After a year of delay and re-design, we finally broke ground and now I need to get back up to speed with what I want to do with HA and lighting controls. Since lighting control is low on the budget priorities, I may not know which way I can go until after the drywall is up. I am thinking of either an onQ/EDT i-line system that we can swap switches in as money allows later or a centralite system. The question is is there a way to pre-wire so that I can decided between these later? The onQ is generally cat5 in serial to the switches as well as the regular HV, right? I don't know much about centralite, but I think it may be homerun cat5 only to the switches? So if I just run a homerun of cat5 to every switch, would I be able to use either system? I don't know anything about HV wiring. I think I would rather have the centralite system, but is this going to change the way all the 'regular' electrical goes in? This is a custom build, but we have had some strange looks with doing anything 'different' so not sure I want to deal with confusing the electrician or the upcharges they will give. The end goal is simply to be able to turn off all lights from a few key areas--Master bedroom and entry doors; turning on select lights at entry would also be nice.
lighting wiring question
- Thread starter ginnytr
- Start date
AutomatedOutlet
Senior Member
Yes, the keypads are homerun with cat5 but the electrical wiring is also different. All load wires are also homerun back to a central dimming panel. You may want to just look at using UPB if you're not sure about it and are short on time. That will allow you to use standard wiring and replace devices as the time and budget allows.
Sacedog
Active Member
The OnQ and iLine systems do not use home-run or "odd" HV wiring. Those systems use a Cat5 cable, connected to each switch, and run back to the lighting controller (On the OnQ system, each switch really only needs 2 wires of the Cat5, so you could run up to 4 switches off of one Cat5, if they are located in the same box). So the only thing you would wire differently for these systems, is to run Cat5 to each switch box.
What I like about the OnQ/iLine system, is that you get a hard-wired solution, which will increase reliability. While UPB is one of the best non-hard wired solutions out there, it is still not perfect.
I recently went through the same process that you did, and decided on the OnQ system. See this thread:
Hardwired Lighting System Using Cat5
After pricing it out for 60 loads, the difference in cost was only a couple hundred dollars.
That's too bad that your builder is not on board with making changes to suit you. That is what building a custom home is all about.
Good luck with the building process! We just went out to bid yesterday, and will go submitting for permits in about two weeks, so I feel your pain.
What I like about the OnQ/iLine system, is that you get a hard-wired solution, which will increase reliability. While UPB is one of the best non-hard wired solutions out there, it is still not perfect.
I recently went through the same process that you did, and decided on the OnQ system. See this thread:
Hardwired Lighting System Using Cat5
After pricing it out for 60 loads, the difference in cost was only a couple hundred dollars.
That's too bad that your builder is not on board with making changes to suit you. That is what building a custom home is all about.
Good luck with the building process! We just went out to bid yesterday, and will go submitting for permits in about two weeks, so I feel your pain.
Sacedog--I think I must have read all the threads about your decision. It seems like OnQ will probably be the way we go. The only downside is not being able to have a bank of 6 switches replaced with one neat little box. I don't like the idea of putting switches in closets and then using the 4 scene switch for OnQ, though may add a couple of the scene switches for effect. Thanks for the confirmation.
There is always Lutron RadioRA. Not perfect or cheap, but about as rock solid as you will find in a retrofit device.
Sacedog
Active Member
True, however, you will have the same problem with UPB. The only way to overcome this issue is to use a home-run HV solution, or to put the switches in other places.
Personally, I prefer the switches in the walls, as they are a normal fixture in 99.999999999% of the homes in America. Plus, I think that a totally propritary system would hurt resale.
