Has anyone out there bought and installed any of the Insteon SwitchLink dimmer switches? I’m thinking of upgrading some of my switches which are poorly positioned, and tying them all together into a single virtual N-way system. The problem is that it says that the neutral connection is “required” but I don’t think that I have neutral at all my switch locations. Some instructions somewhere said something like “simply run a neutral wire to each switchbox” Uh, yeah. Right. And while I’m there why don’t I just rewire my whole house?
Do these things work? Do they really need a neutral wire all the time?
I have used those in our last house. We used it to control some lights when the switches were in an inconvenient location.
The only problems that I had were to deal with the switch and the controller being on different phases.
Also, there are dimmers that don’t require a neutral wire, but make sure you look at the description before buying it, if you need that
Westbrook is giving inaccurate information. He’s possibly answering about X10. The phase issue is fixed with Insteon because the phases are coupled with RF.
Yes, Insteon requires neutral. This is because the switch is a load in itself. Of course it stands by waiting for a command. If you live in the US, you probably have this neutral wire depending on the age of your house.
And yes the switches work well. It sounds like you have a perfect application for them.
You are correct – you do not have a neutral at any of your switches. I have considered the Insteons as well but non of my switches have a neutral. I’m surprised anyone would have a neutral at the switch as it is not required for lighting – even in new houses.