I am in the process of trying to figure out lighting control for our new house ( 9 months old). Never had any type of lighting control in the past, just dimmers on almost every switch. I’ll give a little background on what we are dealing with. All of our audio and video equipment is centralized. Whole house audio uses 2 B&K CT610s going to 12 zones. Video distribution uses Channel Plus equipment. Currently have three 4 port modulators into three 1x6 video distribution amps. When my lower level is finished I will add another 1x6 amp. All control is done with Xantech IR receivers, MX700s, and the CT610s. Our house is about 5400 sq ft with an additional 3000 when the lower level is finished.

As far as lighting goes I would like to be able to have somewhat centralized control over them. My thought would be to have at least a controller in the kitchen area, master, and bar area on the lower level. I would like to be able to create scenes and such. I think I have a total of about 70 switches that I am dealing with. At a minimum these would be dimmers. Probably half or more would also be part of the scene control. I’ve done a little research into RadioRa and have also looked into X-10. X-10 seems to have more flexibility but also seems less reliable. I’m not sure how my wife would feel about my newest project if all of a sudden lights started turning on in the middle of the night.

None of the house was wired for lighting control. I do have a couple of strategically placed boxes with AC wire to them where I thought a controller might go. Also, all switches put in by the builder are rocker switches right now but everything is Decora style.

So I would really appreciate some recommendations. As with everything cost is always a consideration but quality and the right user interface is the first priority.

Is the drywall up yet? Homeworks might be the best choice if you decide to go with a hardwired system. However, you could use a RadioRa system with Chronos to control all your zones. You said you looked into Ra a little, so you know that it is a very easy to use, fairly inexpensive system.

I have plenty of experience installing and using RadioRa, and I think it would be an excellent choice for your size home

We've been in the house for 9 months so yes drywall is up. Still finishing the lower area but drywall up there also. Any opinion on Lightolier Compose PLC?

I personally haven't heard of it.

There's quite a few owners of Lightolier at AVSForum.com (do a search on the home integration forum).

Jeff, Check out Vantage or Litetouch (HomeTouch) for finished homes...One is RF and the other is Power line carrier..The lighttouch (hometouch) series stores all programming in the swithces themselves..So it makes it easy to build the system up,since cost is an issue..


THXRick

Rick, from what I see the hometouch series is a PCS system. A PCS/X-10 system intrigues me but it seems a lot of people bash them for being unreliable. It seems some of the products like Hometouch and Lightolier get less bashing but I still see people saying stay away from them, they're trash.

Anyone recommend one of these systems for the sq ft/# of switches we are talking about.

Jeff, As bashing goes many people do it to PCS systems. While I will agree with you on the X-10,some have been able to make the cheap X-10 work 100%..That being said the Hometouch listens 10 times more and talks 5 times more than X-10 product..The software enables you to hookup to areas in your home and preform noise test to fix problem areas if they even exist..I did also reccomend Vantage on the RF side..I have seen their range capabilities and it kills Radio RA..Just my 2 cents..I have way too much experience to reccomend trash!!


THXRick

Rick, have you installed the Hometouch or the Vantage RF in any sizeable installations? Can you compare the two briefly...costs, features, UI, reliability, etc. Is there anything besides range that puts the Vantage RF over the Radiora?

Rick, went to your profile and see B&K is there. Have you done any installations with the CT610? Very pleased with mine so far. Haven't put in the CK1.2 keypad yet but hope to put a few in soon.

First off your house is not that big..Secondly I don't live in the Baltimore area..Cannot see your home and evaluate for problems to recccomend the best system. I would personally contact some large integrators in your area, and pay them if need be to take a look at your home..Whoever installed your av system originally should be able to handle this..If you are a diy..Then still contact them offer to buy the product and pay in full for a little advice on installation..Everyone in this forum will gladly give advice, but we can only do so much. We cannot preform surgery on-line..So you need someone close..Just check for references, CEDIA membership, etc. Larger companies tend to have more experience..But not chain stores, Then they are usually too big to have good Q.C.

THXRick

Like Rick said, 8400 sq ft is big... But its not but not out of the realm of what most of us are used to... I have a 15k sq ft home I'm working on right nw with a Full AMX Radia system going in... Now thats Big (But not Giant......)

I've done lots of RadioRa and have never been let down by the performance. The Chronos is pretty cool if you bump over the basic systems load limitaiton.

The one thing I really like about RadioRa is that you can dead-on match the switches in the home that your not putting on the system. The Lutron Maestro is the Exact same switch without the RF transeiver and logic chip. Helps keep the homes light switched familiar throughout.

70 switches sounds a bit high... Are you counting multilocation switches separately? Closet lights? etc etc.

Impaqt, I counted the switches last night and it's 65. This does not include closets, etc. A number of the switches are for niches, eyeballs, cabinets. I do like that I could match the exact look of all switches. Does that mean that if I also had a Lutron dimmer switch without the RF and chip that could also match the RadioRa switches.

They are aestecially identical, just no Control integration. Lutron makes lots of different dimmers. You would want "Maestro" dimers to match the RadioRa Dimers.

What about 3 way circuits? Are you counting the traveler controls in your 65? They dont count for the RadioRa system. Only Separate Loads.

I was counting the 3 ways though I don't have many of them. Personally I dont't like 3 ways unless absolutely necessary because even though I've never had real lighting control I've always had almost all switches on a dimmer and 3 ways make it more difficult to control. So it think I never to subtract 5 for these but then I realized I need to add about 12 for exterior lights. Bear in mind though, even though I'm still talking about 70 switches (dimmers) only about half of those would need to be part of the control system. And also, thanks for the response.