RE: Lutron

[Keith Doxey <keith.doxey@xxxxxxx>]

Hi Chris,

I have first hand experience of Lutron products.

At work we used to have a Lutron Orion system that I replaced after 8
years.
During its life the only problems were some relays that failed due to old
age and the fact that the lighting system was running 12 hours per day at
about 10 amps per channel. It was replaced due to its features being out of
date. Much of the programming for dimmer assignment was blown into eproms
and required an engineer to visit to reprogram it.

The new system Lutron Grafik 6000 is completely configurable from a PC and
the build quality is excellent. However I doubt you will be fitting one of
these in your house as it cost about 15K !

I have also fitted two Lutron Grafik Eye systems (3104 4 channel models)
which are around 4-500 pounds I believe. They are very desirable units and
built to the same high quality.

I also introduced Mike Huggins at Lets Automate to the new wall mount self
contained Lutron Dimmers which also have the same Lutron build quality.

Lutron tends to be the Rolls Royce of architectural lighting whereas X10 is
in the Astra/Escort league. At the end of the day you get what you pay for.
Pay a lot, get a lot.

Lutron can be interfaced to other systems using various AV interfaces etc,
but in the "normal" scheme of things you would let Lutron do what
it does
best i.e. Dim the Lights and let other sub systems do Curtains, AV, HVAC
etc
under the control of a master control system like Crestron or AMX although
HomeVision is also more than capable of being used in this role.

Fuses blowing at lamp failure is normal especially for lamps mounted
"Cap
down". As the bulb blows the filament drops off and shorts out the
bulb
blowing the fuse. If the fuse doesnt blow then the triac usually does
meaning the lamp is permanently on when the bulb is replaced. do not fit a
higher rated fuse becasue apart from the obvious safety risk you will end
up
destroying the triac. Just mount the modules somewhere accessable so you
can
change the fuse with no hassle.

Thats where Lutron wins hands down over cheaper products. The triacs are
massively overrated and as a result virtually indestructable. If the triac
does go short circuit their dimmers also have air gap relays that
completely
disconnect the power when off. Also their larger dimmer packs have trips so
you just flick them back on :-)


My ideal components for an automated home would be

Lutron lighting
Crestron or AMX control with colour LCD touch screens
Barco Graphics grade CRT video projector with line doubler/quadrupler
etc....

In reality

X10 lighting
Homevision
looking for good secondhand CRT projector

Ideally you want to end up with many sub systems that are useable
independantly but that in nornal use are controlled from a master
controller
rather than having one system that does everything. That way you can avoid
a
situation where you cant do anything becasue the main system is down.

Hope that helps

Keith


> -----Original Message-----
> From: chris@xxxxxxx [mailto:chris@xxxxxxx]
> Sent: 10 October 2000 11:58
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> Subject: [ukha_d] Lutron
>
>
> Hi Folks
>
> Has anyone here used Lutron products? Is the whole
> house lighting system prohibitively expensive as
> everyone seems to go the X10 route?
>
> Can the Lutron system communicate with something
> like Homevision? Is it possible to map switches in
> a switchplate to control thigs such as curtains?
>
> If I go the X10 route I figure I need about 8 consumer
> units worth of DIN modules which will take up a good
> chunk of the proposed wiring closet! I also have a
> problem with current X10 lamp modules and wall switches
> in that the fuse tends to blow when a buld goes. Is this
> normal and are there any cures? All wiring is a couple
> of years old, is massively overspecced and has ELCBs.
>
> Regards
> Chris
>
>
>
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