Customer Reviews

Lutron MS-OP600GHW-WH Maestro Occupancy Sensor with Eco-dim Dimmer, White

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I strongly recommend against this product without fully understanding the "Eco-Dim" feature. It's not made clear from the packaging or marketing materials. For most people, the model MS-OP600M-WH would be a better choice (and is cheaper).

The Eco-Dim guarantee of 15-50% energy savings may appear to be related to the "occupancy sensor" effectively limiting the the time the lights are burning, thereby saving energy. That is incorrect. While the occupancy sensor may save money, Eco-Dim simply means is that dimmer arbitrarily "Clamps" or limits brightness to 85% of maximum.

The reason I have taken the time to write about this is that I contend that the packaging and marketing materials are misleading. After all, a rational person should be willing to pay more for the Eco-Dim feature if it guarantees "15% ENERGY SAVINGS". However, fewer buyers would knowingly purchase the product if it were disclosed clearly that: "ECO-DIM LIMITS BRIGHTNESS FOR 15% ENERGY SAVINGS".

In my opinion, Eco-Dim option is wholly undesirable. Any 'standard' digital dimmer ALREADY enables the efficiency of Eco-Dim, by allowing the user to "preset" reduced brightness (when appropriate), and toggle that setting on/off with a single button press (or automatically with the occupancy sensor). Better still, a standard digital dimmer ALSO enables full brightness when appropriate. I suspect that many confused Eco-Dim customers will scratch their heads in response to the reduced brightness and restore the original level with brighter bulbs. Naturally that defeats the whole purpose. The only possible benefit is that there appears to be evidence that incandescent bulbs (even the brighter ones you installed to compensate) may have a longer service life when running at or below 85% of capacity.

Lutron technical support confirms that there is no way to override the brightness limit, even in the 'advanced setup' mode. This is really too bad. In my opinion an override feature would have given this product the best of both worlds. After all, 85% of maximum is often appropriate, and any product that makes it easier to use less energy is desirable, but unless you also happen to want your maximum brightness reduced by 15%, it's a bad choice.

Product works as described, it detects your motion the second you walk into its line of sight and brings up the lights in a quick and smooth fade. There is a 20 second delay if you manually turn off the lights, but that is so you can leave the room before the sensor starts working again. overall great purchace

I love electronic gadgets and live in an older home with one small bathroom, but multiple electrical wall switches--one for the above vanity light fixture, one for the ceiling fan, one to activate the ceiling heater and lastly one to turn on the main ceiling light fixture. When I would have guests over, they often would get confused about which switch to turn on and in addition to this it seemed a nuissance to constantly turn the switch on and off in a room that gets used throughout the day or evening. So, I bought and installed this Lutron Maestro dimmer, but initially bought one from Lowe's that cost more (close to $50) and it looked virtually the same as dimmer pictured so I assumed it was the same. That is when I realized that Lutron makes 2 versions of this dimmer--an "Occupancy" and "Vacancy." The main difference is that the vacancy turns off automatically, but will NOT turn on automatically. To have this electronic dimmer turn on automatically, you must specifically buy the "Occupancy" model which neither Lowe's nor Home Depot stocks in its Southern California stores--they only carry the Vacancy version. The "Occupancy" version seems to be mainly available online. In any case, this dimmer works really well and for middle-of-the-night bathroom visits. It has a great feature that incrementally/gradually dims up and dims down the light--which is much easier on the eyes then going from a pitch black room to full brightness

My only complaints are:

#1 Because of its digital technology, the Maestro dimmer seems to ONLY work with less energy efficient incandescent light bulbs. I tried instead using a specialty CFL spiral bulb that was specifically designed to work with dimmer circuits/switches, but that type of flourescent CFL bulb is ONLY for traditional manual electric dimmers--not new technology digital dimmers such as the Maestro--which was a disappointment. Therefore, be aware beforehand that you unfortunately cannot use newer, energy efficient "dimmable" CFL or LED bulbs with this dimmer because they will not work. For shorter term use in bathrooms, garages, closets, etc., however, since the dimmer theoretically will not be on for extended time periods, that difference in wattage/energy consumption should not be that significant toward your utility bill, but still would be better if the dimmer would accept those newer, "green friendly" type, low wattage light bulbs.

#2 It would be great if Lutron can eventually create an additional photocell version of this dimmer, because keep in mind that every time someone walks into the room during the daytime, this dimmer will still activate anyway because it electronically detects your body heat entering the room (or that of your pets). In my particular bathroom installation that is not that big of a deal since theoretically the bathroom is only used for brief time intervals, but in a main room of a home--a kitchen, living room or den--this will likely mean the switch would have to manually be turned off each and every day during daytime hours--which could become a nuissance.

#3 I am not that tech savvy and to those who are similar, the instructions can be somewhat complicated and require several readings for complete understanding. Again, the default factory settings will likely be fine for most people, but for example, if you want to alter the auto off time period from 5 to 15 minutes, adjusting the timer can take a little time and patience.

#4 It would also be great if Lutron could integrate a nightlight-type feature into the front of the switch--though I suppose if the dimmer is set auto-on, then having such a guide light feature is not that critical. But for times if the dimmer is in manual use mode, having an indicator light would be nice in a dark room. (There are miniscule green LED indicator lights that always flash when the dimmer is activated, but I do not think they serve well as a dark room guide/nightlight because they are not bright enough).

The sensor works very fast when you get in but if you get out and get in inmediately you have to turn on the light manualy because the time to turn on automatically delays 20 seconds, but that wasn't the reason to not rate it higher. The reason was that I bought five of them and one of them it never worked. I have to say that I'm returning it at this moment and Amazon attended my request kindly and quickly.

I see the future. No more light switches! This product is amazing. It turns on the lights slowly and turns them off slowly (dimming, not abruptly)by just walking in or out of the room. Mabe one day no screaming at the kids the turn off the lights. AHHH isn't technology wonderful!

I installed this in my garage so that the overhead light comes on when either of my two garage doors open. The sensor part does not work 100 percent of the time - even when driving an object as big as a car by this thing. Sometimes it doesn't turn on until me or my wife open our car door but then it always works. I wish it were a little more sensitive but having said that temperature changes can trigger this to turn on - sometimes I will walk into my garage and the light will already be on but this is fairly rare, I am certain it is caused by air drafts most garages have. Dimmer is nice option. Very easy to install. I don't regret buying it, would buy it again.

The product works great and would of gotten a 5 start rating but it does not support LED lighting.

I installed the unit in a hallway switch connected to 5 4" LED recessed lights. The sensor worked great, I was able to easily program the unit to my desired setting. BUT.... once the unit turned off the lights there was still a glow comming from the LEDs. The unit never shut OFF the lights completely. I called tech support and he said sorry it is not designed for LED lighting....

DO NOT BUY IF YOU HAVE LED LIGHTS

i bought this because i would trip at night on my steps. now it turns on and i can clealy see where i am walking instead of falling and looking for the switch. the only problem is that it always turns on when there is motion, even when you dont need it like during the day with sunlight. i wish it had some kind of light sensor that keeps it from turning on when its not dark.

I've seen other review stating the same but here is the short:

- once you install this switch, you'll never see the full brightness you once had with any other switches/dimmer.

Upon installing this dimmer in my bathroom / Laundry Room I noticed that I didn't get my lighting fixture to full brightness like I used to... My guess was somewhere between 75% to 80% of the original brightness.

I don't see why Lutron can't simply override this feature... totally crashing this product.

Why would anyone design such a product without an override function? I wish I can get rid of it. i would need to pay the electrician again. I am therefore keeping it. If you do not need an override function, this product is good.