I had my home pre-wired for a Lutron Homeworks system 6 years ago. Lutron control wire was homerun to each of 40+ switches, and back to a Lutron panel box in the utility room. We also purchased 40+ Lutron Homework Dimmers 600watt/1000 watt versions.

My question is: Now that 6 years have passed, is it best to stay with a Lutron Homeworks system, or use the newer Crestron lighting system? Which would be more cost effective, since money is an object.

I have a crestron system in the house controlling audio and video, and in the utility room I just have the bare Lutron panel, no brain.

What would I need for either system? I have a crestron programmer (although not familiar with Crestron Lighting) and he may be able to become Lutron qualified if needed.

I just want to get this up and running as cheaply as possible, since I may not be in this home that long?

I'd stick with homeworks. It intergrates well with crestron. Hook up with a Lutron guy to install processor and then have your Crestron guy add the programming to your touch panels etc as needed.

I'd stick with homeworks. It intergrates well with crestron. Hook up with a Lutron guy to install processor and then have your Crestron guy add the programming to your touch panels etc as needed.

I agree with this; I have both Lutron lighting and Crestron control in my home. The integration is seamless.

Do you know what model processor I need, and what else I need to hook this up. I am pretty sure I can do the hookup of each dimmer switch, as they only have three low voltage wires, but not sure what I need to buy for the control panel. I wanted to check Ebay for one if possible.
Thanks

From a cost point of view the Crestron would be less expensive since you will not necessarily need a second processor. The cost of the decentralized dimmers is the same but you get some added benefits. Each device can also be a keypad. To be fair you can do this to a point with Lutron but the CLW-DIMS has 2 additional buttons that can be pragmatically disassociated from the state of the dimmer. In other words, with H Bus Lutron products the device needs to track the state of the load. When it's on it can perform some other function. When off it will turn off that function. With a CLW-DIM those buttons can do anything, irrespective of the state of the load attached to that dimmer.

If you have a 2 way system it is far easier to do all sorts of things in Crestron than in Lutron but it is still possible to do it. What has not been said is that on occasion the folks at Lutron throw us a curve. One of those was about 2/3 of the way through HWI they added a 0Dh as a start byte that screwed up some parsing routines. But even if you work that out it is far simpler to turn a lighting level into a bar graph or digital gage in Crestron than to parse it in Lutron. By easier I mean less work, not harder in terms of the programming. Even data entry takes time and time is a commodity that is usually associated with money.

The key difference is how those smart devices look. The Cameo keypads are fine but still not up there with SeeTouch. The CLW smart devices are not the most unattractive device ever engineered but they are hardly in a class with Lutron's Vareo or Maistro dimmers. If you think you want to do some very cute programming options with your lighting keypads or smart devices Crestron is the simpler, more easily integrated option. One can most certainly integrate Lutron seamlessly into Crestron but to do the same level of integration takes much more time and effort than when keeping to the same RS-485 Cresnet bus. If you want your keypads to do double duty and also control non lighting devices Crestron's are a far superior option. They are simply faster and provide better control, especially over volume than will Lutron's via RS-232.

Alan

Thanks for the info.
Do you know exactly what modules I will need, as I have seen some on Ebay currenty, such as:
Homeworks Lutron 4 Circuit Dimmer Module HW RPM 40 120
Would this be part of what I need?

If you have a batch of HomeWorks Maestro or Vareo Dimmers already installed, then you are hafway there (or more) on the cost. Lutron makes different sizes of panels that can fit various processors. The 8 Series P5 processor can go in an LV-32 (32" tall) panel or in a PNL-8 (59" tall) panel.

Lutron has also has a 4 Series processor that can normally control the HomeWorks Maestro Dimmers, and it normally is installed in a LV-24 (24" tall) enclosure.

Lutron and Crestron can work and communicate well together. The RPM (remote power module) you ask about is only useful if you have lighting loads that have line-voltage home runs back to a panel. In this case the RPM is a box of dimmers, and a low voltage keypad in the room controls the RPM via the processor. If you have Maestro or Vareo dimmers you will likely not need the RPM.

The Where to Buy on Lutron's website lists the dealers, and many are very familar with Lutron and Crestron integration.

Have fun.