I bought a home with an old Litetouch 5000 with around 10 panels. I need to add a few new lights and change the incandescent lights to LED lights. I am new and semi-stupid to this lighting control stuff. The system as it is is in good working condition so if I can find a Litetouch help to add a few modules and program it would be ideal. Any suggestions?
LiteTouch
- Thread starter sma
- Start date
pete_c
Guru
Welcome to the Cocoontech forum sma.
I do not know anything about LiteTouch so I googled it and found this article about it.
Savant Kills LiteTouch; Lutron to the Rescue; Debating Hardwired Lighting Control
Three years after acquiring lighting control manufacturer LiteTouch from Nortek, home automation leader Savant kills the platform, leaving long-time dealers in a quandary, and hopeful for a Lutron or Vantage replacement. (Julie Jacobson, CE Pro)
By Julie Jacobson, July 15, 2015
Savant, a new leader in professionally installed home automation systems, has killed off LiteTouch, the hardwired lighting-control business it acquired from Nortek (Nasdaq: NTK) in 2012.
Because one-time leader LiteTouch is more than 30 years old, and its hardwired products are quite reliable, there are probably tens of thousands of working systems in homes and buildings today – many of which were sold in the last couple of years.
What to do with them?
The systems are very expensive and the wiring infrastructure is not traditional – line-voltage wiring (popularly known as “high-voltage”) home-runned from the loads to the dimmer panels, and non-shielded 16 AWG 3-conductor cables daisy-chained between the keypads/dimmers and then home-runned to the central controller (LiteTouch wiring schematic here).
Lutron, arguably the most popular hardwired control system for residential installations, utilizes shielded twisted-pair cable because it’s “looking for a lot of nuances in the signal,” says Bill Maronet, principle of ETC, long-time LiteTouch dealer and home systems integrator.
Those nuances, he says, could get lost among the noise in unshielded cable.
Savant, however, is working directly with Lutron to create a suitable replacement for hardwired LiteTouch systems, using the existing cable infrastructure. More on that below.
Meanwhile, Legrand’s Vantage has always prided itself on its flexible two-wire architecture. Maronet says Vantage systems can replace LiteTouch right out of the box.
At issue: These hardwired lighting-control solutions are all quite expensive, so replacing an existing system is never cheap. Meanwhile, there is little hope for scrapping an existing hardwired solution and going wireless with an all new product, as the existing line-voltage wiring behind the walls goes from the load to a central dimming panel, not to the closest dimmers and switches.
In other words: There is no power behind the dimmers and no physical connection between the dimmers and the lights.
Does that mean installing a hardwired lighting control solution today is a bad idea? Not a chance, as industry veteran Michael Cogbill explains at the end of this piece.
Savant, LiteTouch, Lutron and Dealer Soul-Searching
Not long after acquiring LiteTouch, Savant created its own lighting-control processor to replace LiteTouch’s proven Central Control Unit (CCU). Maronet says the Savant version has not been as stable or robust as LiteTouch’s CCU, but he has nevertheless replaced older CCUs with the Savant product, and has spec’d entirely new LiteTouch systems with the Savant processor.
Savant will stop selling that new processor, as well all products related to hardwired lighting on Sept. 30, 2015.
UPDATE: Vantage, Lutron, Crestron and the Price of a LiteTouch Replacement
In an email to LiteTouch customers, Savant suggested, “During this transition time, we encourage you to coordinate with your Savant Integrator to discuss maintenance options and the possibility of adding a Lighting Reserve Kit to extend the life of your Savant system.”
Maronet says he doesn’t quite know how to advise clients on the matter, especially since he’s not so fond of Savant’s replacement controller.
But there could be a savior in Lutron, which is working with Savant to provide a “retrofittable wired lighting solution using Savant infrastructure and Lutron components,” says Tim McInerney, Savant director, product marketing, in an email exchange with CE Pro.
“I can’t say for certain it’s the only time,” he adds, “but it’s certainly one of the few times that one CEDIA company has approached another to help provide Integrators with options to support a discontinued product line before that line was discontinued. With our assistance, Lutron has created a retrofit product solution that uses much of the existing infrastructure.”
He cautions, however: “Due to differences in the technology and wiring, there will be specific requirements around which Lutron products and keypads can be used in that solution.”
Even assuming the existing wiring infrastructure is adequate, though, it won’t be cheap to swap out a LiteTouch system, according to Maronet.
“It’s not like you can replace a system for $10,000,” he says. “These are 20k and 30k and 40k and 100k jobs.”
Further details on the Lutron fix will be announced in dealer Webinars on July 21 and July 28.
Ultimately, Savant would like to see its dealers forsake hardwired lighting controls altogether and migrate to wireless, the next frontier for the company.
McInerney tells us, “Our focus going forward will be on offering the best products in wireless lighting, including our new, highly-acclaimed Metropolitan line ….”
I do not know anything about LiteTouch so I googled it and found this article about it.
Savant Kills LiteTouch; Lutron to the Rescue; Debating Hardwired Lighting Control
Three years after acquiring lighting control manufacturer LiteTouch from Nortek, home automation leader Savant kills the platform, leaving long-time dealers in a quandary, and hopeful for a Lutron or Vantage replacement. (Julie Jacobson, CE Pro)
By Julie Jacobson, July 15, 2015
Savant, a new leader in professionally installed home automation systems, has killed off LiteTouch, the hardwired lighting-control business it acquired from Nortek (Nasdaq: NTK) in 2012.
Because one-time leader LiteTouch is more than 30 years old, and its hardwired products are quite reliable, there are probably tens of thousands of working systems in homes and buildings today – many of which were sold in the last couple of years.
What to do with them?
The systems are very expensive and the wiring infrastructure is not traditional – line-voltage wiring (popularly known as “high-voltage”) home-runned from the loads to the dimmer panels, and non-shielded 16 AWG 3-conductor cables daisy-chained between the keypads/dimmers and then home-runned to the central controller (LiteTouch wiring schematic here).
Lutron, arguably the most popular hardwired control system for residential installations, utilizes shielded twisted-pair cable because it’s “looking for a lot of nuances in the signal,” says Bill Maronet, principle of ETC, long-time LiteTouch dealer and home systems integrator.
Those nuances, he says, could get lost among the noise in unshielded cable.
Savant, however, is working directly with Lutron to create a suitable replacement for hardwired LiteTouch systems, using the existing cable infrastructure. More on that below.
Meanwhile, Legrand’s Vantage has always prided itself on its flexible two-wire architecture. Maronet says Vantage systems can replace LiteTouch right out of the box.
At issue: These hardwired lighting-control solutions are all quite expensive, so replacing an existing system is never cheap. Meanwhile, there is little hope for scrapping an existing hardwired solution and going wireless with an all new product, as the existing line-voltage wiring behind the walls goes from the load to a central dimming panel, not to the closest dimmers and switches.
In other words: There is no power behind the dimmers and no physical connection between the dimmers and the lights.
Does that mean installing a hardwired lighting control solution today is a bad idea? Not a chance, as industry veteran Michael Cogbill explains at the end of this piece.
Savant, LiteTouch, Lutron and Dealer Soul-Searching
Not long after acquiring LiteTouch, Savant created its own lighting-control processor to replace LiteTouch’s proven Central Control Unit (CCU). Maronet says the Savant version has not been as stable or robust as LiteTouch’s CCU, but he has nevertheless replaced older CCUs with the Savant product, and has spec’d entirely new LiteTouch systems with the Savant processor.
Savant will stop selling that new processor, as well all products related to hardwired lighting on Sept. 30, 2015.
UPDATE: Vantage, Lutron, Crestron and the Price of a LiteTouch Replacement
In an email to LiteTouch customers, Savant suggested, “During this transition time, we encourage you to coordinate with your Savant Integrator to discuss maintenance options and the possibility of adding a Lighting Reserve Kit to extend the life of your Savant system.”
Maronet says he doesn’t quite know how to advise clients on the matter, especially since he’s not so fond of Savant’s replacement controller.
But there could be a savior in Lutron, which is working with Savant to provide a “retrofittable wired lighting solution using Savant infrastructure and Lutron components,” says Tim McInerney, Savant director, product marketing, in an email exchange with CE Pro.
“I can’t say for certain it’s the only time,” he adds, “but it’s certainly one of the few times that one CEDIA company has approached another to help provide Integrators with options to support a discontinued product line before that line was discontinued. With our assistance, Lutron has created a retrofit product solution that uses much of the existing infrastructure.”
He cautions, however: “Due to differences in the technology and wiring, there will be specific requirements around which Lutron products and keypads can be used in that solution.”
Even assuming the existing wiring infrastructure is adequate, though, it won’t be cheap to swap out a LiteTouch system, according to Maronet.
“It’s not like you can replace a system for $10,000,” he says. “These are 20k and 30k and 40k and 100k jobs.”
Further details on the Lutron fix will be announced in dealer Webinars on July 21 and July 28.
Ultimately, Savant would like to see its dealers forsake hardwired lighting controls altogether and migrate to wireless, the next frontier for the company.
McInerney tells us, “Our focus going forward will be on offering the best products in wireless lighting, including our new, highly-acclaimed Metropolitan line ….”
There are quite a few litetouch components currently on e-bay, and if you search the internet, you'll find documentation on how to program the system. If all you need is a few new lights, it'll cost you less than $200 to upgrade. Litetouch is one of the most reliable lighting systems and likely will last you many more years. Learning now about your the system will be a good investment into the future
