Had the same issue with my 60s ranch. Thought I was saving money by keeping the old transformer, but nope... ended up spending more time troubleshooting than it would've taken to swap it out in the first place, lol. But hey, live and learn, right? Now everything's working great, and my house is officially smarter than me—kinda comforting and unsettling at the same time.
Went through something similar when I upgraded my place last year. Keeping old components always seems like a good idea at first—cost-effective, less wasteful—but in reality, older transformers often don't play well with newer smart home tech. Compatibility issues can cause intermittent problems that are frustratingly difficult to trace.
If anyone else is considering a similar upgrade, I'd strongly recommend swapping out the transformer from the get-go. Newer models are designed specifically to handle smart devices and their unique power requirements. It might feel like an unnecessary expense initially, but trust me, it'll save you hours of troubleshooting headaches later.
And yeah, I get what you're saying about the house feeling smarter than you. My thermostat now predicts my schedule better than I do...which is both impressive and slightly creepy. Guess that's just the price we pay for convenience these days.
Did you notice any specific compatibility issues with dimmers or LED lights? I've had transformers cause flickering before, and troubleshooting that was a nightmare... wondering if newer transformers solved that completely or just reduced it.
Have you considered it might not just be the transformer? I've had flickering issues before, and after swapping transformers twice, it turned out the dimmer itself was the culprit. Even newer transformers didn't completely eliminate flicker for me—just reduced it. Maybe it's worth checking if your dimmers are specifically rated for LEDs? Seems like compatibility between dimmers and bulbs can be just as finicky as transformers...
"Seems like compatibility between dimmers and bulbs can be just as finicky as transformers..."
You're onto something there, but honestly, sometimes it's not even about compatibility. I once spent days troubleshooting flickering lights in a client's kitchen—swapped dimmers, transformers, bulbs, you name it. Turned out the wiring itself had a loose neutral connection hidden behind drywall. Smart tech is great, but old-school wiring issues can still sneak up on you... might be worth double-checking connections before blaming the gadgets.
