I actually stole the idea from David (RTI Installer)... He showed me on one of his jobs. Glue an emitter to the back of the dimmer, spray it black (if controlling several in the same box) and splice to the CAT5 outside of the box (draped over the front lip through the gap in the rock). separate emitters and painting the backs allows you to increase the scene potential from 4 to 4x the number of switches. I did one with two 2 gang boxes controlling lights in several rooms open to the family media room including the kitchen. This allowed them to control them individually and to create many more scenes beyond the media functions. One fun thing I did for an older couple is that when they shut it down at night, the lights will dim in a slow sequence following them out of the room but still giving them time to gather their things. That said... I did a couple of times just to do it and now it is off my radar.


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They work well. I have used them several times both in the multiple gang scenario described above and via direct line of sight and reflecting off of the TV wall to the dimmer behind).

I see potential for several applications... one or two legs with good line of sight or dependable reflection (especially if lights dim automatically for DVD watching). If multi-location dimmers are used, a set could be placed in a hidden location behind a rack or in a service area so that you could "blast" them OR route them with IR covers over the window of the individual switches (just like the cable boxes). This second application would allow you to achieve a fairly sophisticated control scenario on the cheap, however, you would quickly bump into the cost of simply using a Graphic eye with 4 or more loads.