BobT3354
New Member
Actually, I've found that Lutron makes a switch that has 2 dimmers in a one gang, decora/rocker style swtich BUT its for incandescent lights only and I'm also upgrading to LEDs wherever it makes sense, which within the last year or so I've seen the prices on all sorts of LED light fixtures as well as can light retrofits, etc come down considerably and the quality of the light they produce seems to be better than incandescents now in many cases in my opinion, which I thought was not the case maybe 3 years ago when I tried out several brands to maybe retrofit in my old home and was very disappointed in the light they made, it looked as bad as the CFL's have been and still are. Now, for my new (to me) house, I did same thing and bought one from a bunch of different brands and even multiple models for some brands and wow, they've improved a lot AND prices have dropped through the floor, I often see the brands I liked for at most $30 each, but often well under $20, even a few sales came close to $10!! That's awesome if I can go from 50, 60, 75 watts each for bulbs that will burn out every so often to around 10 watts and (fingers crossed!) hopefully many years of life!
I also have a LOT of 3 ways here as well and this Lutron 2 dimmers in one gang switch was no LED's, no 3 ways, just plain ol incandescents and 1 switch per fixture for about $50 each. I'm not looking to break the bank on this, BUT if I've got to spend $50 or maybe even up to $75 each for a few spots, I'll do it because I'm having trouble due to having a few "switch banks" here that have 4, 5 or in this one spot, 8 switches (6 dimmers and 2 switches) in a 7 gang spot and my problem is really with the wall plates, where I REALLY want to upgrade to something nicer than the usual 25 cent (for 1 gang) wall plates i the cheap plastic. I've seen so many really nice looking plates, some in much nicer plastic, but also in all sorts of metals, wood, even stone but I NEVER see any going more than 4 gang for the rocker/decora type and often just up to 3 gang.
For the 7 gang unit, the only real upgrades I've seen aren't much of a upgrade, Lutron has a screwless plate but in plastic that doesn't look much nicer than the 25 cent plates, for $217.00 on the net from many sites, or I've seen a bunch of stainless steel plates with exposed screws that would be great for a very modern home, but this place is anything but modern! Also, many of the rooms have plaster finishes and I've got a guy who can replicate it perfectly and would gladly pay him to fill in the space left over if I can shrink the 7 gang to a 4 gang and a few more spots he's got to come to do anyway, but I don't want to be replastering half the room or rooms which we'd have to do to rewire anything, as these are all on the first floor of a 2 story, so rewiring would require tearing some ceilings open, not to mention the electrician's much larger bill. I know wiring well and think I could wire an entire home with only a few questions, but NO WAY do I DIY it with wiring because of liability issues as we need to get permits in this area for anything more than swapping out an existing outlet or switch and homeowners insurance isn't going to pay out of I happen to sell it someday and my unpermitted wiring job goes bad, burns it down and someone dies, that's a multi million dollar lawsuit! So, I don't fool around with that!
I'm attaching a few pics here, wondering about my multiple dimmers in a 1 gang question or ANY other ideas as well, just keeping in mind the need for LED compatibility AND that there's a lot of 3 ways here thanks for your help!!!
I also have a LOT of 3 ways here as well and this Lutron 2 dimmers in one gang switch was no LED's, no 3 ways, just plain ol incandescents and 1 switch per fixture for about $50 each. I'm not looking to break the bank on this, BUT if I've got to spend $50 or maybe even up to $75 each for a few spots, I'll do it because I'm having trouble due to having a few "switch banks" here that have 4, 5 or in this one spot, 8 switches (6 dimmers and 2 switches) in a 7 gang spot and my problem is really with the wall plates, where I REALLY want to upgrade to something nicer than the usual 25 cent (for 1 gang) wall plates i the cheap plastic. I've seen so many really nice looking plates, some in much nicer plastic, but also in all sorts of metals, wood, even stone but I NEVER see any going more than 4 gang for the rocker/decora type and often just up to 3 gang.
For the 7 gang unit, the only real upgrades I've seen aren't much of a upgrade, Lutron has a screwless plate but in plastic that doesn't look much nicer than the 25 cent plates, for $217.00 on the net from many sites, or I've seen a bunch of stainless steel plates with exposed screws that would be great for a very modern home, but this place is anything but modern! Also, many of the rooms have plaster finishes and I've got a guy who can replicate it perfectly and would gladly pay him to fill in the space left over if I can shrink the 7 gang to a 4 gang and a few more spots he's got to come to do anyway, but I don't want to be replastering half the room or rooms which we'd have to do to rewire anything, as these are all on the first floor of a 2 story, so rewiring would require tearing some ceilings open, not to mention the electrician's much larger bill. I know wiring well and think I could wire an entire home with only a few questions, but NO WAY do I DIY it with wiring because of liability issues as we need to get permits in this area for anything more than swapping out an existing outlet or switch and homeowners insurance isn't going to pay out of I happen to sell it someday and my unpermitted wiring job goes bad, burns it down and someone dies, that's a multi million dollar lawsuit! So, I don't fool around with that!
I'm attaching a few pics here, wondering about my multiple dimmers in a 1 gang question or ANY other ideas as well, just keeping in mind the need for LED compatibility AND that there's a lot of 3 ways here thanks for your help!!!