See how a Lutron smart home transformed daily life for a Coventry customer. NICEIC Domestic Installer with 92 five-star Google reviews.
A customer originally contacted us because she and her daughter were concerned about the age and condition of the electrical installation in her home on Moat Avenue in Finham, Coventry. After assessing the property, we agreed that a full rewire was the right way forward.
As the work progressed, we started talking about how the new electrical installation could do more than simply replace the old wiring. Our customer was in her 80s, used a smartphone and already had several Amazon Echo devices around the house. That gave us an opportunity to introduce something she had probably never considered when she first called us: a Lutron RA2 Select smart lighting system.
We installed the system as part of the rewire and integrated it with her existing Amazon Echo devices. She can now use simple voice commands to switch lights on and, importantly, illuminate a route through her home before she gets up from her chair.
Smart home technology that solved a real problem
One of the most useful parts of this installation is actually very simple.
If our customer wants to go from the living room to the kitchen or bedroom in the evening, she can ask Alexa to turn the relevant lights on before she starts walking through the house.
For somebody in their 80s, this can make a genuine difference. She does not need to move through a darker part of the house to find a switch, and her daughter has the reassurance that the lighting can be controlled easily from wherever her mum is sitting.
This is the type of application we think about when discussing a smart home with a customer.
Technology for the sake of adding gadgets rarely interests us. We look at how somebody actually uses their property and work out whether automation can make their home easier, safer or more comfortable.
A smart home does not have to feel complicated
A question we hear regularly is whether smart lighting means getting your phone out every time you want to switch a light on.
It doesn’t.
A properly designed system still needs to feel completely natural when somebody walks into the room. You can use physical controls in the normal way, while also having access to scenes, schedules, voice control and app control when those features are useful.
That was particularly important on this project. We weren’t expecting an elderly customer to change the way she had used light switches all her life. We added extra ways for her to control the lighting.
The voice integration happened to be especially useful because she already understood how to use her Amazon Echo devices.
Lutron compared with smart bulbs
Around Coventry and Warwickshire, we still don’t come across many homes with a properly designed smart lighting system.
We do, however, regularly see homes where customers have started experimenting with products such as Philips Hue or other individual smart bulbs.
They can be useful products, but they have limitations.
Some customers gradually spend a surprising amount of money replacing standard lamps with smart versions throughout their house. The intelligence sits inside the lamp itself. When an expensive smart bulb eventually fails, you have to replace that smart bulb.
A system such as Lutron approaches lighting differently. We integrate the control system with the lighting installation, allowing you to use suitable conventional light fittings and lamps rather than relying on every individual lamp being smart.
It also gives us much more flexibility when designing how rooms and areas of a house operate.
Scenes are where smart lighting becomes particularly useful
One of the features we discuss with customers considering a Lutron smart home is scenes.
Rather than controlling individual lights every time, we can create preset arrangements.
For example, a living room could have different settings depending on how the room is being used. A customer might want one arrangement for watching television and another when entertaining.
A single command or button can then recall that arrangement.
The same idea can be used across larger areas of a property. Lighting can be arranged around bedtime, arriving home, leaving the house or moving between rooms.
The installation needs to be designed around the people living there. There isn’t a standard set of scenes that suits every property.
Does your house need rewiring for Lutron?
No. The right approach depends on the existing installation and what you want the system to achieve.
On this particular job, we were already carrying out a full rewire because of concerns about the existing electrical installation. It made sense to consider the smart lighting at the same time because we had the opportunity to plan the electrical system around how the customer would use the property.
That doesn’t mean every Lutron installation starts with a full rewire.
If you’re researching smart homes in Coventry or Warwickshire, we’d first want to understand your existing electrical installation, the rooms you want to control and what you actually want the system to do.
Sometimes that conversation starts during a renovation. On other properties it might come after an EICR, a consumer unit upgrade or simply because the homeowner wants better control of their lighting.
What we have learnt from installing smart home systems
After 10 years working as an electrician, one of the biggest lessons for me is that the best technology normally disappears into everyday life.
The customer should not have to think about the system every time they use it.
This project demonstrated that particularly well. Our customer didn’t contact us asking for home automation. She contacted us because she was concerned about her electrical installation.
By the end of the project, she had a completely rewired property alongside a Lutron system that gave her a practical way to control the lighting using technology she already owned and understood.
It has changed how she moves around her home during the evening and has given her daughter additional peace of mind.
That’s a much better measure of a successful smart home installation than simply counting how many devices have been connected.
Choosing a smart home installer in Coventry
If you are researching a smart home installer in Coventry, it is worth thinking about the electrical installation and the automation system together.
We carry out Lutron smart home installations alongside the electrical work that often surrounds them, including full rewires, EICRs and consumer unit upgrades.
JM Electrical (Coventry) Limited is an NICEIC Domestic Installer and currently has 92 five-star Google reviews.
For us, the starting point is understanding how you want to use your home. We can then discuss whether Lutron is appropriate and which features would genuinely be useful rather than adding technology you don’t need.
FAQs
Do I need to use an app every time I want to turn a light on?
No. You can still control your lighting from physical controls around the house. The app gives you another way to control and configure the system, alongside options such as voice control and preset scenes.
Can I control devices in my house using my voice?
Yes, depending on the equipment and integrations being used. On the installation described above, we integrated the Lutron lighting with the customer’s existing Amazon Echo devices so she could control her lights using voice commands.
Does my entire house have to be rewired?
No. We installed Lutron during a full rewire on this particular property because the existing electrical installation already needed replacing. Other properties can be approached differently, so we would look at the existing wiring and what you want to achieve before recommending anything.
Will my lights stop working if I don’t have internet?
Your everyday lighting controls should not depend on you having to open an app or issue a voice command. We design the system so the lighting remains straightforward to operate from the controls within the property, while internet based services provide additional features where required.
Can I control blinds and curtains within a smart home system?
Lutron systems can form part of a wider approach to controlling lighting and shading. If automated blinds or curtains are something you are considering, it is worth discussing them early so they can be considered as part of the overall design.
Can I create preset lighting scenes in different rooms?
Yes. This is one of the features we find particularly useful. We can create scenes suited to the way you use each room, allowing several lights to move to predetermined settings from one command or control.
If you’re considering a smart home installation in Coventry or Warwickshire and you’re still at the research stage, we’re happy to have a conversation about what you want the system to do. We can look at your existing installation, explain where Lutron may be useful and help you decide whether it is right for your property, with no obligation.
