Mujudu and anyone else interested in performance test of Leviton Z-Wave Dimmer Model VRI06 using dimmable LED loads.

Follow this link to my blog, entitled "Using Leviton 2-Wire Z-Wave dimmer switches with dimmable LED's" for the latest test results, or as below...

Test done with a Leviton Model VRI06 2-wire dimmer, as follows;

1)  Cree 6W Dimmable LED  (450 Lumens)

- Dimming steps good.

- Dims full off ok but brightening to 100% requires holding the dimmer on for a while longer than normal to get to 100%, otherwise it is fine as far as smoothness goes.

- Resume dim good.

- no discernible noise or humming

- no flicker but hard to control on lower spectrum of wattage (close to off or 5-10%)

2)  Philips 8W Dimmable LED  (470 Lumens)

- Dimming steps good.

- Dims full off ok but brightening to 100% requires holding the dimmer on for a while longer than normal to get to 100%, otherwise it is fine as far as smoothness goes.

- Resume dim good.

- no discernible noise or humming

- no flicker but hard to control on lower spectrum of wattage (close to off or 5-10%)

- overall the same performance as the Cree above, except it seemed like the dimming steps were somewhat smoother.

3)  EcoSmart 9W Dimmable LED  (650 Lumens)

- Dimming steps a little rough.

- Dims only to 20% and flickers slightly, you need to hold the dimming a second for full off. Brightening to 100% requires holding the dimmer on for a while longer than normal to get to 100%.

- Resume dim good at only >40%.  Doesn't seem to work at all below that.

- no discernible noise or humming

3)  GE 11W Dimmable LED  (800 Lumens)

- Dimming steps OK.

- Dims only to 30% then you need to hold the dimming a second for full off. Will not dim up from off, Brightening to 100% ok only after being switched on, THEN dimmed up.

- Resume dim is good.

- no discernible noise or humming

- Very little flicker if any and good control at all levels.

Now there is no guarantee that buying these brands and these switches will absolutely work for you in your environment, as every home is wired differently and may have other mitigating circumstances, but at least this is something for you to start with. I would recommend that you get one switch and one LED dimmable bulb and hook everything up properly then test to see if it works for you in your home environment.

These tests were done on my test bench in my office under perfect conditions, I did not do anything but wire up the switches and screw in the LED's. I have a  VeraLite  controller as well as HomeSeer but did not set them up within either controller as I wanted an unrestricted unbiased test using a standard  GE Z-Wave remote controller  and an  Aeon Labs Minimote , so those were what I used for my tests. That's not to say you couldn't improve the step rates and presets within Vera to improve the performance even more, as I am sure you could.