Lighting: Lutron Maestro Eco-Minder Dimmer
From Francesca
I recently stopped by the new Lutron showroom in the New York D&D Building to investigate the company's latest energy-saving dimmers (Lutron founder and owner Joel Spira is credited with inventing the dimmer in 1961), which let you know how much energy you're saving with tiny LED lights that change from red to green. "The eco-minder dimmer line guarantees a minimum reduction in energy consumption of 15 percent and an increase in light bulb life by at least three times when replacing a standard switch. This is achieved by setting the maximum light output to 85 percent instead of 100 percent brightness, a barely perceptible change to the human eye. The increase in bulb life results in fewer light bulb changes and fewer light bulbs in landfills."
Above: The Maestro Eco-Minder Dimmer is available via electrical distributors, lighting showrooms, and the Lutronstore; $45.50.
June 12, 2009
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A dimmable CFL would save on the order of 60% vs. 15% for this incandescent dimmer. The higher bulb cost is at least partially offset by the fact that this dimmer is fairly expensive.
Also, it seems you can duplicate the energy saving technology in the dimmer by manually reducing a regular dimmer a tiny bit from maximum.
i gotta say, this is a fantastic idea, which is why i spec'd it in my most recent project (my own house). that being said, it sucks to use. the buttons feel flimsy and almost everyone that visits is confused by how to use it. they all end up using the dimmer to try to turn lights off - which actually just leaves them on all the time, thereby probably making them less eco-friendly than a regular system. i would not use this system again and would not recommend it until they make improvements.
Consider LED Lighting Solutions, they are the real future to lighting and saving energy.
