Lighting is a key part of smart home control, and recent additions to this product category offer high convenience and good looks — making it tough for even your most die-hard standard-switch-and-dimmer clients to say no to an upgrade.
Loxone Nano Relay Air
Loxone opens up more possibilities for retrofit applications with the release of the Nano Relay Air and Touch switches — designed in 1-gang-box size to replace an existing light switch. When used in a renovation project along with a Miniserver, existing spaces can realize a complete ecosystem for improved comfort, security, and energy efficiency.
With one 16A relay, the Nano Relay Air is enclosed in a 1-gang box to automate a range of switching tasks while technology remains in the background — the Minisever is the “brain” behind it all. The Touch for Nano snaps into the Nano Relay Air as a control interface for automated functions. As an alternative, the Nano Relay Air can operate on its own behind a wall to switch on/off outlets, fans pumps and more without a control interface.
Leviton Decora Smart Wi-Fi 4-Button Controller
The Leviton Decora Smart Wi-Fi 4-Button Controller (part number DW4BC) allows users to adjust light fixtures and overhead ceiling fans connected to Decora Smart Wi-Fi devices in a single room or throughout the whole home with the push of a button. The station features four individual buttons whose functions can be programmed for each specific customer’s needs via the My Leviton app and are compatible with Leviton’s Decora Smart line of dimmers, switches, and plug-in outlets for easy integration and control.
The Decora Smart Wi-Fi 4-Button Controller provides professionals with an in-wall solution for their customers to control multiple Decora Smart Wi-Fi devices, room lighting and/or fan speed control scenes, and whole house activities from a single device, reducing visual clutter and simplifying control. The 4-Button controller does not connect directly to a light fixture but rather sends commands to Decora Smart Wi-Fi lighting products including dimmers, switches, and smart plugs throughout the entire home. It requires a neutral ground wire for installation. Up to eight DW4BC’s may be utilized in a single My Leviton residence.
Related: The Art of Lighting Design
Control4 Essential Lighting
Control4 has announced the addition of Essential Lighting, an expansion to the Control4 Wireless Lighting line, to dealers in North America. The new Essential Lighting models include just the essential smart home features, making them an affordable choice and attractive option for even the smallest Control4 project. For customers who typically only budget for smart lighting in primary rooms, such as the family room, dining room, or home theater, Essential Lighting makes it more affordable for them to add to other areas of the home, such as bathrooms, the laundry room, garage, and more. Designed to enable the addition of essential smart lighting features to any project, the affordability of the Control4 Essential Lighting line provides flexibility and introduces new homeowners to the smart lighting experience.
Essential Lighting also enables professionals to mix-and-match with existing Control4 Wireless Lighting and Centralized Lighting to meet the needs of any project. Great for retrofit or new builds, professionals can replace dumb light switches with one of three new in-wall Decora models, including a Dimmer, Switch, and Auxiliary Keypad, or homeowners can automate lamps and other plug-in devices with a new plug-in dimmer or switch. All Essential Lighting products are programmable in Composer and include a single blue LED.
At $85 U.S. MSRP each, the new dimmers and switches are a new entry-point into smart lighting and offer an affordable solution for adding essential smart lighting features in smaller rooms and projects, or even commercial buildings or hotels.
Legrand Smart Lighting with Netatmo Technology
Legrand North and Central America has expanded its Netatmo smart home technology with two new collections of smart lighting controls. The new smart switches and outlets have been designed with Netatmo to deliver instantaneous monitoring of power consumption, remote surveillance, and control over various functions when the user is away from home, including the control of lights, shades, sensors, electrical appliances and other Zigbee 3.0 devices.
Netatmo collaborates with companies in the building industry through its “with Netatmo” partnership program to develop smart integrated solutions that fit into residential infrastructures. The new line of wired and wireless smart switches, dimmers, and outlets leverages the mesh-network and reliable performance of Netatmo, making them optimal for larger homes and applications with noisy RF environments.
Related: A practical guide to adding lighting to your offered services.
Savant Daylight Mode Functionality
Savant, in partnership with architectural lighting manufacturer USAI Lighting, has introduced lighting control functionality called Daylight Mode that can align lighting schemes to match the natural circadian progression based on time-of-day. Designed to promote healthy living, Daylight Mode can be personalized by each user to suit individual lifestyle and situational changes. Savant Daylight Mode is available now.
Daylight Mode relies on the Savant App to suggest a circadian curve based upon scientific data that highlights time-of-day settings for color temperature and lighting intensity shifts seamlessly throughout the progression of each day. The Savant app intelligently adjusts for related factors such as geography, time zone, and season. Beyond the scientific defaults, users can personalize their lighting experience by adjusting timing, intensity, and color temperature settings to suit their daily habits. Users can turn on and off Daylight Mode in specific rooms of the home from within the Savant App, plus have keypad buttons to instantly override circadian settings for specific task lighting, entertainment settings, and more.
Hogar Controls Prima Touch Switch Line
The Hogar Controls Prima Touch Switch line is a collection of multi-function, modular, capacitive touch switches. Featuring a 3-inch glass design, Prima switches come in single, double, triple, and four-button configurations for on/off, dimming and scene control for Z-Wave and Zigbee smart home devices such as lighting, comfort, entertainment, security, and more. Users can install up to four touch switches in a four-gang light box location using existing wiring for up to 16 different scene actions.
The Prima Touch Switch blends style with technology and allow users to set customized smart lighting and control actions through programmable buttons that can be as simple as dimming the lights to 50 percent or as complex as controlling multiple devices through smart scenes.
Prima Touch Switches work with both Z-Wave or Zigbee to ensure wireless compatibility across a wide range of smart home hubs and end devices. Once programmed in the Hogar app, users can touch, tap or finger swipe (dimmer only) the buttons for simplified control of connected devices.
Crestron Horizon Outlets, Dimmers, and Keypads
Residential systems integrators can deliver a consistent look throughout their clients’ homes with matching Crestron Horizon keypads, dimmers, outlets, and keystones. Built to accentuate any décor, the Horizon product line offers custom control, from dimming lights and listening to music, to adjusting shades and plugging in appliances, such as a hair dryer in the bathroom or an espresso machine in the kitchen. Available in multiple button styles, backlight colors, and custom engraving, Horizon keypads offer many design possibilities.
Vantage EasyTouch Glass Keypad
The Vantage EasyTouch Glass modular keypad station is now available. EasyTouch Glass offers a highly reflective, mirrored look with a smooth touch tactile surface. The keypad is available with up to five programmable buttons for different scenes — such as “Welcome,” “Away,” or “Party” — allowing users to set the lighting in a space with one touch. In addition, with this release EasyTouch Glass becomes the pre-programmed default keypad station within Vantage’s Design Center software for standard lighting scenes and pre-configured human-centric Lighting for Life scenes. The keypad’s button matrix is also the same as wired or wireless wallbox dimmers.
The keypad can be completely personalized by homeowners, designers, and integrators by mixing or matching colors for trims, buttons, and faceplates, while an inner-surface ink layering process ensures consistent color definition and reflectivity. Buttons are laser-engraved in a TrueType font — now 15 percent larger, standard — with the letters illuminated by adjustable RGB backlighting in the user’s color of choice. An ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the backlighting based on the time of day, and users can easily determine which scenes are active based on the button’s color or intensity.
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