A Couple of Lutron Questions

[Austin_Yeahbaby]

Hi, we recently moved into a new house which has a Lutron Homeworks 4 system pre installed.

I'm well happy with the current system and have spent many an hour changing the lighting and scenes. but now I feel like adding to the system

I have a couple of questions regarding expansion and would appreciate any feedback..

Question 1.. - How easy/expensive would it be to add a couple of integrated Sivoia QED roller blinds to the system ?

Question 2.. - My living room has a 4 panel controller but I want to add more scenes to this room. How easy can I change the controller to a 8 button version ?

Question 3.. - Can an infrared remote send commands to operate other rooms eg can the remote in my living room send a command to turn on my outside lights even if I don't have a particular button programmed in the living room for this purpose.

Question 4.. - Has anyone used a Philips Pronto remote on a homeworks 4 system. What was your shopping list and do you have any comments..

Many thanks.

[Bruce_]

Everything you ask about can be done. I don't think it's a DIY project though, and therefore will NOT be cheap.

Pronto should work OK. Have a look here for info about using Pronto & Homeworks

[sirroundsound]

1. QED on this side of the ocean are only sold through dealers that install them. So, yes they can be added. Depending on what may already be pre wired will determine how much work and what parts would be required. QED shades are very high quality, and thus have a price tag to match. I have done many of them.

2. A 4 panel controller? Not 100% sure what you mean. You mention being able to make changes in the scenes, does this mean you have a grafik eye connected to the 4 series processor?

3 / 4. Lutron offer devices to add to a system to allow ir based remotes to "talk" to the system. Otherwise using RS232 is common with Control systems like AMX or RTI. A common practise is to set up virtual keypads in the Lutron system programming, then Via the other control system access those buttons. Once again, not a DIY project.

[Austin_Yeahbaby]

Thanks for the reply sirroundsound

Perhaps I can expand a bit..

Re Q1 :What sort of budget would you say I need for a QED blind installed into an existing homeworks

Re Q2 : The keypad I have in the living room has 4 buttons + infra red receiver + Up and Down toggles. I have all the buttons linked to existing lights in the room but was wondering if I can just change the front of the light switch for a 8 button version as all the contacts behind seem present or can I use my remote to access other buttons(virtual) to change other lights ?

As mentioned I'm looking to introduce the Philips Pronto remote but I'm keen to find out the best method of connecting this to the homeworks system. I could use the RS232 convertor from philips for the Pronto or I believe you can access homeworks via IP if I upgrade the processor to a P5 version. I'm not sure of what the cost would be.

I have the homeworks software and whilst not an expert my programming skills in a past life have allowed me to add macros, time events and sequencing to the existing config

[101music]

Hi,
Interesting feature you can try:

I've never tried the following with Series 4 or Homeworks Interactive (Illumination is the current software) so it may not work. Also this assumes you have the processor connected via ethernet.

Open Homeworks, and your program.
Go to Programming,
Find a keypad and look at its properties, which should be displayed below the keypad image.
Where it says 'Web enabled' select 'Yes', then upload the program and exit.
Open internet Explorer
Now type in the IP address of the Lutron processor in the address bar.
If you're successful, you should see a web-page with your keypad on the left window. You can operate the buttons, raise/lower etc.
We do this on sites to test works in progress. Its handy - you can control all the lighting in a system from one place.

Budget for a QED blind? not done many, heard some say about £800 per blind but that might be way off.
You can't change the fascia of the keypad, look at the keypad model number. The number usually denotes how many buttons it has.
The series 4 processor should have an ethernet jack on it. Cost of a new H8P5-MI is about £2300 ex vat i think

[sirroundsound]

I am suprised you have the software, but good for you.

QED shades, the pricing quoted above should be close, give or take a couple of hundred depending on shade size and material selected. Add to that a QED keypad to operate the shade from.

Oddly enough I have done a ton of Homeworks systems over the last 10 years, but never used a keypad with i/r. If you can access the "system" via the i/r then I don't see why you couldn't just set up a virtual keypad in the programming and access it's buttons from a remote to give you more flexibility.

Personally I prefer RS232 as a control method. Something IP enabled may be fine on a computer screen, but the interface may not be usable on a small touch screen like the Pronto. With Rs232 you will be able to create what ever buttons you like for control and have only what you need on screen.
Good luck.

[mattsymons]

It is also worth noting that if you upgrade to an 8 series processor you will have to re-write all lighting scenes for the house.

If it is a Homeworks 4 series processor you have then it is not possible to add Sivoia QED blinds. This is only possible on 8 series processors (with the external sivoia transformers) and Grafik eye QS units.

[gce123]

Originally Posted by mattsymons

If it is a Homeworks 4 series processor you have then it is not possible to add Sivoia QED blinds. This is only possible on 8 series processors (with the external sivoia transformers) and Grafik eye QS units.

Infact Sivoia QED can easily be added to a Series 4 processor with the Q96 interface (check out p3.10 of the latest tech reference book).

For a Pronto interface I would reccomend the Philips RFX9600 interface connected straight to the RS232 port on the Homeworks processor.

Yes, if you have the SeeTouch keypads then you can indeed remove the faceplate and add another with more or fewer buttons and reconfigure in the software. As you correctly say, all the buttons are there anyway hidden behind the faceplate.