Hardwired vs. Wireless Lighting Control

Having installed and programmed lots of lighting systems there is a certain amount of comfort in knowing the system will always work given the direct connection of a wire.  Power will still require line voltage and running a control wire between keypads isn’t all that hard.  I am working on a project in Mexico and the cost savings from wireless to hard wired was substantial.  I rarely work with Radio Ra2 since I prefer the programming of Lutron Homeworks or Vantage.
Maybe looking at lighting as a stand alone system it makes sense but in a fully integrated home I would think you might want something a little more robust.

I should qualify that in retrofits you almost always have to have some wireless but I like to wire up as many as I can before I switch over to wireless, just depends on the job.

HELLO CONTROL4!!!

BAM! Less expensive and incredibly reliable…

Quit messin’ around with Lutron and find out how great it is having an all-in-one solution for whole home integration with lighting control…

While wireless is attractive from a cost standpoint, and in many cases involving a retrofit the only way, wireless systems are still not as robust as hardwired. If you don’t want to really upset a customer, there are 2 things you should never screw up, Lighting and Telephony. Let’s face it, even on Star Trek wireless fails at some point…

PCX?

Wired Wireless!

Works for me!

HAI, is a great solution. You can use hardwired or wireless devices or UPB. Whatever works best for that job.

Texas Jack

Never scene a wireless lighting system work 100% in 100% of all environments. There is that chance that wireless may get close - but that 1 in a million chance that it doesn’t work the client will notice, it never fails! We’ll stick with wired/wireless systems

“Wire me up!”

I have had a very tough time configuring a 45 point Leviton Vizia RF+ wireless lighting control system.  And when it works it never works the same way twice!  A wired network would definitely ease my mind.

I just finished a 14 Million dollar house in Beverly Hills that has 65 Keypads and over 200 switches that are all INSTEON.

The front end control is Crestron.  All of this was done without any extra wires.  INSTEON was a great option here.

Centralized systems with computer based programming are the most consistent way to deliver a lighting system.  Of those, wired are the most consistent operation. 
Sometimes, for one reason or another we can’t put in wires, it just happens, then we go wireless.  It may not be worth it to the client to spend thousands to tear open walls, so long as you let them know there are limits and trade offs everyone knows what to expect.  That is really the key to set expectations so when there is a glitch or the switch hesitates the client knows they made a choice and accept the occasional performance issue if it ever happens.  I think we tend to over use wireless when wires offer a very reliable and affordable solution.

@steve,

You’re packing some huevos, good luck with that.  Most manufacturers would cringe at that many wireless keypads and switches.

I understand and respect installer concerns about the reliability of RF lighting control systems. 

I agree, for new construction, the cost of control wiring is not significant and often supports a wired system strategy. However, not all RF based lighting control systems are alike.  I built my home 10 years ago and installed and programmed an RF based lighting control system.  It has worked flawlessly since that time, even after a lightening strike to my invisible dog fence that caused significant electrical damage to many wired devices in my home. 

Contact me, and I would be happy to send you an informative white paper on RF lighting control technology, and the options that exist for your clients. 

David Weinstein, Vice President Residential Sales, Lutron Electronics

I think I would classify your article as an “advertisement” for Lutron.  The least complicated method on the market, median priced and able to handle the size project you described is UPB.  Wireless is certainly good for todays retrofit market and so is UPB technolgy, all you do is replace switches and program, the time factor is marginal.  How do you connect to a separate building that is 100’ away?  With wireless the answer can often be “you don’t”.  If you are tied to the building by copper then with UPB you are already there.  I really hoped to see a true comparitive article on this subject for once and I hope someday CEPRO will deliver.

Paul,

I didn’t write the article, but was contacted for input.

Actually, you can connect some RF based lighting control systems between separate buildings (for example the main house to the pool house) via an available ethernet link.  This becomes a “hybrid” solution, but does address th need.

Oh boy, another crazy article from CE Pro.  Without getting into all the contradictory comments made or digging too deep into the fact that this seems to be more of a paid advertisement for Lutron then a dealer education article by CE Pro I would like to comment on a couple of items.

First of all the notion of doing a retro fit in an existing home of a wired or better yet centralized system is just crazy.  Other than to further promote Radio Ra I don’t know why this article was done or why any integrator or electrician would ever think about a wired system unless it was a remodel and the house was being gutted.

Mark, I am surprised that you would have even done a cost comparison of a hard wired vs wireless system unless this was a new home.  If it isn’t an existing home then you missed the point (although very week point) of this article. 

Chris, Control 4 is not incredibly reliable nor is it much less than the new Lutron product.

Joel, koberlin 1, and edgeharmony, I am not sure if you have ever used the infiNET stuff from Crestron, but in the past few years I have done several systems and the stuff works great.  It is a mesh network like what Control 4 uses, but much more robust.  The nice thing is that the product works by itself so if the program stops or something happens you can still push the dimmer and have it control the load.  The lack of reliability from many of the other products out there comes from them using a simple RF design or Powerline of which both are not very reliable.  I have played with many of the systems over the years and we do the Crestron stuff now exclusively due to the reliability.  BTW, I had a 20,000 sq ft retro that we did around 500 dimmers and switches wirelessly and it worked fine.  The ability to mesh network and run independent channels kept the devices from interfering with each other.  No delays, no accidental lights coming on, it just worked.  Design and the right product can do a lot.

CE Pro, you have got to do some better articles.  This one was written horribly and you should have had a disclaimer that this was a paid ad from Lutron.