Lutron Diva Electronic Low Voltage Dimmer | 300-Watt, Single-Pole or 3-Way | DVELV-303P-BL, Black

You can't get these at home depot and apparently the electricians don't know about them. After a number of very expensive LED fixtures failed (fortunately under warranty) the lighting store told me to get this type. Now the fixtures dim properly and don't hum at all. They cost more but actually work right for low power LED fixtures. All dimmers seem to clip the sine wave (PWM), but these clip the trailing side, not the leading side so the fixture does not get a high voltage surge. Instead it comes on smooth and cuts off at the end. Had to do a lot of reading to figure this out. Even the Lutron site is vague about what is going on so I may be missing some details. Works with the PIXE panels that HD used to carry. I suspect they had too many returns from use with the wrong dimmer type. Now that fixture dims properly without humming too.

I installed this dimmer after reading numerous articles about how to get rid of excessive LED track-light humming noise. The lights had previously been paired with a "compatible" Lutron dimmer but were excessively loud and annoying. Because I needed the ability to dim the lights I didn't have many options. This worked beautifully and reduced the noise from very loud and annoying to barely detectable. It is quite pricey but was worth it as I would have had to remove the dimmer or get rid of the lights.

I’ve gone through three or four different digital dimmers to control a stairway LED can light that draws a max of 9 volts at full power. Every other dimmer flickered irritatingly or did not turn off the fixture completely in the off position, since the small trickle of voltage used to operate the fancy dimmer switch was also enough to cause the fixture to glow at night. This model is not digital and it DOES require a neutral wire. You will also need sufficient depth in your wall box, this switch is as deep as standard digital dimmers, about 1 1/2” deep into the wall. Also important, if using in a 3-way (or 4-way) configuration, the dimmer MUST be installed on the load side (I.e., the outlet closest in the circuit to the light fixture, not the end that has the hot wire). Luckily, my wall box had a neutral wire. Unluckily, I would have preferred the dimmer to be on the other end of the 3-way circuit. But it turns out the location was not an issue once it was installed. I’ve done (too much) research on low voltage LED dimmers, and apparently this is the only model currently on the market (early 2021) that reliably works with LED lights of all voltages. I concede that some smart dimmers will also work with low voltage LEDs, but you’ll still need a neutral wire, and as for me, I didn’t need Alexa to control a side staircase light 😛. Yes, it’s expensive. But I just sucked it up; it works where other models failed. Thanks, Lutron! Now lower your prices!

Like many others, I am here because the cheaper Diva Dimmer by Lutron, which is "LED compatible", made my LED bulbs buzz like crazy. This was for a dining room fixture that hangs low and would kill the mood. So here I am spending 2.5x the cost of the first switch to get this second one but I am happy to report this fixes the humming problem! Honestly a $75 switch is insane, but cheaper than trying 6 new good looking LED bulbs. If you are in an older place, be forewarned that you need 5 wires to make this work in a 3-way (2 switch) configuration. Lucky for me there was a neutral wire jammed all the way in the back. I have no idea how the wires work, I have never installed a complicated switch like this one before, but if you read the instructions it should go easy enough. I also found it helpful to take pictures of everything before I started helping me keep the wiring straight since everyone likes to color code things differently... Took a star off for price, but the product is great.

I replaced my "over the kitchen sink" fluorescent fixture with two LED bar lights. There are times you want to inspect your dishes and food, and. at other times you want to just see what your doing. I also got tired of attracting all the insects in the back yard at night to the kitchen window over the sink. I had to have a LED dimmer and the electronics in this expensive rocker-style dimmer, according to various articles I read, did it best, allowing for fine dimmer control in a very gradual, evenly distributed manner. The LED bars connected directly to the 120v AC current coming from the light switch. I didn't need a transformer to convert to 12 volts, like so many other LED bars require. It worked fine with the old "on/off" light switch, and when I upgraded the switched to the DVELV-303P, it was almost perfect. There is one spot about two-thirds down the dimmer control where I get an "ever-so-slight" buzz in the LED bar, but I have to really try in order to hit that spot. I am really impressed on how low I can dim the LED lights. I could make them barely glow. On the flip side, I also used a much less expensive LED dimmer, the Lutron Diva DVCL-153-AL, with my recessed 120v AC LED ceiling light over my kitchen table. I had to manually adjust this less expensive dimmer during installation to "define" the low end of the dimming range. The really fine control in this cheaper dimmer wasn't there either. For my application - bright or about half-as-bright or just dim - I am just as satisfied with the cheaper Lutron DVCL-153-AL. But I was more impressed with the DVELV-303P dimmer. My advice, don't buy a Corvette when an Impala fits the bill. But if you have an elaborate lighting design, get the DVELV-303P. Warning - the DELV-303P requires a neutral wire, which is frequently not used and consequently not installed in most simple single pole switch boxes, meaning re-wiring cost.