When we talk about home lighting systems, we are actually referring to a group of Lutron products that have the ability to automate the lighting on a whole-house level. Home lighting systems differ from home lighting controls in this manner, because one may conceivably use lighting controls in only a single room, and not the entirety of the house per se. Such a strategy is rare however, in residential settings, because today’s homeowner tends to expect a great deal more from his or her residence than the homeowner of 30 years ago. Most clients of Lutron vendors like Illuminations Lighting and Design choose to implement a comprehensive home lighting system that will give them one-touch control of everything both within and around the house. Depending on the size and age of the house, there are three Lutron home lighting system options available to clients throughout Houston and Greater Texas.
HomeWorks Lighting Controls
Lutron HomeWorks® is a popular home lighting system that is very well-known and that has witness a great deal of success over the past few years. Lutron HomeWorks features conditional logic that allows the home lighting system to be programmed for intuitive behavior. For example, the HomeWorks home lighting system can sense when it is beginning to get dark outside and turn on the architectural and landscape lights automatically. Most people report that they more secure after we install their HomeWorks system, as the lights are still on when they leave for work in the morning and have already come on by themselves when they return home at night.
This level of precision and comfort is made possible by a combination of programming and light sensitive sensors that enable the home lighting system to “sense” changes in external lighting. Interior lights, meanwhile, can be preset using Lutron GRAFIK Eye or Spacer System controls to come on at the push of a button. These effects can be further augmented by integrating controls with various other aspects of home automation, including whole house audio and home theater integration.
RadioRA® Lutron Controls
Unfortunately, many older homes cannot be fitted with the latest home automation systems due to the fact that older wiring will have to be replaced completely for newer home automation and lighting control technology to work. For these houses, ILD recommends Lutron’s RadioRA home lighting system. This system requires no new wiring for installation, and proves ideal for older historic homes and larger homes built in the late 70’s, 80’s, and early 90’s.
The RadioRa has been engineered to seamlessly integrate with any floor plan and unobtrusively blend into interior structures and architecture. RadioRA home lighting systems uses wireless, RF radio signals instead of wires when communicating with its various components. They can be configured to control a portion of the home recessed lighting fixtures, specific groupings of fixtures, or the entire indoor and outdoor lighting system within and around the house. RadioRA also remotely controls lighting from your car visor with the push of a button, and it can be used to manipulate lighting around the deck or pool outside via hand-held remotes. Aficionados of eclectic home-based entertainment and cinema particularly value this benefit, as it enables them to a party at home that is better than nightlife any night of the week.
AuroRa® Lighting Dimmers
This is Lutron's latest and greatest innovation in home lighting systems. It expands the previous wireless technology of the RadioRA into new arenas of comfort, intuitive control, and advanced home automation. With the AuroRa system, you can press a button and create a safe path of light to, through and around the home with wireless control of 5 areas of outdoor lighting. One of the greatest advantages AuroRa offers the eclectic homeowner is pre-programmed capability. The system literally works straight out of the Lutron factory box.
The AuroRa system truly takes a whole house approach to lighting, unifying the functionality of indoor and outdoor lighting into an intuitive, user friendly command interface. This home lighting system can do everything from raise and lower outdoor lighting at dawn and twilight, turn off exterior lights at midnight, activate preset landscaping themes for weddings, birthday parties, and family gatherings, and light a path to the front door when you get home late at night.
Inside the house, the AuroRa home lighting system can open and close shades and control such elements as light pollution and energy conservation, sequence different lighting scenes automatically, and turn on any light or group of lights inside the home or home theater instantly with the push of a button. Every activity from dining, to movie watching, to games and social interaction can have its own specific, supportive lighting theme for optimal mood stimulation and mental focus.
Illuminations Lighting is Your Texas Lutron Source
The added value we can offer any home automation or lighting systems client is determination of exactly which system will best fit their needs, and which components and programming features need to be used to build that system. Click here to learn more about our multi-specialization in electrical services, lighting design, and home automation, and call 1-800-864-1133 for a free consultation today.Labels: AMX Lighting Control Systems, Home Automation Lighting Systems, Lutron Dimmer Switches, Lutron Electronics, Lutron Homeworks Lighting Controls
Lutron manufactures two major lines of home lighting controls designed to control lighting at the individual room level. Lutron also engineers whole house lighting control systems, which we will deal with in a separate article on our site. Today’s article focuses only on the two most prominent lighting controls for homes: the Spacer System home light control designed for multiple lighting scene selection, and the GRAFIK Eye preset home light control. Lutron home light control is intended to reflect personal ideals, lifestyle habits, and home entertainment activities, and they are intended to seamlessly integrate into the interior architecture of even the most custom homes.
Spacer System
The Spacer System provides the advantage of home lighting control through an infrared remote unit that manipulates several lighting circuits linked in tandem by a wireless master controller. Because it takes a “less is more” approach to equipment in general, it represents an excellent retrofit option for homeowners on a budget, because Spacer System home lighting control dimmers can replace existing dimmers and communicate via the wireless master controller.
Spacer System dimmers can control the lighting levels of any and all fixtures in the room, including ceiling lights, accent lights, table lights, and floor lamps. You can create any particular scene appropriate to the master bedroom, den, home entertainment center, or master bath, and then save them in your controller. The system will store up to five lighting scenes per room, providing one-touch access to different levels of task lighting for activities, accent lighting for ambiance, or a subtle touch of both.
GRAFIK EYE
The Lutron GRAFIK Eye home light control system is designed to allow instant switchover to any number of preset lighting scenes. It is based on more advanced technology than the Spacer System ,and it is generally recommended for larger, custom houses and lighting control systems integrated with home automation networks, whole house audio, home security, and high-end home theaters. It also continues to gain momentum in the commercial lighting world, where it is becoming a polar source of boardroom lighting and hospitality lighting applications.
When an authorized Lutron Dealer such as ILD configures your GRAFIK Eye or Homeworks system, we subdivide the lighting circuits in the room to create “lighting zones.” This allows your home lighting control system to then turn certain lights on at full power and leave other lights only partially powered on, or not powered on at all. This variation in lighting intensity is the key to creating subtle and complex lighting effects and themes within a room. The intention in each case is to match areas of brightness and shadows to the pace and nature of activities transpiring in that room. This not works to facilitate the activity on a functional level, but it also helps create an emotional tone congruent to the activity itself.
To switch to a different lighting theme, simply press a button on your infrared remote, and your home automation control system will automatically go to the next scene. The GRAFIK Eye can also be programmed to do this automatically, manipulating both indoor and outdoor lights at various times of the day, evening, or night. You can automate it to turn lights on and off at different times of the evening, such as sun down or just after dark. This high level of control is beneficial to both home entertainment and home energy savings. Home Theater users rely on GRAFIK Eye home dimming controls to lower the shades and dim the lights when movie time rolls around. People who like to host parties find that varying the lights can create everything from relaxing ambience to intensity for games and lively conversation. To change the lighting theme, simply press a button on your infrared remote.
Call a Specialist to Help You Decide!
While these controls are designed for maximum user friendliness, it takes an authorized Lutron reseller like Illuminations Lighting Design to correctly design, install, and configure either system in today’s sophisticated residential space. Call 1-800-863-1184 for a free estimate on either one of these fantastic room-based home lighting control systems, and let one of our lighting control experts develop and install a system ideally tailored to your personal home, lifestyle, needs, and desires.
Illuminations Lighting Design is a full service design build firm specializing in residential and commercial indoor lighting and outdoor lighting, electrical service and maintenance as well as home automation, home theaters, emergency generators, surge protection systems, phone systems and lighting control systems.
We are located in Houston Texas but provide lighting and design services in Austin TX, El Paso Texas, San Antonio TX, College Station Texas, Beaumont TX, Dallas Texas, Midland Tx and points beyond. Call us today at 800-863-1184, visit our lighting blog or request a consultation online using our contact us form.Labels: Electrical contractor Houston Texas, Home Automation Lighting Systems, Home Lighting Controls, Lutron Dimmer Switches, Vantage lighting controls
GRAFIK Eye 3000 and GRAFIK Eye 4000 series by Lutron offer theme-oriented lighting control to commercial and residential clients alike. These control systems create complex interplays between direct, indirect, functional and decorative light appropriate to mood, occasion, and room utilization. Such control allows a person to create multiple lighting themes using the same fixtures in a single lighting system. Keypad control units are programmed for whole house lighting control with one touch convenience to ensure safe, accurate, and instantly responsive operability for the end user.
Lutron GRAFIK Eye systems feature an intuitive memory that allows for multiple lighting scenes that can be programmed into the system. In one sense, this creates many virtual lighting systems from a single physical network of fixtures and wiring. Once lighting themes have been programmed into system memory, it is not necessary for the end user to remember which lights require specific settings. All the end-user needs to do is to select the appropriate lighting scene, and the control unit makes all necessary adjustments to the individual lighting fixtures within the room. Everything from luminance levels to fade in/fade out lighting control is accessed from simple buttons on a wall or tabletop control unit, or interfaced with a Lutron RADIO Ra system for wireless control.
However, the end user is by no means limited to strict parameters of any lighting scene. If necessary, each individual light on the system can also be adjusted manually for fine-tuning or special effects.
Lutron manufactures a number of GRAFIK Eye systems designed for both commercial and residential use. Hospitality lighting clients such as hotels and restaurants often rely upon these controls to create special atmospheres within their enclosed spaces. This helps to establish a resort, dining room, or even hotel foyer as a separate, special place removed from the grind of daily life.
Commercial clients of Illuminations Lighting design often requisition a GRAFIK Eye system for lighting control in executive offices and conference rooms. Most companies realize how important a first impression is upon a visitor and client, and they recognize the value in having not only impeccable lighting, but also flexible, custom lighting control in these areas to maximize emotional congruence to the occasion. Any number of lighting themes and adjustable lighting levels can be programmed into a boardroom lighting design to match agenda, activity, and presentation format. Executive office lighting can be adjusted to create an atmosphere of noticeable but nonetheless subtle tension for formal meetings or decorative ambience for less formal encounters or after hour’s visits with strategic partners and personal friends.
Residential clients who invest in a GRAFIK Eye system almost invariably report back to us that their house feels more like a personalized extension of their mind and lifestyle after our work is complete. The ability to make one’s own living space an extension of mental command is perhaps one of the highest conveniences a homeowner can expect from his or her investment in technology. ILD experts customize each scene on a room-by-room basis and also match those scenes to the activities and events that most frequently occur within particular rooms. Some homes, for instance, have elaborate custom kitchens for cooking and dinner parties. Others homes feature ornate custom architecture and rely upon whole house audio and home theater to provide entertainment for family and friends. GRAFIK Eye eliminates the need for the homeowner to become a self-educated technician because the interface is so quick and simple to use that no technical knowledge or skills are required to manipulate even the world’s most sophisticated commercial grade lighting fixtures.
Another arena where we are beginning to see a great deal of interest in GRAFIK Eye systems is in spiritual circles and houses of worship. With very few exceptions, almost the entire world’s many belief systems associate God and Divinity with Light, and some alternative spiritual paths believe that God and Light are synonymous. From a philosophical as well as an aesthetic perspective then, it makes sense that such an organization would want to have the very best lighting, and that they would want to adjust that lighting to be conducive to an attitude of prayer, meditation, and instructions in higher thought and morality.
Illuminations Lighting Design is a premier vendor of Lutron lighting controls and GRAFIK Eye systems for residences, office buildings, and hospitality oriented facilities. The exact controls used and the lighting themes preset within those controls requires dialogue and extensive consultation with our clients before final equipment selection is made.
Please visit our lighting blog to read more about lighting control, home automation, and specialty office and hospitality lighting design by ILD.
We are located in Houston Texas but provide lighting services in Austin TX, El Paso Texas, San Antonio TX, College Station Texas, Beaumont TX, Dallas Texas, Midland Tx and points beyond.
Labels: Dimming Control Systems, Home Automation Lighting Systems, Lutron Dimmer Switches, Lutron lighting controls
Home automation wiring combines the very best in technology with the most creative and custom solutions available to today's sophisticated and busy homeowner. Home automation wiring links vital home systems and entertainment features directly to a central computer that allows for single-point access to the many different elements of quality home living. As life becomes increasingly hectic, the home becomes more of a sanctuary and the one environment that the individual has direct and unilateral control over. Wiring the home for automation not only makes things more efficient, but also empowers the individual with a sense of control not only over technology, but of personal freedom and choice which can seem a bit elusive at times in today's unstable and chaotic times.
Illuminations Lighting and Design maintains a fully trained staff of certified electricians who know the ins and outs of electrical wiring and home automation systems. Since we work in the most exclusive neighborhoods of Houston such as River Oaks, West University, Tanglewood, and the Memorial Villages, we routinely encounter custom homes with unique architecture that calls for home automation wiring that the standard generic equipment of retailers simply cannot adequately or safely deliver. Our goal is to provide each and every homeowner with structured wiring that will accommodate future upgrades and home renovations and expansion. Before laying the wire for the home automation, we carefully calculate the many variables that compose the system and install cable plant design based upon the client's unique automation requirements. While almost all of our systems utilize home automation controls by manufacturers such as Lutron, Vantage, and AMX our home automation wiring layout is tailor-made for the architecture of the house and the individual tastes of the homeowner.
ILD knows that entertainment matters to its clients now more than ever before. As increasingly larger numbers of people entertain friends and family at home, they need increasingly sophisticated technology to deliver a superior audio/visual experience. Few of our competitors can deliver the level of customization we routinely employ to the benefit or our many satisfied clients. Even fewer can design automation systems that will anticipate and adapt easily to new technologies. We take a very active and forward-looking approach to home automation wiring that distinguishes us in this marketplace and provides the customer with the most adaptable system congruent with present and anticipated future technologies. We centralize low voltage solutions that accommodate current audio/video demands and leave room for future upgrades. We further enhance these layouts with high cables for speakers, high definition video, phone systems, intercom systems, and security cameras. Knowing that technology changes very rapidly, we wire home automation systems with high end low voltage cabling that offers the very best interface for anticipated technologies that could appear on the market at any time.
ILD prides itself on the level of satisfaction we deliver daily to clients throughout Houston and Greater Texas. As our communities continue to show every growing interest home automation, our specialized blend of creativity and technologically savvy proves increasingly valuable in this unique and rapidly evolving industry. Call us today at 713-863-1133 to see what we can do to take your life to a whole new level.
Labels: Home Automation Lighting Systems, Home Lighting Controls, home theaters, Houston Texas Contractors, Lighting and Home Automation, Lutron Homeworks Lighting Controls
When we talk about home lighting systems, we are actually referring to a group of Lutron products that have the ability to automate the lighting on a whole-house level. Home lighting systems differ from home lighting controls in this manner, because one may conceivably use lighting controls in only a single room, and not the entirety of the house per se. Such a strategy is rare however, in residential settings, because today’s homeowner tends to expect a great deal more from his or her residence than the homeowner of 30 years ago. Most clients of Lutron vendors like Illuminations Lighting and Design choose to implement a comprehensive home lighting system that will give them one-touch control of everything both within and around the house. Depending on the size and age of the house, there are three Lutron home lighting system options available to clients throughout Houston and Greater Texas.
