3+ gang switches

[Alex Bate]

After renovation a room now has 3 lighting circuits to be controlled from one point.
Ideally all to be dimmable but we could sacrifice that requirement for one or two of them

I don't see any 3 or 4 gang wireless dimmer keypads. 

So are my options...?

1. One square dual gang dimmer keypad + one square 1 gang dimmer keypads?
2. A square dual gang dimmer keypad + a square/decora non-dimmable keypad
3. Three 1 gang decora (dimmer) keypads in a 3 hole decora faceplate?

I'm in the UK and all my current C4 and traditional switches are square.
I'm unfamiliar with decora. I presume that a decora keypad is too tall for a UK standard square or rectangular backbox and the screws holes are different too?.

[msgreenf]

Decora is for the North America market- won’t work cross the pond

[Alex Bate]

Useful, thanks.

So only option is to have 2 squares which may or may not be dimmers?

That's frustrating. 

[Alex Bate]

Hi 

I'm still confused about how I solve this.

I've got other rooms with 6 or 8 Live&Neutral cables hanging out of one small square back box. Some are wired to be switched from more than one place.

How do I minimse the number of keypads?

I heard puck such as Shelly Plus/Gen3 might be an option?

 

 

 

[Time2Jet]

Hi 
I'm still confused about how I solve this.
I've got other rooms with 6 or 8 Live&Neutral cables hanging out of one small square back box. Some are wired to be switched from more than one place.
How do I minimse the number of keypads?
I heard puck such as Shelly Plus/Gen3 might be an option?
 
 
 

Absolutely a consideration. Will allow the loads to be controlled (including dimmers now) with Shelly “pucks”. Sounds like this is a sound way.


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[Alex Bate]

So how would this work?
Would a puck be connected to a C4 keypad or to a dumb panel?

From a dumb panel would each switch/dial/circuit have its own puck?

How would this increase the number of circuits that could be controlled from one panel?

Is it simply that for 3+ gang dumb panels exist and so that is would I'd use instead of a C4 keypad?

I find the Shelly range bewildering. Can someone recommend a good introduction?

 

[Silvaskin]

On 8/3/2024 at 7:02 PM, msgreenf said:

Decora is for the North America market- won’t work cross the pond

You can get decora in the UK, you will need to use the larger backboxes though which are not as common but can be purchased through your dealer or other electrical suppliers.

1-4 gang decora faceplates and backboxes are also available though your control4 dealer.

If using the square keypad in the UK,  we have the additional option of controlling 2 circuits from one keypad.  You can get a dual dimmer or relay keypad, so you can accomplish what you want with 2x square keypads.

You can also get a dual gang square faceplate.  However this still needs a backbox change as it is larger than a standard 2-gang backbox in the UK. I think you need to use the euro size 2-gang backbox in this case.

[Silvaskin]

On 10/12/2024 at 9:16 PM, Alex Bate said:

So how would this work?
Would a puck be connected to a C4 keypad or to a dumb panel?

From a dumb panel would each switch/dial/circuit have its own puck?

How would this increase the number of circuits that could be controlled from one panel?

Is it simply that for 3+ gang dumb panels exist and so that is would I'd use instead of a C4 keypad?

I find the Shelly range bewildering. Can someone recommend a good introduction?

 

A Shelly puck will be used with your existing dumb switch and wiring.  it will then talk to control4 over wifi via a driver.  you can switch on/off with the dumb switch or via control4.

Shelly Plus1/Shelly 1 Gen 3 (Large or Mini)  will achieve the same as a control4 switch keypad.

Shelly Plus2PM (large or mini) is same but with a built in power meter.

Shelly Dimmer2 (large or mini) will achieve the same as a control4 dimmer.

The puck will sit behind your dumb switch in your existing backbox.  

One thing to be wary about in the UK is the depth of your existing backboxes,  if you have a 25mm depth backbox you might struggle to fit it in.

If controlling 3 circuits with a Shelly puck, you would need to fit 3x Shelly pucks behind your dumb switch.

[Time2Jet]

A Shelly puck will be used with your existing dumb switch and wiring.  it will then talk to control4 over wifi via a driver.  you can switch on/off with the dumb switch or via control4.
Shelly Plus1/Shelly 1 Gen 3 (Large or Mini)  will achieve the same as a control4 switch keypad.
Shelly Plus2PM (large or mini) is same but with a built in power meter.
Shelly Dimmer2 (large or mini) will achieve the same as a control4 dimmer.
The puck will sit behind your dumb switch in your existing backbox.  
One thing to be wary about in the UK is the depth of your existing backboxes,  if you have a 25mm depth backbox you might struggle to fit it in.
If controlling 3 circuits with a Shelly puck, you would need to fit 3x Shelly pucks behind your dumb switch.

This is a good post.

A few notes: As for 1 load per Shelly, there are 2.5’s that will allow 2 loads to be independently controlled with one puck to save room. No dimmer for the 2.5 yet. Also, the minis are small, might help.


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[Alex Bate]

Thanks very much for the pointers.

The idea I've been given elsewhere is to:

• Pull down a spotlight and splice a puck into the circuit.
• Wire the circuit to live but not to any keypad/switch
• Programme a keypad button to turn the puck on/off.

This does mean the electrican running the spotlight circuit to the keypad would have been pointless (except in the case of reverting to dumb switches one day).

[Silvaskin]

That will work.  The only issue you may have is that you will need a control4 keypad (which isn't connected to the load) in a location that is acceptable to you to control the load.

You could wire a wireless keypad to that single square backbox to achieve that.

 

7 hours ago, Alex Bate said:

Thanks very much for the pointers.

The idea I've been given elsewhere is to:

• Pull down a spotlight and splice a puck into the circuit.
• Wire the circuit to live but not to any keypad/switch
• Programme a keypad button to turn the puck on/off.

This does mean the electrican running the spotlight circuit to the keypad would have been pointless (except in the case of reverting to dumb switches one day).

 

[Alex Bate]

15 hours ago, Silvaskin said:

That will work.  The only issue you may have is that you will need a control4 keypad (which isn't connected to the load) in a location that is acceptable to you to control the load.

Yes, I have that keypad to turn it on/off handy. It having too many wired connections is the problem I'm solving by adding a puck and turning it on/off remotely from the keypad.