CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[perisoft]

So, I keep blowing bulbs in my movie room. I've got two 3-lamp Halogen fixtures, which I really like - but they use bulbs that are 5 bucks a pop, and they seem to be blowing constantly. The room is inbetween our bedroom and the rest of the house (it's kind of odd) so the lights are on a lot - particularly in the middle of the night when we're going back and forth to get our baby to sleep.

Anyway, I want to get a dimmer to extend the life of the bulbs and also to make it a little nicer in there - it's bright as hell with two of those fixtures anyway.

The local bigbox stores have these Lutron dimmers with little remote controls for 40 bucks - they're a perfect stopgap until I can get something hooked up to the HTPC to auto-off when the movie plays, etc. But they only have them in white, and bigbox store charges seven bucks to custom-ship one plus another ten for getting one that isn't white. Getting them on Amazon is even more expensive, oddly.

Does anybody know of any cheap dimmers-with-remotes out there? Anything more than fifty bucks and it'd almost be cheaper to try to rig up something with X10, so I might as well just get something with a knob and be done with it...

Thanks!

[greg_mitch]

I like the insteon dimmers from smarthome.com

I think they are $40 for a 600 watt version.

I have three plus a keypadlinc dimmer. Nice quality stuff. Easily integrates with X10. Can be hooked up to PC with additional equipment. Can be easily hooked up to IR for minimal investment.

[bbfarmht]

Oh I thought you were asking for Smarter Dumber. The next sequel to Dumb and Dumber.

[ecrabb]

I was going to recommend the Insteon dimmers, too (that's what I use) but I thought the price was a bit high given the "Anything more than fifty bucks" comment. The thing is, you can use the Insteon switches to start building a complete home automation system for not much more than just "dumb" dimmers.

Here's their lower-priced ICON dimmer...
http://www.smarthome.com/2876DB/ICON-Dimmer-INSTEON-Remote-Control-Dimmer-Switch/p.aspx

It's $35, so you save $11 over the higher-priced SwitchLinc switches I have in my HT. You give up some features, but it's an excellent value for most and you can still customize the color of the paddle for $5 or so for a pair.

If you really want to go budget-conscious and you don't have Decora switches in the house, you can go old-school for $25:
http://www.smarthome.com/23894I/ToggleLinc-X10-Remote-Control-Dimmer-Ivory/p.aspx

Add a cheap X10 remote and you're off the the races.

I was AMAZED at how long the bulbs in my house last now that I have X10 and Insteon dimmers with the slow-ramp function. I used the change the bulb in my old house porch light at least a couple of times each year. It seems like I was CONSTANTLY changing light bulbs somewhere. In my new house, I've got soffit lighting with 11 floods... I think I've changed ONE of those bulbs in nearly FIVE years. Of the 6 in the kitchen where I don't have a dimmer... I've already changed 3, another is dead and needs changed, and another is flickering. The dimmers aren't cheap, but they sure do pay dividends in PITA reduction (and they do save some money on bulbs, of course).

I really like Smarthome and their products. I've been buying stuff from them for almost 5 years, and have about 10 X10 and Insteon SwitchLinc switches. One thing about Smarthome... If you're patient, they run some pretty great email promotions if you're on the mailing list... I'd say at least quarterly, they have a sale where you get 20% off on orders over $100, free shipping, progressive discounts, etc.

SC

[AnalogRocks]

I use 3, 60 watt hallogens in my dining room/projector storage room. I ramp the dimmer up slowly and often running it lower than wide open. I got 10 years out of those bulbs!

[AnalogRocks]

I use 3, 60 watt hallogens in my dining room/projector storage room. I ramp the dimmer up slowly and often running it lower than wide open. I got 10 years out of those bulbs!

[perisoft]

Awesome, I'll check this stuff out. Thanks, guys!

[Belcherwm]

I really liked my experience with Hank's Electric. Bought my Lutron Spacer System from them.

http://www.hankselectric.net/