Lighting control is one of the most effective electronic additions to your home because you will use it every day. Lighting control systems create convenience, enhance your home's beauty, provide security, and conserve energy.

If the lights in your home are properly designed (and we highly recommend a professional lighting consultant) you will use many layered fixtures to create different effects and highlight different areas depending on the activity. Watching television with your family uses a different combination of fixtures and levels than does entertaining friends. Setting these levels with traditional dimmers has two disadvantages. First you are constantly fiddling with dimmers, and unless you mark the dimmer it is almost impossible to create the same combination twice. Second, properly designed lighting will use many fixtures on many separate circuits, which means a large number of wall switches. Large banks of switches are unsightly and confusing.

Lighting control systems address these concerns by using intelligent devices to create scene lighting. A scene is combination of fixtures and levels that you would like to reproduce time after time. Watching TV, Entertaining, I'm Home, Evening Away, Cooking, Dining, and Security are examples of common scenes. Scenes are activated by keypads in strategic locations or by external triggers like security system and astronomic timers. Keypad buttons are clearly labeled, and some even have LED's to indicate the scene status. Imagine arriving home after dark and your driveway lights are already on. As you enter and turn off the security system the I'm Home scene automatically turns on lights in the kitchen and family room and conveniently lights a path to the master bedroom. As you settle in and decide to watch a little news before bed you press the TV button and the lights dim to a quiet level, except for that corner of the couch where you like to read the mail.

In many homes you have to walk across the room to turn on lights, or flip switch after switch trying to find the one you want. A lighting control system will significantly reduce wall clutter by removing switches from walls and replacing them with a single, simple keypad. In addition to effecting the lights within the room, a keypad may operate lighting throughout the house. Keypads are available in a variety of configurations to satisfy most any need. They are clearly labeled and very simple to use.

It is a well known fact that a well lit home is less likely to suffer a break in. Your lighting control system enhances security by automatically activating interior and exterior lights. Lights can be automated based on time, security system status (armed or disarmed), motion, and sunlight level. You'll never drive up to a dark home again. You even activate lights by remote control from your car or any touch tone phone. Lighting control systems can also remember the lights that are used everyday and play back those lights while you are on vacation to simulate occupancy.

Lighting systems conserve energy by automating the turn on and off of fixtures. Instead of turning on the porch lights in the morning when you leave so they are on when you get home, the lighting system will turn them on at sunset. Exterior lighting can also be programmed to only turn on automatically if you are not home, instead of turning on every night. A lighting system may also burn your lights at no more than 90%, and ramp the power on so you do not shock the filament thereby doubling or tripling the life of a lamp. It is not unusual for a lamp to last five years or more when controlled by a lighting system.

Lighting control systems are extremely simple to use and can be installed in new or existing homes. Budgets are difficult to define because every home has a different amount of lighting. If a lighting control system interests you please feel free to contact one of our system design specialists.

Links: Lutron Homeworks