Light It Up

The convenience of home control technology is enjoyed by many today, including control of home theaters, distributed audio/video and advanced security systems. As someone who specifies or installs products, why not go the extra step and offer them lighting control options as part of their home technology package? This would provide luxury custom homeowners with a simple way to manage their lighting needs.

According to the Consumer Electronics Association’s New Home Buyers and Technology Purchase Study released in June 2006, 45 percent of new home builders in 2005 were offering lighting control products — up from 38 percent in 2004. Although it also reveals that 76 percent of respondents were satisfied with their automated lighting control products and 71 percent were likely to recommend it, there is still 22 percent that says they regret not purchasing lighting control. This leaves an untapped group of home buyers that design/builders are missing.

The CEA defines an automated lighting control system as technology that controls lights without the use of manual switches. An example is the ability to turn lights on or off simply upon entering or exiting a room.

“A homeowner can control any type of lighting — incandescent, low-voltage, fluorescent or any form of lighting,” says Brad Wills, director of new business development, Schneider Electric/Square D. “[Lighting control is] important to have in larger homes because it’s impractical to walk through a huge house to quickly turn off all the lights.”

Keypads can manage the whole-house or single-room lighting control system. “[Lighting control] systems operate through sensors and touch-point buttons located on keypads,” says Richard Brady, executive vice president, Vantage Controls. “A homeowner can control any device in the house from any point in the house.”

Through use of keypads, scenes can be created in any room at any time of day. Homeowners can activate scenes such as good night, vacation, home theater or party. “The good-night scene is the scene most people wish they had,” Brady says. “Now homeowners can lean over, touch the button next to the bed and know that everything in the house is turned off.”

The vacation scene gives homeowners added security when they are gone. “The homeowner can touch a button when they leave for an extended period of time and the house acts as if someone is living there. The homeowner can program it to turn certain lights on at the times they want them on,” Brady says.

Homeowners can program scenes on their keypads for individual rooms. “It will adjust the lights according to the use of the room,” says Gary Meschberg, director of business development, GenLyte Controls, manufacturer of the Lightolier brand. “People use different lighting if they are watching a movie, cooking dinner, cleaning or entertaining.”

Ambiance and aesthetics are also enhanced by scene availability. “What does a home look like with a light that is controllable,” asks Phil Scheetz, home systems marketing manager, Lutron Electronics. “Lighting control can create a certain mood.”

Home Advantage

There are many benefits to installing a lighting control system in one’s home, one of which is energy efficiency. “Complete control of the on/off button allows homeowners to turn off lights when they aren’t being used and they can be assured that all lights are off when they need them to be, [without having to walk through the entire house],” says Don Buehner, president and CEO of LiteTouch.

Another aspect to lighting control that adds to a home’s energy efficiency is how the lights are turned on. “Homeowners can save a lot of money because slowly dimming lights saves on electricity. The life of the light bulb is extended because it’s not ramped up, but gradually turned on,” says Bill Hambley, senior vice president of sales and marketing, CentraLite Systems.