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Nigeria, Abuja
1 Level
717 Review
38 Karma

Review on Lutron Maestro MACL-153M-WH LED+ Dimmer Single/Multi Pole White For LEDs, Halogen & Incandescent Bulbs by Joe Montalvo

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Good switch for LEDs with great instructions!

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.

Pros
  • ‎Dimmer Switch
Cons
  • The switch may not offer enough control for some users