Retro Fit Lighting Control

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  • MarkW
    Automated Home Lurker
    • Oct 2005
    • 2

    Retro Fit Lighting Control

    Hi All,

    First post here, but I have been doing a bit of research over the last week or so on the net and searched on here as well

    I'm looking to set up some fairly simple home ighting control, initially just for my living room, but with the possibility of adding other rooms at a later date.

    We've not long moved into a new house, so missed the boat for re-wiring. Therefore I've been looking at what is available retro fit and found rako and ulti seem to be the main two around using RF. Are there any others I should consider?

    What I am looking for at the moment is the ability to dim two ceiling pendants (possibly seperately) and two lamps in my living room, with a number of preset scenes, from a remote control.

    The option to control other devices from the remote is a plus but not essential. Also it would be good to have a preset timer facility for going on holiday etc if available, but neither of them seem to have this.

    I would also like to add other rooms at a later stage, but Im not sure if they have to be seperately controlled or can be included in the original controls.

    Finally, I would like to see either system in action. I'm midlands based, are there any demo facilities available anywhere?

    Thanks for listening, and any help gratefully received.

    Mark
  • vex
    Automated Home Guru
    • Feb 2005
    • 197

    #2
    Ulti, Ulti, Ulti is (currently) the only way to go without having to rip you room apart.

    have a look at www.ulti.biz as a start web site, then let us know if you want anything else or have any questions.

    Chris
    www.intouchtech.co.uk (trade)
    NOW PART OF INVISION UK, One of the leading home technology distributors to the CI Market.

    Comment

    • kundrik
      Automated Home Jr Member
      • Jul 2005
      • 23

      #3
      Re: Retro Fit Lighting Control

      I have exactly the same problem. I looked at Ulti but it seems way too expensive. With Z-Wave not available yet ( icom-technology) I'm still trying to figure out how to do it so any more ideas are welcome.

      Comment

      • vex
        Automated Home Guru
        • Feb 2005
        • 197

        #4
        Ulti looks expencive, until you compare its rival, Rako.

        Rako is also a great product, but true retro fit is harder to do and actually works out more expensive when you consider you need a dimmer and a seperate controller in each room. With Ulti it is all built into one compact wall module.

        Chris
        www.intouchtech.co.uk (trade)
        NOW PART OF INVISION UK, One of the leading home technology distributors to the CI Market.

        Comment

        • MarkW
          Automated Home Lurker
          • Oct 2005
          • 2

          #5
          Re: Retro Fit Lighting Control

          Chris

          Thanks for the reply. I do like the look of Ulti, but I'm a bit confused with what happens with lamps?

          From the demo on the website, it looks like you have to have a seperate remote to dim a lamp, so does this mean 2 remotes for 2 lamps?

          In my living room I've got two lamps, plus the main room lights, and I want to dim them all from the main remote with one button as part of the individual scene settings. I know rako can do this as you just buy an in-line dimmer and plug it in, can Ulti be configured to do the same?

          Thanks
          Mark

          Comment

          • vex
            Automated Home Guru
            • Feb 2005
            • 197

            #6
            Hi Mark,

            Ulti do offer an inline dimmer that can be simple added to any scene set from the main remote.

            Each inline dimmer comes with its own little remote, to be able to control the individual lamp. But you only really need to use it if you can not reach the actual dimmer itself to use its buttons when you are setting a scene.

            One other consideration is the ease with which you can reprogram a scene of add another dimmer.

            Chris
            www.intouchtech.co.uk (trade)
            NOW PART OF INVISION UK, One of the leading home technology distributors to the CI Market.

            Comment

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