Reliability of Centralite Hardwired System

[bjd6363]

I am building a new house and was advised by a competitor of Centralite's hardwired system to stay away from a Centralite hardwired system due to reliability problems, problems with keypads and inconsistent technical support. The other systems are a bit more expensive than Centralite's Elegance system.

Does anyone have a view on Centralite's hardwired system and the risks of using it?

If I don't go with Centralite, which of the other systems would perform basic lighting tasks at the least expense?

Thanks.

 

[Kevin L]

Welcome to CocoonTech.

I built a new home in 2007. I wired it with a LiteJet 24. It's worked flawlessly since 12/2007 except for one time. I'm not sure what happened, but one night I came home and when the lights came on they were at full brightness and were flickering. I reset the breakers that feed the panel and everything was fine. I did notice that power had gone out that day. I do have surge suppressors in the main electrical panels (2x200amp) and a whole house generator, though I don't know if the power was out long enough (7 seconds) to start up the generator.

My only regret is that in an attempt to trim construction costs I only installed a 24 load panel, knowing I could supplement it with another technology later on. I should have hardwired a 48 load panel in the beginning. I have purchased some JetStream products but haven't added them yet.

I can't really tell you how tech support is with Centralite as I haven't had any need to call them. Prior to purchasing the system I called them a couple of times and they were very helpful.

HTH,

Kevin

 

[Steve]

I have dealt with one guy at Centralite Tech Support for Jetstream stuff and for the majority of the time he was knowledgeable, courteous and prompt. I can't speak to the hardwired systems. It almost sounds a little like the somewhat typical competitor bashing which I really hate. They should tell you why their product is better, not to stay away from their competitor for various (possibly unfounded) reasons.

I think the biggest thing people would say is in general about a hardwire proprietary system. While hardwire is definitely the most reliable, it the proprietary nature of it forcing you to wire your homes lighting in a special manner is what scares some people away. Some people like The Lutron or ALC product where you can wire the house traditionally and still have hardwire control. Some like Lutron also let you expand with integrated wireless switches.

 

[Neurorad]

I bet the installer is pushing for Lutron RadioRa2. Those bad things he said about CentraLite sound like the benefits of Lutron - outstanding tech support (24/7/365) and rock-solid reliability (every device is tested before it leaves the factory). Lutron says all their stuff sold in the U.S. is made in the U.S., in PA (haven't pulled apart any devices to confirm, though).

Lutron certainly does a lot more marketing than any other lighting control company. And they stay ahead of the curve, in terms of functionality. They're the biggest player by far. I think most of their lighting control business is commercial. The founder of Lutron, I've been told, puts quality above all else, and he invented the solid state dimmer (non-rheostat) in the late 50's.

Ra2 is really slick - very well designed. I'm putting RadioRa2 into my house, though my wife isn't fully aware of that fact yet.

Respected AVS member amirm put Centralite into his house - can't recall which system, and he seems very pleased with it.

 

[86turbodsl]

I can speak on this. I installed a Litejet 48 into my new home in 2007-2008. I love the thing. It's very reliable. The power switching is very industrial based. 25amp solid state relays are PWM switched with a max 8 amp load. I've had one go bad, it was my nieghbor helping me wire a ceiling fan. He shorted the output while it was live. He didn't know they can't survive that. I put another one in and it was fine. I've had a couple of stuck switches, but nothing major. The cheaper default switches could be better in my opinion, but I like the fact they glow in the dark, so easy to find. Another small issue was I think I have a stuck input on my basement circuit, it keeps cycling like a stuck switch, but even disconnecting didn't fix it. I was fairly sure a long power cycle would fix it, but just set it to on/off without dimming to fix it short term, and haven't gone back into the controls to set it back to dimmer since then. The rest of the house is flawless.

As far as customer service, flawless. I had a couple of bad motherboards in my system as a result of shipping damage (i think) as they showed up in the dead of winter and sat outside for a day before I got to them. The snow got into the box is my thought based on the discoloration of the board. Anyway, I had a senior tech at Centralite on the phone for a couple of troubleshooting sessions and he was very knowledgable and courteous. I was shipped replacements at their cost and fast. Back up in a day. I can't really see it going any better honestly.

I have a little background in EE / Industrial PLC stuff. The design is SOLID. I really like how they do things. I would do the same again in a heartbeat.