandescent bulbs) may use as little as 26 watts. In theory, that's not enough for these dimmers to function. Sure enough, I had a light with three 5000 lumen bulbs, each using only 7 watts. It wasn't enough for the dimmer to work. However, when I replaced the bulbs with 800 lumen bulbs, each using 9 watts, the dimmer worked without any problems. So it would appear they can function with anything above 25 watts or so, but the stated minimum is 40. Finally, a word about intelligence. Lutron was the original manufacturer of mood lighting, with multi-zone dimmers, each controlling multiple lights and with programs that, with a single button, allow one to set a bunch of lights to specified levels simultaneously. The Maestro is not one of those. These are not smart dimmers and they can't be controlled by Alexa, or via the Internet. You can't even use an app to control all of your dimmers from your smart phone. These are also a lot less expensive than smart dimmers, and they're a lot less confusing to the uninitiated. When your mother-in-law visits, it won't take her any time at all to figure out how to use one of these that controls the dining room lights. With a smart dimmer, it might take some time to learn which button to push, or to say, "Alexi, set lights for dinner." Furthermore, there's no danger that these dimmers will ever be hacked the way a smart dimmer can be. After all, smart devices usually have almost no security and there have already been cases of people 'gas-lighting' their ex-spouses remotely to drive them nuts. No such worries with these switches. Simple, elegant and highly functional - what more could you want?

I like the Lutron Maestro dimmers, and have installed many of them. I've also had to replace a couple, because the internal springs have gone bad, making them inoperable after several years. (Hence just 4 stars) I very much like that the brightness rises when the light is turned on, and quickly dims down to off when the light is turned off, rather than instant on and instant off. Aside from the pleasant dimming to off, I think the gradual rise to full brightness saves life in the bulbs. I've used these with tungsten lights in a bathroom fixture, and the bulbs have been in service for YEARS. The dimming feature is responsive and simple, and there are LEDs that show what level you're dimmed to. When you turn the light back on, it returns to the level you had when they were turned off. I used these for 3-way switch applications, which require two compatible Maestro switches - a master and slave switch. I have always wished that both switches had the LEDs, because they serve nicely to locate the switch in the dark. But I guess you can't have it all!

Worked well for my lamp dimmer

Lutron makes the best dimmers, hands-down. Installation can be a bit challenging if you have very tight wallboxes with little to no room. Basically, you need to tear off the fins on each side and then line them up with where the old switch was, which can be a process of trial-and-error of screwing it in and then checking if your old wallplate lines up with the switch. Getting it to be flush with your old wallplate also needs some continual tweaking after you check how it's lining up. Also, be aware that the back of the switch that houses the actual dimming mechanism is quite thick ad bulky, so you need a lot of room in your wallbox to fit this — it can be tricky if there's already a ton of wires back there. I had to really jam it in and basically crush the wires in to get it to fit. You can install these in any configuration and keep the old switches in the same wallbox without swapping everything out. I have the Maestros installed in a 2-gang box, a 4-gang box, and a 1-gang box and it all works great. Just make sure you're tearing off the fins to get it to fit right, because it can get very tight. I would suggest using the Philips Warm Glow LEDs with these, because those bulbs are excellent and dim all the way down to 10% with a gentle on/off motion. Note that Lutron's website won't show those as compatible, but they do work really well with this dimmer. I personally like the Maestro better than the Diva, so it worked out great. Replaced all the switches in my home with this.

I needed a dimmer on a 3-way switch that would interface with Alexa, this item did exactly that. Very well packaged and documented with easy straight forward instructions. Since I already had Alexa set up I was surprised that it found the switch almost the moment I turned it on. Thank you.