How a Lutron Lighting System Can Transform Your Home

Have you ever wished your home lighting could adapt to your every mood and activity? Gone are the days of simply flipping a switch on and off.

With a Lutron lighting system, you can tailor your home’s lights to your exact needs. If you’re looking for an easy-to-use lighting system that can integrate with almost every smart home platform, this article is for you.

We’re Chris Lewis, a smart home installation company that designs and builds high-quality home automation systems. We’ve spent over 15 years using cutting-edge smart home technology to create systems that make every part of your property work for you.

In this blog, we give you an expert’s view on everything you need to know about Lutron lighting control: the benefits it can provide, the systems available, and how you can get this incredible technology in your property.

What Is Lutron Lighting?

Lutron has been at the vanguard of home lighting for over 70 years. It was founded in 1959 by Joel Spira, the inventor of the home electronic dimmer switch. Since then, they’ve patented thousands of lighting and shading solutions, and now have over 15,000 products in their catalogue.

Lutron’s lighting control solutions give users complete control over how their home is lit. At the low end, this could just be a few adjustable smart bulbs in certain rooms. But if you want to go all-out, you can have a system that controls every light source and window treatment in the home at the touch of a button. Or, if that sounds like too much effort, everything can be fully automated, so you don’t even have to lift a finger!

How Do Lutron Lighting Control Systems Work?

Lutron lighting control systems offer a range of methods for managing your home’s lighting and shading. These vary from keypads and dimmers to mobile apps and voice commands. With so many options available, which one you choose is up to personal choice, and the specific Lutron system you have.

Want to control your home’s lighting through your phone? Would you rather ask Alexa to do it for you? Is a simple switch all you need? Or do you want to fine-tune your light levels and colour to your heart’s content? Lutron lighting systems offer all this and more, making managing your home’s lighting simple, convenient, and tailored exactly to what you need.

Physical Controls

• Keypads
  • A Lutron lighting control system will replace your basic on/off switches with stylish wall-mounted keypads. You can use these to adjust light levels, activate pre-programmed scenes, and control motorised shades.

• Dimmers and Switches
  • Lutron also offers a variety of dimmer switches with basic on/off functionality, as well as dimming control.

• Wall-Mounted Panels
  • Your Lutron system can also be linked to a home automation system with wall mounted touch panels like those offered by Control4.

Smartphones and Tablets

• Lutron Apps
  • With the Lutron and Lutron Connect apps, you can control your lights remotely from anywhere in the world, or from the comfort of your sofa, if you don’t feel like getting up! Adjust light levels, activate scenes, and even monitor energy usage, all from a single screen. Plus, with Lutron Connect (the app which controls the more sophisticated Lutron systems, RadioRA 2 and HomeWorks), you even get control over other smart systems like heating, shading and audio systems.

Other Lutron Lighting Controls

• Voice Assistants
  • “Alexa, dim the living room lights.” Lutron lighting systems can also integrate with popular voice assistants like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. This lets you control your lights with simple voice commands. 

• Remote Controls
  • While less common, some Lutron lighting systems have remote controls for convenience, especially in media rooms or home theatres. This saves you from needing to get out of your seat to change the lights, or ruining the atmosphere by getting your phone out.

• Automation
  • How about a lighting system which does exactly what you need it to, and you don’t have to do a thing? Automation may be just what you’re looking for! Your Lutron lighting system can be programmed to turn on and off, and adjust itself automatically according to external factors, with no input needed.

What Lutron Lighting Systems Are There?

Lutron offer four tiers of system packages, split according to building size, spec, and – of course – user budget:

Caséta Wireless

At the entry-level, there’s Caséta Wireless – the only Lutron system that can be bought and installed by a homeowner, rather than a professional smart home company.

Really more of a mini-system, Caséta Wireless is designed to give you control over a single room/main area, or a smaller home. The area it can cover tops out at around 240m2, or double that with an extender, and it can only manage a maximum of 75 devices over a range of 9.1m from the central brdge.

Like all other Lutron systems, Caséta uses radio frequencies rather than wi-fi to connect the different devices. This means you don’t need to worry about losing control of your lighting, even if your internet goes down.

RA2 Select

Planning a medium-sized new build? Want to retrofit a 4 bedroom home? RA2 is probably your best bet. Covering up to 460m2, and able to handle up to 100 devices, it’s perfect for standard family homes that want to take their decor to a new level.

Like Caséta Wireless, RA2 Select uses radio frequencies to connect the various devices, and both systems can be controlled through the Lutron App.

RadioRA 2

If you’re building a larger new build property, or want to control the lighting in a commercial space, RadioRA 2 is ideal for you. It can handle an area of almost 700m2, and allows you to control 200 devices (one main repeater is needed for each 100 devices).

RadioRA 2 is one of Lutron’s two high-end systems that use the Lutron Connect app, which allows for more customisation and control over a wider range of devices.

HomeWorks

If you’ve got a mansion, or a home with multiple outbuildings, this one’s for you.

HomeWorks is Lutron’s flagship home automation platform, designed to offer a luxury lighting solution with almost endless programmable features. It comes with a huge range of keypads, wireless controls and accessories, and the most advanced shades and blinds available, like automated venetian blinds which can be raised, lowered and tilted remotely, or even adjust themselves automatically.

The system can cover a massive area of over 4600m2, and 10,000 zones (a collection of devices grouped for control), and – in our opinion – is the last word in smart home lighting control.

Benefits of Lutron Lighting Systems

As well as a range of controls to use, Lutron lighting systems also offer users a host of other perks. Greater convenience, energy saving benefits, custom lighting “scenes”, daylight automation, enhanced security benefits and improved wellbeing, to name a few.

Home Design & Style

With Lutron light controls, you get the ultimate mood light platform for your home. As any designer will tell you, lighting makes a huge difference style elegance of your home. Lutron systems are perfect for this task, providing finely-tuned lighting scenes and presets to elevate the ambience and decor of your property.

Imagine setting the perfect lighting scene for a dinner party with a single tap. With Lutron lighting control, you can design pre-set lighting scenes for single rooms, or the entire property.

Want to relax in the living room? Flick on the “Movie Time” scene you created earlier. Hosting guests? A pre-programmed “Dinner Party” scene can adjust the lights in all relevant rooms at once. No more running from room to room to set the mood – Lutron gives you effortless multi-room lighting design.

Plus, if you’re chasing complete home style, Lutron provides sleek, elegant switches and a huge range of light designs to suit any interior. There’s no place for a confusing bank of light switches in the modern home. Lutron dimmers and keypads come in a stunning range of colours, textures, and finishes. Or, you can add a touch of character with dolly switches and heritage bell-press type faceplates.

Convenience

One of the major attractions of a Lutron system is the convenient control it gives over your home’s illumination and window treatments.

No more trudging across rooms at night to reach a poorly-positioned light switch, praying your shins won’t locate any furniture en route. Or being struck by the worry that you left the porch light on, when you were JUST about to drift off (and if you go and check, you just know that it will actually be off, but your sleep will be completely ruined, regardless).

With Lutron lighting control, you can use smartphone apps, remotes, or even voice commands, to make your lighting system work for you, not the other way round.

With Lutron lighting control, you can also perfect your lighting for everyday tasks. One button press can switch on six dimmers to the ideal brightness for whatever it is you’re doing. That could be relaxing with a great book, watching the latest blockbuster, or tackling the big spring clean! You can create the perfect lighting setup for any job.

Sounds great, right? Well, what if we take this a step further? Lutron’s HomeWorks features built-in timeclock automation. With this, you can create automated schedules for your lights and window treatments. They can be set to adjust automatically, and blinds to rise/fall, without you needing to lift a finger.

You can either programme these schedules manually, or according to sunrise and sunset times. This minimises energy use and maximises natural daylight in your home. We call it daylight automation, we’ll touch on this later.

And, the convenience of Lutron engineering doesn’t stop there. Users can also set up “geofencing”, where your home detects when your phone has entered the property boundary. Your Lutron lighting system will then illuminate your driveway and switch on hallway lights – an automated welcome home!

Energy Efficiency

Lutron lighting control isn’t just about creating a luxurious and convenient home; it’s also better for the environment.

Optimum Lighting Usage

Traditional light switches only give you two options: on or off. But with a Lutron lighting system, you gain the power of precise control. Dimming lights even slightly can hugely reduce energy usage – Lutron estimate that dimmers alone save 4-9% in energy usage, compared to standard, on-off switches.

On top of this, Lutron systems can be programmed to automatically adjust according to occupancy. Sensors can detect when a room is empty and turn off lights after a set period. This removes the issue of energy being wasted by lights left on.

Studies by Lutron themselves have claimed that their controls can save up to 60% of lighting energy use, compared to traditional on/off switches. While the actual savings may vary, even a small reduction in energy use can make a big difference to your carbon footprint.

Beyond Lighting Efficiency

The benefits of Lutron extend beyond lighting. These systems can be integrated with other smart home features, like smart thermostats, and contribute to a more holistic approach to energy management.

Blinds can raise automatically to maximise thermal gain during the day, saving energy use from your heating system. Or your lights’ occupancy sensors can automatically turn off the radiator in a room when they detects there’s no one in there. This integration helps create a more energy-efficient home.

Privacy & Safety

Homeowners are installing more glass, like bi-fold and sliding doors, to increase the natural light in their homes. This raises a major problem: with all this extra window space, how do you install blinds to ensure privacy and comfort at night, without cords and chains presenting trip hazards the rest of the time?

Lutron’s range of motorised blinds – such as the Sivoia QS – solve this with elegant concealed motors and no dangerous cords getting in the way. These blinds will remain rolled during the day, then extend, either at a button push, or automatically, when the light outside dims to a certain level.

Maybe you’re at home. At the office. On-the-go. Whatever it is, Lutron’s remote control system means you can manage your home’s lights and shading solutions from anywhere with an internet connection.

Let’s say you’re having an unexpected late night at the office. With a single tap on your phone’s Lutron app, you can switch on your home’s lights, making it seem as though the house is occupied.

For longer periods out of the house, Lutron’s Smart Away lighting setting is the perfect addition to your home’s security system. Using a feature known as “mockupancy”, Lutron systems mimic your usual lighting patterns at slightly randomised timings. This way, your home appears to be in normal use, making burglars think twice before striking.

Natural Light & Wellbeing

Experts have long warned about the effects of artificial lighting on the human body. When we spend time in a room with ultra-bright, cool-toned light, it can wreak havoc with our internal body clock. This can make it harder to sleep at night, which leaves us sleepy during the day.

The hue, colour temperature, and amount of natural light we receive makes a huge difference to our wellbeing. But a Lutron smart lighting system is designed to overcome the pain-points of regular artificial lights.

Lutron’s daylight automation settings can closely mimic outside natural light levels, using precise sensors and a built-in astronomic clock. This setup essentially works in the same way as a SAD lamp, just on a much larger scale.

Plus, by integrating lights with Lutron’s stylish smart blind products, users can set their systems to detect changes in outdoor lighting. The system will then make the ideal adjustments on its own, be that dimming the lights and raising the blinds or the reverse.

Lutron System Installation

Lutron systems are complicated, and even though they can reuse existing wiring, installing them takes a lot of technical expertise. This is why only the simplest system, Caséta Wireless, is available to be bought by members of the public, rather than through a professional installer.

Installing such a complicated system by yourself is a recipe for disaster, unless you’re a professional home automation expert. Lutron systems can give you a huge amount of control over your home’s lighting, and are incredibly convenient, but they are also expensive. The last thing you want to do after investing a lot of money in one of these systems is limit its potential with a DIY installation or by going to a general tradesman.

As a high-end smart home company that offers a takeover and upgrade service, we have worked with a lot of systems that have been badly installed. The only way to be sure you are getting the seamless convenience and integration possibilities you’re paying for is to have your system professionally installed by a specialist smart home company.

A home automation company will have worked with these systems for years, and will know exactly how to get the very best out of them.

Final Thoughts

Imagine stepping into a home where your lighting seamlessly adapts to your every need. Imagine being able to create the perfect ambience for any occasion. Imagine effortless control from anywhere.

With an expertly designed and installed Lutron lighting system from Chris Lewis, you can experience this for yourself. As a Lutron partner, with over 15 years of experience creating state of the art smart home systems, we can build the perfect lighting solution for you.

If you’re interested in how a Lutron lighting system could transform your home, why not get in touch? Simply fill in the form below, and our smart home experts will reach out to organise a meeting.

Lutron System FAQs

Is Lutron Worth It?

Lutron is a premium smart home lighting brand, known for its reliability, performance and advanced features. With that being said, though, whether it’s “worth it” for you will depend on your needs and budget.

Are There Any Disadvantages to Lutron Systems?

There are a lot of benefits to Lutron systems, but they aren’t without their drawbacks. The biggest negative factor is probably how complex an installation is, but since the system should be installed by a smart home professional, this shouldn’t be a concern.

Does Lutron Work with Apple Homekit?

All Lutron systems can be integrated with Apple Homekit, but there are reports that this can be a little sluggish, and the lighting scenes you choose through Homekit might not work as well as using the Lutron App.

Do Lutron Switches Work with Alexa?

Yes, Lutron systems can work with Alexa. Caséta Wireless and RA2 Select can be easily connected to Alexa with the Lutron Smart Bridge and the Alexa app.

The higher-end RadioRA 2 and HomeWorks systems will need to be professionally integrated, but since they can only be installed by professionals, it’s best to talk about this with your installer.

Does Lutron Work with Google Home?

Not all Lutron systems work seamlessly with Google Home. Caséta Wireless and RA2 Select can be easily integrated, but RadioRA 2 and HomeWorks systems will need to be integrated by a professional installer.

Does Lutron Work with Philips Hue?

Lutron and Philips Hue systems don’t directly integrate with each other as they’re both separate lighting control platforms. You can work around this, though, by integrating both systems with a smart home app, like Control4, Apple Homekit, Amazon Alexa or Google Home.

Does Lutron Work with SmartThings?

Lutron Caséta Wireless can be easily integrated with Samsung SmartThings, but it’s more difficult with RA2 Select, RadioRA 2 and HomeWorks systems. These higher end lighting control systems may need to be professionally integrated with SmartThings.