high voltage home runs?

Sure. CentraLite is one such system and it's an excellent choice. It really needs to be installed during construction.

It's not much more labor intensive than conventional wiring. On a mid-sized (say, 3-4000 sf) home you might need one or two additional days for the prewire.

Absolutely. Obviously these systems are not intended for retrofit jobs and most are not for the DIYer. But major integrators often consider this approach. It offers certain advantages over ALC type wiring schemes. For one thing all of the processing is centralized. You can use standard receptacles rather than $100+ per unit controlled outlets. Control cabling, typically CAT5 is run only to the room controllers which don't have to be "intelligent" devices. The smarts are in the main unit.

It's also easy and relatively inexpensive to upgrade such a system compared to something like RadioRA if you become disenchanted with the manufacturer or when -- not if -- they drop support for the system later.

I'm reading a contribution to my project from an author who claims there are lighting controller devices that require 120 VAC runs between the controller and each controlled light circuit.

At a glance, this seems like a helluva lot of work, a crazy way to wire a house, and outrageously expensive. Would such a system ever be built these days? Did such systems ever exist?

-John O

For an example of current systems see

(There are others.) There are centralized panels with relays that control the high voltage. High voltage loads are home run to the panel. Low voltage controls also are home run to the panel.

GE was doing this at least 50 years ago.

Although Centralite is cheaper, other manufacturers such as Lutron, Vantage and LiteTouch make systems that are wired similarly.

I have the Lutron HomeWorks system installed in my house. I think in the end, the wiring becomes a wash. Even though there are a lot of homeruns of Romex, you don't have to wire 3-ways, 4-ways, etc.

Robert mentions that all the processing is done centrally, which is true in all these systems. The one thing that you need to be aware of is having some way of overriding the system.

For example, in the Lutron system in the event that the house gets hit by lightning and the processor goes out, I still have an override switch to turn lights on.

The biggest benefit of having a system like this with all the lights homerun back to a dimming panel is that it elminates the wall clutter that traditional switches would create. Instead of having switches all over the walls, I just have single-gang keypads.

Regards, Charlie

John O wrote:

Good points, Charlie. You might also want to note that these systems -- Lutron, CentraLite, etc. -- also have RS232 or better connectivity for integration with whatever HA controller you might want to use. The well-established brands are also supported by many hardware and software HA suppliers so integration isn't such a fuss.

I have one of those, or something like it, in my house now. 24 VAC everywhere, but 120 VAC only at the relay-controlled lights and a few outlets. I even have a master controller in the bedroom. (SQLit, you described this systemIt's a PITA, actually. I wish I could replace the wall switches...momentary DPST, and a wierd shape so I can't even mess with nice wall plates. PITA, is what it is. :-)

Centralite looks pretty interesting. Thanks for the info, Bob and Dave. I have a much better handle on this now. I was imagining NM wire running like Cat5 back and forth all over the place...what a mess.

-John

OK, that sounds better than what I was imagining. Thanks.

-John O

I actually did this 15-20 years ago, using latching relays and low voltage SP/DT momentary switches. What I have been looking for is an upgrade path. I am adding several circuits to my system during a major remodel of the house, and I can still get the same relays I have been using, although the price has certianly gone up. I am looking for a DIY friendly company that has something like CentraLite's products that doesn't cost an arm and a let to install. I have already run the wires both HV and LV and am very capable of installing such a system, but the places I have talked to want to totaly replace my wiring, some of which is brand new and never been hooked up, and they want 2-3% of the cost of the house to install their system.

Does anyone know if such a company and product exist?

TIA.

As I began to read your post I was thinking of suggesting CentraLite. Obviously, you have already considered them. Their products are IMO reasonably priced. From the tech info I've seen so far, they're apparently no more difficult to install than any breaker panel once you have home run the circuits.

On Thu, 28 Apr 2005 11:31:32 -0400, "Robert L. Bass" wrote: Perhaps I didn't find the right CentraLite stuff, I found a price list for their "elegance" line that starts about $6k for 24 loads or about $250 per load, which is a bit steep for what I'm looking for.

If you have a moment, please check out

we are definitely DIY friendly and allow you full access to add your own equipment

Hi, Steve!

Just checked out your site and have some questions. Are these units UL listed? Are the hubs standard ethernet COTS components or are they specially modified for your lighting system?

Thanks,

-- Bobby G.

At this point because we create a number of unique panels and also customize them for our customers we have each panel field certified. This certifies it for sale and use within North America. The lighting system is based on Controller Area Network (CAN) instead of ethernet. A simple CAN node can be built and added to the network with only a few lines of code to make it operational if you want to create your own add-ons. That is not to say you couldn't do the same with ethernet but I prefer CAN!

Steve