LED Downlights

[Tim Rogers]

Planning a new build house with Control4 lighting control. The compatible lighting listed on the C4 website is quite limited given the huge range of manufacturers of LED integrated downlights. Do I need to be careful which manufacturer I pick or in general will any dimmable LED down light from a reputable company work fine 

[mstafford388]

Just so you're aware how products get on that list, essentially someone wants to use a specific lighting product or fixture, sends Control4 one of the fixtures, and C4 runs it through a thorough bench test.  Obviously this isn't super practical based on the sheer number of lighting products out there but I also understand C4s stance on why approve something unless they've tested it.   That being said there are tons and tons of lights out there that will work well, and generally speaking well made lighting will work fine with Control4 (or lutron or vantage or whoever).  There are definitely dimmable LEDs out there that just don't play nice for whatever reason, either crappy dimming curves, won't dim down very far, or won't actually turn off.  Best advice is if you can get a hold of a fixture you want to put in and just run it through some basic testing before filling a house with something and hoping for the best. 

[Matt Lowe]

I second this. Absolutely connect and try out some fixtures before making any big purchases. LEDS will dimm based on the driver they have. Each driver will behave differently.  this can be true even with in the same model of a brand if they are a few batches apart from each other. Depending on the quality you are looking for you will want to also be sure to grab a few replacements right now and store them properly so you have a matching set should you need one.

 

[Köhler Medientechnik]

Second that as well.

I put a $500,- bulk of replacement bulbs on storage when i installed my outdoor lighting a couple of years ago.
I´m happy i did - it looks so crappy if you have a series of 10 lights in a row and they look different...