Help...Clipsal or Lutron?

[discjockeyr]

hello everybody,

I am builting my house and i have to decide about automation. I am between Clipsal and Lutron. Please can anybody give the advantages and disadvantages of those two brands. The only thing that i know is that Clipsal is more expantable as is C-Bus and Lutron Not. I prefer Lutron as i trust more the company and as hardware seems better and can effort more load as grafik eye is 3.5Amp instead of 1Amp which is the 8way clipsal dimmers. Actually i want to control also other devices except the lighting, can this be done with Lutron?
Please any advice may help. Thanks in advance

 

[vex]

Have a look at DigiLinx on the Netstreams web site.

It can talk to and control either of the Lutron systems as well as offer music, cctv and even heating controls.

It isn't cheap, but it is completely scaleable so you could add to it as and when budget allows.

HTH

Vex

 

[discjockeyr]

Dear Vex,

This seems nice.
Anybodu knows any other product that can work with lutron and give you more controls except the lighting?
Thanks

Chris

 

[dj-dulux]

Any control system which can use RS232 can control the Lutron Grafikeye lighting, really depends on the level of control you want and if you want feedback. Eg. if you just want to recall lighting scenes then almost any controller will work, Philips TSU9600/9400 touch screen would be good and if you want you can add music control, TV control and anything else really. As Vex has suggested the Netsteams is also a good choice but can get expensive.

I would go Lutron, one of the big reasons is that its a brand the public are familiar with so may help sell house when the time comes, something to keep in mind as long term service etc are important.

How are you configuring your system, central dimmers or dimmers in each room? Other options are Rako which is a good retro fit system, also Mode electronics make nice stuff for lighting.

Dupe...

 

[discjockeyr]

Thank you also for your reply.
Actually i will have 3 grafik eye in 3 different rooms and each grafik eye will have touchpads to control the lights. The reason that i am thinking about C-bus is because you have more options, lets say by press an away button at your exit you can close blinds, switch Off AC/heating, lights...that is why i am thinking about it again. Also i know that there is an optional module for C-bus that you can add and you can activate any electic appliances in your house by your cell phole while you are away.

Chris

 

[dj-dulux]

Seems and expensive way of doing it, as its a new house just wire those rooms back to a central location then use the outstation keypads in the rooms to recall scenes. If you only after say 6 channels of lighting a ProAV Lutron dimmer may do the trick, or 2 if you want 12 channels. The proAV has RS232 as standard and a timer function so you can set lights to come on and off when away automatically, as RS232 it can be integrated into a larger touchscreen music type system later at no cost... Also as the RS232 is bi directional it can tell an external control system if you go to scene 16 (all off) it could then trigger a macro to close curtains depending on time etc.

So many ways to do the same thing!

 

[discjockeyr]

any other brands that can work with Lutron except Netstreams?

 

[dj-dulux]

Another thing that I hate is listening to dimmers buzzing, although the Lutron ones are very good, you can hear them still. I always put the dimmers out of the rooms, just my pet hate..... Another thing to think about.

 

[dj-dulux]

any other brands that can work with Lutron except Netstreams?

Most really, AMX, Crestron, Philips, and if you just using IR in the grafikeyes then any learning remote...

Really depends what you want to acheive long term and how much you want to spend.

 

[discjockeyr]

thanks m8 for your help and advice.
but i don't thing that is possible by using the touchpanels of Lutron to control other devices, correct?
What i mean if i have an 8 button touchpad from Lutron, i cannot configure it to control audio or anything else correct?

 

[dj-dulux]

Correct, you can get it to run a macro on a control system, but would not be suitable for music control and stuff. Another option is to use the new Philips pronto TSU9600 as your control method, saves you getting up to change track on a wall mount panel. Have the lighting panels as already discussed with central dimmer and use the RS232 extender for the Philips to control lighting, music server, sky boxes, matrix switchers etc etc.... Add additional Philips panels as needed, one for every person in house generally, then program them so you select room, then function, then off you go...

Dupe…

 

[vex]

Lutron controlling DigiLinxs is on Netstreams wish list, but I would not hold your breath untill next year.

 

[charris cy]

Have a look at Vantage Controls also. The European website can be found here: www.vantage-emea.com

Lutron and Vantage are the two best lighting control companies. They are expensive but the level of control and integration that they offer is miles ahead of the competition. We are a vantage dealer, in Cyprus, though. If you would like I can bring you in contact with Vantage dealers/installers in the UK.

Vantage is different to Lutron in that they integrate everything (not only lighting/relays) and they offer a true bidiredtional control system with touchpanels, ir and theater units, e.t.c

Every button on any keypad can be customised to control anything connected to the system.

 

[neilball]

If you want to use lighting touchpanels to control other things and have the skills to design the pages, program the RS232 commands efficiently (2 way comms may require proper message handling & buffering depending on the equipment you are connected to) then Mode Lighting & Dynalite both have keypads/touchscreens that can dot this.

Then again I would suggest it would be better to take a control system that cna integrate to lighting controls as your starting point than try to go the other way. For example, Netstreams integrates with Lutron, Helvar, Mode & Rako already. With this aproach the message handling/drivers are already implemented and work out of the box.

Lutron can send RS232 strings to other systems from their more expensive Homeworks range but this is only 1 way so no feedback at the keypads to let you know if the command has been successful. Homeworks is also dealer-only suppliued so you cannot buy it directly to self install (as with many of the other complex lighting control systems).

 

[discjockeyr]

I apriciate everybody who try to help me.

Seems that with Lutron is very difficalt to have full controll of your house. I may have to thing again the Clipsal option. Anybody knows any big disadvantage of clipsal C-Bus system?

 

[charris cy]

Neil,

do you have any experience with Mode products? Any opinions?

 

[neilball]

I know one of their sales managers very well and have worked with Mode to interface our heating controls to their system so that they could make heating adjustements from their keypads. There RS232 implementation makes 2 way integration very easy. They've been around for ages, their LV transformers are some of the best you can get and the kit seems pretty bomb proof. The only place I see that they struggle is competing in the residential market as they were a bit late getting into it.

 

[higherlevel]

Clipsal every time...I had an integrator price my home for Clipsal and Lutron, Clipsal was not only cheaper, but it had more control and flexibility than the Lutron system. RS232, sensible size dimmers, integration to other systems, I'm even going for their audio solution. A bit expensive and without some of the bells and whistles of other audio solutions, but using the DLT it allows me to have only one keypad in a room. And the keypads look good.

 

[discjockeyr]

what about the quality of those two brands?