Suggestions for small retrofit lighting system

CORT

Active Member
Hello Everyone,

I have been reading the archives about home lighting control and haven't quite found the solution to my problem.

I am in the late stages of building a new house. Initially, I disregarded a home lighting automation system because of perceived cost, so the house was wired in the traditional fashion. However, as the home nears completion, I realize that in each of three key areas (master bedroom, kitchen, living room) for a total of 12-16 loads, it would be best to have some scene settings for the lights. Now or in the near future, I want to install a small lighting automation system. The wiring is done and the sheetrock is up. Home run of the HV loads is not an option, but I can pull cat5 or other control wires to the three key switch box locations if needed. I need some advice on what technology to use: hardwired like EDT or other like UPB, Vizia RF, etc. Another factor in selection of a system is that I am installing an ELK M1 panel in the house and I would like to be able to control these loads through that system. Finally, it would be nice to have a solution that could be implemented in time as funds allow. Any suggestions on what to use for creating scene lighting in my almost completed house? Thank you.
 
Depending on your budget, you may also want to add Lutron's RadioRA to your list. It is more expensive than Vizia or UPB, but it does interface with the ELK.
 
I'd say also consider Insteon for the low end of your budgeting. I installed about 30 retrofitted devices in my house. Works perfectly and the response rapidity (very important factor for my wife), is indistinguishable from my hardwired system. It works with the Elk.
 
I would suggest Insteon except they just raised their prices and some folks are reporting problems with the latest version of Insteon Firmware for the the M1.

I would suggest UPB except that the new version that fixes the double-tap delay is not available yet (and the fix has not been verified as being satisfactory). Also UPB is even more expensive than Insteon.

I would suggest Vizia except there seem to be a lot of posts about Vizia problems and incompatabilities with other Z-Wave stuff.

None of the current retrofit technologies (that use the same wiring as traditional devices) is 100% there right now. Maybe you could put in some chaeap X-10 stuff to hold you over untill one of the newer retrofit protocols gets its act together?
 
I would suggest UPB except that the new version that fixes the double-tap delay is not available yet (and the fix has not been verified as being satisfactory). Also UPB is even more expensive than Insteon.

None of the current retrofit technologies (that use the same wiring as traditional devices) is 100% there right now. Maybe you could put in some chaeap X-10 stuff to hold you over untill one of the newer retrofit protocols gets its act together?
I would certainly agree that nothing is 100%, and may well never be 100% to some people. My only comment on UPB is that the existing switches work fine and yes there is a 750ms delay for double tap. The newer switches will get that as low as 250 or 300ms. If you had time to wait, yes, sure, the lower delay is probably nicer to have, but if you have to do something today, the existing UPB switches work well anyway. There are hundreds of thousand of these switches installed and are very satisfactory for a large number of people.
 
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