We need some advice regarding which Lighting Control system to add to our current HA implementation.
6 months ago, my wife and I purchased a home with an existing HA system. This is my our exposure to HA, and the existing HA system is about 12 to 14 years old. For HA, we have an older Crestron system which is the main UI with multiple touch screens installed throughout the home. This Crestron system talks to three Lutron Radio RA implementations, which handles the lighting of the main house. Blinds are hardwired to Crestron control boxes in the equipment room. Aprilaire thermostats are also connected directly to Crestron. In the guest house there is an old Lutron Homeworks system (serial interface) which controls the lights and blinds in the guest house, however it is not integrated with the Crestron in the main home (neither are the Aprilaire thermostats in the guest house integrated with Crestron). AV is all handled by Crestron.
What we want to do is add more light switches to HA system, replace failed switches, integrate the Homeworks system in the Guest House, and add a few other controllers (like the whole house fan).
The existing Lutron Radio RA system is over loaded, obsolete and problematic. For these reasons, we're looking to have a parallel lighting control system installed to run side-by-side with the existing Radio RA system. This new system will host new switches and controllers, as well as be the base for replacing any failed Radio RA switches. We want the UI to continue through the Crestron.
We have a Crestron dealer who has been maintaining our HA and making modifications, per our request. He is suggesting that we add the Crestron Lighting Control system in order to meet our current and future needs. We plan on requesting that he integrate the old Homeworks system in the guest house to the Crestron - we had CAT5 cables pulled from the guest house to the equipment room to accommodate this.
A friend of ours is a Savant / Lutron Homeworks dealer/installer, and he is recommending a Lutron Homeworks system.
On the surface, the Crestron Lighting system seems more expensive on a price per part basis, as well as the extra cost for installation and programming. The Lutron system seems less expensive, however it will require some integration work by our Crestron dealer. The price for the Lutron system also includes installation and programming.
Our request of the knowledgeable folks on this forum is: How do you recommend we proceed? We trust that the Lutron Homeworks system will meet our needs, however we fear that our Crestron dealer will gouge us for integration costs if we do not choose the Crestron lighting system.
Thanks,
R & B...
6 months ago, my wife and I purchased a home with an existing HA system. This is my our exposure to HA, and the existing HA system is about 12 to 14 years old. For HA, we have an older Crestron system which is the main UI with multiple touch screens installed throughout the home. This Crestron system talks to three Lutron Radio RA implementations, which handles the lighting of the main house. Blinds are hardwired to Crestron control boxes in the equipment room. Aprilaire thermostats are also connected directly to Crestron. In the guest house there is an old Lutron Homeworks system (serial interface) which controls the lights and blinds in the guest house, however it is not integrated with the Crestron in the main home (neither are the Aprilaire thermostats in the guest house integrated with Crestron). AV is all handled by Crestron.
What we want to do is add more light switches to HA system, replace failed switches, integrate the Homeworks system in the Guest House, and add a few other controllers (like the whole house fan).
The existing Lutron Radio RA system is over loaded, obsolete and problematic. For these reasons, we're looking to have a parallel lighting control system installed to run side-by-side with the existing Radio RA system. This new system will host new switches and controllers, as well as be the base for replacing any failed Radio RA switches. We want the UI to continue through the Crestron.
We have a Crestron dealer who has been maintaining our HA and making modifications, per our request. He is suggesting that we add the Crestron Lighting Control system in order to meet our current and future needs. We plan on requesting that he integrate the old Homeworks system in the guest house to the Crestron - we had CAT5 cables pulled from the guest house to the equipment room to accommodate this.
A friend of ours is a Savant / Lutron Homeworks dealer/installer, and he is recommending a Lutron Homeworks system.
On the surface, the Crestron Lighting system seems more expensive on a price per part basis, as well as the extra cost for installation and programming. The Lutron system seems less expensive, however it will require some integration work by our Crestron dealer. The price for the Lutron system also includes installation and programming.
Our request of the knowledgeable folks on this forum is: How do you recommend we proceed? We trust that the Lutron Homeworks system will meet our needs, however we fear that our Crestron dealer will gouge us for integration costs if we do not choose the Crestron lighting system.
Thanks,
R & B...
