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Topic:
LIGHTING CONTROL WITH MX-980
This thread has 2 replies. Displaying all posts.
Post 1 made on Tuesday March 30, 2010 at 20:47
Stealth X
Senior Member
Joined:
Posts:
November 2005
1,177
Howdy all. just bought a new home and i'm looking to get into upgradable (add more modules, switches, cameras, door locks etc in the future) automated lighting. the obvious answer is Lutron but it seems for about a third of the cost i could get Insteon Lighting (lutron switches $150, Insteon $50, and of course insteon has a slew of other products for me to add in the future that would be compatible with any switches or modules i get now) with an IR to RF converter for use with my MX remote. this obviously gives me limited range with my MX but it stays in the HT area anyways so would always have line of sight with the IR converter. and of course i can get an Insteon RF remote for about $50 that would be good for use in the rest of the house.

Anything i'm missing here or would this be a good way to go?
Post 2 made on Wednesday March 31, 2010 at 19:05
davidcasemore
Super Member
Joined:
Posts:
January 2003
3,355
I think the only thing you're missing is this:

1. Lutron makes a dimmer (or a module) to control virtually any type of lighting load that exists (Incandescent, magnetic low-voltage, electronic low-voltage, neon/cold cathode, fluorescent, LED etc) and Insteon doesn't.

2. Lutron dimmers and keypads are available in just about every color of the rainbow. Insteon's aren't.

3. Lutron, the inventor of the solid-state dimmer, has been around a long, long time; it is a huge, world-wide company; it makes lighting controls all the way from the lowly stand-alone, dumb dimmer to huge, commercial lighting control systems for high-rise buildings. Insteon does nothing of the sort.

In other words, Lutron isn't going to disappear overnight and it has any lighting product and style that you could ever need. And they work. 100% of the time.

I guess that's all you're missing.

(Have you looked into the third option? Using URC-branded wall dimmers and tabletop lamp dimmers made by Lutron specifically for the URC MX-980 and other models?)
Fins: Still Slamming' His Trunk on pilgrim's Small Weenie - One Trunk at a Time!
Post 3 made on Wednesday May 5, 2010 at 13:38
vbova27
Super Member
Joined:
Posts:
July 2006
2,987
I have used many applications for insteon for my clients who insisted on it for pricing and it's been subpar at best. Poor reliability, lack of features and compatability make this a technology that hasn't and probably never will take off. On the other hand, Lutron is completely reliable, and can be integrated into just about any control system. It is a premier lighting system.

Look into Radio Ra2 - it's approx 10% less than RA and very affordable. We use it for most of our installs and our clients are very happy.

Vincent

PS - I noticed you did not indicate what you were using for an extender/processor. The MSC-400 would be the weapon of choice since ideally you want to be cnotrolling this unit with RS-232.


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