Smart lighting controls - recommendations

[Taylortwocities]

I need some advice please.

I have a customer, have done a few house refurb/rewires for him. He is buying a house to do up for himself.
He has said that he is after a system to provide mood lighting scenes in various rooms. There will be lots of downlights knowing him - probably LED.

I know there are many systems on the market but have never installed anything like this - but I'll have a go -

I need a steer on best systems to look at and ease of installation, and any gotchas. Thanks, I appreciate any constructive input.

 

[Festerfly]

i was at the Build It Live show in Bluewater on sunday and most of the Smart Home people were plugging the 'Control 4' Product Seems very good and versatile but i think that you might need a degree in programming to set it up!

All the cabling for lighting etc is run in Cat 5 and powered from a central BUS system.

It also copes with the heating controls, other accessories (curtains, blinds, etc), TV control etc which might be a bit more advanced then the customer was looking for but it would be a good place to start.

I've found most customers love the idea of a 'Smart Home' but when they realise the price tag that goes with it, a majority of them then put it down as too expensive..

Good luck though!

 

[High Tower]

One word..........Lutron

 

[Cbigfoot]

Lutron or Rako.

Control 4 is good, but i would not use it to control lighting alone. I use control 4 to work AV systems, and tie the lutron into it.

 

[Rockingit]

Lutron and all the other brand names are complete dinosaurs and sooooo overpriced it's untrue.

If all you want is lighting, take a look at this. UK made and designed, proven technology based on decades old principles from theatre, dead easy to install and more importantly cheap! 16 x 2A dimming channels (so MORE than enough for LED) with a variety of control options for less than £2k. I'm just about to do one myself on a large barn conversion - feel free to ask / PM.

Anytronics Ltd Home Page

http://www.anytronics.com/download/dim_swit/grey/Any DP1602 Issue 1 8_9_08.pdf

 

[Cbigfoot]

Lutron and all the other brand names are complete dinosaurs and sooooo overpriced it's untrue.

If all you want is lighting, take a look at this. UK made and designed, proven technology based on decades old principles from theatre, dead easy to install and more importantly cheap! 16 x 2A dimming channels (so MORE than enough for LED) with a variety of control options for less than £2k. I'm just about to do one myself on a large barn conversion - feel free to ask / PM.

Anytronics Ltd Home Page

http://www.anytronics.com/download/dim_swit/grey/Any DP1602 Issue 1 8_9_08.pdf

So just to understand your post. Lutron and others are Dinosaurs, and your product is decades old?

Decades old in the electrical world also makes it a dinosaur!

 

[Rockingit]

So just to understand your post. Lutron and others are Dinosaurs, and your product is decades old?

Decades old in the electrical world also makes it a dinosaur!

Nope, that's not what I said at all. What I said is that the technology is proven which is a bit like saying 'it runs on diesel'. The product itself is bang up to date.

 

[Cbigfoot]

Ok, but on the website, all the photos are stated as taken in 2003?

Lutron is also based on decades old technology, and the product is up to date. I have also installed a 24 circuit system for £2k

It depends on what the customer needs, as to what system you should use.

 

[7029 dave]

Ha Ha , way to tech for me give em one pendant per room. lol

 

[Rockingit]

Ok, but on the website, all the photos are stated as taken in 2003?

Lutron is also based on decades old technology, and the product is up to date. I have also installed a 24 circuit system for £2k

It depends on what the customer needs, as to what system you should use.

REALLY??! Because when I asked our area Lutron rep to design-quote for this he came up with something around £15k. Just saying.

 

[Cbigfoot]

yes and that is the problem, I work with a good quality Lutron Installer who has a direct account with them.
Usually people have to buy it from wholesalers who do not have good terms with Lutron, and then still need to make a profit on selling to you, and then it need to be programmed!

Bottom lone is that Lutron do not really want to deal with anyone except their approved installers, everyone else gets a crap deal!