Why should I install eco-dimmers when I already have a lighting control system?
You will have greater flexibility with your lighting control system. Dimmers allow you to manually intervening in the pre-programmed lighting sequences and make fine-tuned adjustments at will. You can either do this to achieve more specific ambiance suitable to a certain special occasion, or you can manipulate lighting levels to blend with natural light coming in through your windows. Dimmer controls in the kitchen, for example, allow you to set lighting levels to a soft glow that compliments the growing light of the rising sun. If you are hosting a party in the dining room, you might want to dim the lights for a special moment, such as blowing out the candles on a birthday cake. It is even possible to control the entire house with a more sophisticated lighting control system.
Install a dimmer in your kitchen, for example, and you can brighten lights at breakfast or when preparing meals, and lower them to catch up with your family over an evening snack. In the bathroom, a dimmer means you don't have to begin your morning routine in full bright light, but rather in a soft glow to help you ease into your day. Dim the lights in your dining room or living room you can create the perfect atmosphere for entertaining friends.
How do dimmer controls work?
Incandescent and halogen bulbs produce light by passing current through a thick metal wire called a filament. When the filament heats up, it produces light. This is not the most efficient way to produce light, and it has its drawbacks. A great deal of current has to go into the filament to heat it to this level, and the heat itself deteriorates the filament over the course of time.
Dimmers actually interrupt the current to prevent as much heat, and therefore light, from being produced. This happens to fast for the eye to see, so the rather than the light going on and off, it simply appears to emit less illumination. If you are remodeling or involved in new home wiring, now is a good time for considering a Lutron dimming system.
How much energy does a dimmer switch save?
Dimmers on the average have saved people a minimum of 5% on electrical costs. New eco-dimmers by Lutron have improved this minimum considerably. With the new Lutom home lighting control dimmers, you can expect to reduce your electrical consumption, and therefore power bills, by a minimum of 15%.
If you are using older model dimmer controls, consider the fact that upgrading to new eco-dimmers will rapidly recover your investment through additional savings.
How much money can I save with eco-dimmers?
Lutron estimates approximately $40.00-$150.00 per dimmer over a 5-year period. Of course, this number varies on how many bulbs you control with the dimmer, the type of lighting control system you install, how often you have your lights on, and the degree to which you dim them.
Are there green benefits to using eco-dimmers?
Yes. By regulating incandescent lights more efficiently, eco-dimmers reduce CO2 emissions. In fact, if every home in the U.S. had only one Lutron wall box dimmer installed, it would eliminate CO2 emissions equivalent to that of 370,000 vehicles.
Landfill waste is also reduced thanks to eco-dimmers, because they will extend bulb life up to 10 years.
Is a dimmer difficult to install?
No, it does not take advanced electrical installation skills. but it is best to have a professional install your dimmers in conjunction with a lighting control or home system integration network. Contact ILD for a free evaluation on which of our many system integration packages will best meet the needs of your home and lifestyle.
Where are your main offices?
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 713-863-1133, visit our lighting blog or request a consultation online using our contact us form.
Labels: Energy Saving Switches, Houston Electrical Contractors, Lutron Dimmer Switches, Lutron ECO-DIM Home 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.
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
Imagine having your landscape lights slowly fade when the sun comes up as your bathroom lights power on with a soft, gentle glow to greet you as you rise. As you prepare for work, the lights in your bedroom and kitchen come at increasingly higher levels, helping you get into gear for a morning in traffic and a day in the office. While you read the paper over morning coffee, you can touch a remote and raise the shades to let the sunlight in. When you leave, simply turn everything off with a single button, and after a hard day’s work, turn them back with a visor control as you pull into your driveway.
Regardless of the time, day or night, Lutron HomeWorks gives you total control and optimal convenience in programmed, user-friendly task, decorative, and security lighting control.
Consider the benefits that this lighting control system can offer to your home, and how it will enrich your lifestyle by making your interior and exterior lighting systems a virtual extension of your thoughts, will, and desire. Illuminations Lighting and Design can equip you with this skillful blend of user friendly interface and state of the art software with a Lutron HomeWorks lighting control system. Built upon a foundation of 40 years in lighting control innovation, Lutron HomeWorks represents a true home automation lighting solution that is fully compatible with home security systems and home entertainment audio/visual devices. Not only will HomeWorks give you more freedom and choice when it comes to manipulating lighting effects and levels, but it also filters out externally induced voltage variance in order to stabilize lighting levels at the desired settings. This in turn helps to buffer your home’s electrical systems from intermittent power spikes and better protects your equipment from power spikes.
The strength of Lutron HomeWorks lies in three key elements integral to the system control software. These key elements handle the intuitive, timing, and personalized control elements of your lighting control system. Conditional logic allows the HomeWorks lighting control system the ability to behave intuitively, activating certain features of your program only after specific conditions have been fulfilled. Exterior low voltage lighting, for example, will only come on when system sensors determine it is dark. Different lights can be set to turn on at the push of a single button, indicating that it is time for lunch and dinner. They can even add music to the lighting theme to set the mood for guests! This blend of user control and automated functionality is enabled by flexible programming at the keypad control level and an astronomical clock that knows when sunrise and sunset will occur on any given day in your particular location. This tells the system to when to turn outdoor garden lights on at specific times before or after dark, and to turn them off again at a certain point at or around daybreak. Most clients feel this provides them with an additional layer of security lighting, because the lights can be set to turn themselves on before a person drives home after dark in the evening, or to come on just before sunrise when the homeowner goes outside to water the plants, work in the garden, or sweep the patio.
In spite of the high-end lighting technology that constitutes a HomeWorks control system, ILD makes the interface so user friendly that even children and guests can use the system. Lutron keypads can be engraved with labels that allow you to quickly remember, giving you quick, one-touch access to a 2-way command system that causes lights to respond in a fraction of a second. Because today’s eclectic homeowner centers so many of his or her activities in and around the home, Lutron HomeWorks is engineered on a custom, per client basis for multi-functionality and maximum flexibility. Lutron Home works controls are aesthetically pleasing and designed to blend into a multiplicity of decorative themes and interior designs. With simple commands to low profile wall units and remotes, you can change the brightness and tone of everything from art lighting in the living room to task lighting in the kitchen. When movie time comes, a single command can lower your projector screen, dim the lights in your home theater, and close the shades for an evening at home that rivals the spectacle of public theater.
ILD is a reputable, established, licensed Lutron installation vendor who will customize your Lutron HomeWorks system to the interior architecture of your house and the core activities of your personal lifestyle. It doesn’t matter either if your home is a newly planned dwelling pending construction, or an older, historical home with character and established personality of its own. With Lutron RF HomeServe technology, even homes with older wiring designs can be retrofitted with wireless Lutron Radio Ra technology that controls everything from chandeliers, floor lights, desk lamps, bathroom lights, and utility lights over washroom and work areas.
Click here to read more about ILD’s lighting control and home automation services, and call us Illuminations Lighting Design now for a free consultation and proposal of custom Lutron HomeWorks system tailor made for your personal lifestyle. Feel free to call 800-863-1184 for a lighting control specialist!Labels: Lutron Dimmer Switches, Lutron Electronics, Lutron Homeworks Lighting Controls
Wallbox dimmers are the basic building blocks of modern day light controls.
Wallbox dimmers by Lutron can be installed to replace standard light switches in every room of the house. This will place total control of lighting and power levels directly into the hands of the individual, and it will allow the homeowner to immediately begin saving money on electrical costs without having to replace every light in the home. This is important, because every homeowner only has two choices: retrofit the lights themselves with led or fluorescent fixtures now, or install wallbox dimmers and a lighting control system that will make incandescent lights less expensive to use and generate a return on investment that can be reinvested in new lighting fixtures when the new ban on incandescent lighting takes effect in 2010.
With the growing popularity of fluorescent lights as energy saving alternatives to incandescents, many people will opt to take the easy path of simply replacing their light bulbs rather than first considering the advantages of a Lutron wall box or Lutron Radio Ra light dimmers can offer them as the first step toward a whole new level of light. ILD encourages you to consider these options before spending money on new bulbs. It is important to realize that truly livable and enjoyable home environments depend greatly on aesthetics. While it is an established fact that one 13watt fluorescent bulb will give you the same amount of light as one 60-watt incandescent light, it is also a fact that standard fluorescent recessed lights are not compatible with dimmer switches or low voltage wallbox dimmer control units. The cause of this incompatibility lies within the design of a fluorescent bulb itself.
A fluorescent bulb requires less energy than an incandescent bulb because a magnetic ballast controls the flow of current that powers the bulb. This ballast allows the bulb to produce more light with less electricity, making it a very cost effective alternative to incandescent. Beyond cost benefits, though, fluorescent bulbs are limited in a number of ways. As we have stated, standard ballast technology is incompatible with wall box dimmers and therefore prohibits direct control of lighting levels. This is why fluorescent lights are mostly used in utility rooms and commercial buildings where decorative effects are not needed and a fixed level of functional light is all the facility requires. However, even in some commercial lighting projects, fluorescent lights have their limitations. They are not appropriate for green retrofit options, and they offer little aesthetic to homeowners unless fitted with very expensive dimming ballasts and matching fluorescent dimmers to make them work in tandem with wallbox dimmers.
Fluorescent lights add little or no aesthetic to home lighting design unless they fitted with very expensive color correcting lamps. Again, such exorbitant expenses are better spent on a lighting control system and Lutron wallbox dimmers that can reduce your power bills today now and still be compatible to any new lamps, fixtures, bulbs, or lighting control system software upgrades you invest in over the next two years.
Line voltage dimmers will make incandescent bulbs more energy efficient by performing a very similar function to that of fluorescent ballasts. At the same time, they enable you to turn existing home lights into an aesthetically pleasing lighting control and home automation system that will give you the ability to manually adjust the light to whatever levels he or she desires.
When the ban on incandescent lights becomes effective in 2010, all house lighting fixtures based on incandescent technology must be replaced with either LED and hybrid fluorescent equivalents. By that time, hybrid technology will probably have developed to a point that any Lutron wallbox dimmer can easily manipulate whatever type of light bulb retrofit you install in your home. However, the timing of multiple investments should always be considered, especially in today’s recession. Wallbox dimmers installed now will save you money on power both now and in the future. They will also increase the decorative appeal of your home by making it possible to create a more warm, ambient, and entertaining environment for children, relatives, and friends. When you do replace your existing bulbs in the future, you will be adding them to a home that is already optimized for function, aesthetic, and control with a Lutron Grafik Eye lighting control installation by experts.
Why not call a lighting control specialist at ILD to discuss the cost saving benefits of a Lutron wallbox dimmer versus an arbitrary retrofit of all the lights in your house? Get the aesthetic right and the lay the foundation for a whole new type and quality of lighting, and then let alternative technologies catch up with lighting design and control systems for a more robust, user friendly, and multi-dimensional lighting system come New Years Day of 2010.
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: Energy Saving Switches, Houston Lighting Controls, Lighting Dimmers, Lutron Dimmer Switches, Lutron Electronics, Lutron lighting controls, Wallbox Lutron Dimmers
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
