Lighting control is popular because it provides so many benefits to clients, including security, wellness, and ambiance. New and updated entries to this product category hit the market regularly, so here is a look at the more recent additions.
Nokia Smart Lighting
Smartlabs has announced the launch of Nokia Smart Lighting, a suite of IoT-powered lighting and electrical control products. The first-ever Nokia Smart Lighting products are designed to make smart lighting straightforward-to-buy, easy-to-install, and intuitive-to-use. Nokia Smart Lighting products have a clean, modern aesthetic found in high-end custom solutions, yet resemble familiar wall switch and dial designs that won’t require family or guests to learn how to use them. Precision engineering delivers a high-quality product with soft-touch haptics for an elegant feel and quiet operation. Designer touches such as screwless wall plates and matte finishes elevate any room, home or building’s aesthetic. The product line — including Paddle and Dial switches, a four-button, multi-function Keypad, Outlet, and Bridge — provides for maximum flexibility to enable a smart way to upgrade any home, regardless of existing fixtures, wiring, bulb type or floorplan.
Orro
Orro has announced an update to the Orro app, providing unified control of popular smart home products from companies including Ecobee, Philips Hue, August, and more in addition to full control of the Orro Switch throughout the home. The new release enables Orro customers to have the same control of smart door locks, thermostats, smart device remotes, and more that they currently enjoy through the Orro switch integrated touch screen, via their Orro smartphone apps. The updated Orro app with unified smart home controls is now available at the Apple App Store and the Google Play app store.
Lutron
Lutron has invested in the Ivalo intelligent lighting portfolio to improve the dimming performance down to 0.1 percent and introduced a new HomeWorks Digital wired communication technology that makes Lutron’s entire portfolio of Ivalo lighting digitally addressable. The new HomeWorks Digital technology allows integrators to easily program and rezone intelligent lighting in the Lutron HomeWorks software.
Lutron Electronics has announced the launch of the Alisse wall control for use with its HomeWorks whole-home automation system. Lutron reimagined every detail with the Alisse wall control — starting with its thin profile, broad range of hand-crafted finishes, and subtle illumination around the buttons — allowing it to complement any décor. Lutron uses a hand finishing process to bring out the dimension and hues of the genuine materials and offers a range of signature metal finishes that stretch across the style continuum. Each finish is matched with engraving filled with carefully coordinated ink as well as a complementary thin, glowing halo around the buttons to complete the look. The Alisse wall control’s plate form is perfectly balanced, featuring a sleek, thin profile that protrudes less than 1/8th of an inch from the wall.
Leviton
Leviton has expanded the compatibility and functionality of its Decora Smart Wi-Fi lighting control portfolio with the launch of Decora Smart Wi-Fi 2nd Gen. The next generation of Decora Smart Wi-Fi features four new products — a 600W Dimmer, 15A Switch, Mini Plug-in Switch, and Mini-Plug-in Dimmer — that work with the free My Leviton app, are Wi-Fi certified, and are compatible with Amazon Alexa, Hey Google, Apple HomeKit/Siri, IFTTT, and more. Additionally, all Decora Smart Wi-Fi 2nd Gen devices work with Leviton’s new Anywhere Companions for wireless multi-location lighting control wherever you may need it — no wiring required for installation.
Leviton’s Decora Smart Wi-Fi product line features hubless devices that connect to Wi-Fi with a user-friendly set-up process, making it easy for homeowners to control lighting, electronics, and small appliances from anywhere via the My Leviton app on a smartphone or tablet as well as through compatible voice assistants. Decora Smart Wi-Fi 2nd Gen dimmers, switches, and smart plug-ins can be incorporated into any existing smart home alongside other current Decora Smart Wi-Fi controls as part of a whole home solution.
Brilliant
Brilliant can now control Somfy motorized window blinds and shades. This new partnership and integration offer the ability to add natural lighting and privacy control and increased energy efficiency to every Brilliant-powered smart home. Somfy’s new TaHoma Gateway, Somfy interior shades, blinds and draperies, exterior screens, awnings, and pergolas can now be controlled and automated using the Brilliant Smart Home System.
Control shades in any room or all at once without needing a phone or app. Brilliant offers a variety of convenient ways to manage and automate Somfy motorized shades and blinds and other smart home devices: intuitive touchscreen controls, touch sliders, built-in Alexa voice commands, home automation scenes, and also an all-in-one mobile app.
Control4
Snap One has announced a new line of Control4 Contemporary Lighting faceplates and buttons to offer Partners a modern solution that seamlessly integrates with the Control4 system. According to Control4 product manager Jeff Thomas, the new line provides Control4 Partners more options to ensure premium aesthetics for all home designs and decor.
Available in 10 of today’s most popular colors with clear, backlit engraving and a modern design, Control4 Contemporary Lighting is designed to be easy for everyone to use, so family members and guests can enjoy the smart lighting experience. In addition to the new appearance, the new keypads, dimmers and switches also provide a more tactile response and improved longevity.
Vantage
Legrand’s Building Control Systems (BCS) division has introduced Vantage LHUMAN, a dynamic new human centric lighting (HCL) system for the residential market. LHUMAN incorporates lighting controls, motorized shading, and color-tunable light fixtures to harness natural light when it’s available or render it artificially when it’s not. To make it easier than ever for integrators to deliver these benefits to their clients, Vantage is also introducing the latest version of its programming software: Design Center 4.2.
At the heart of the LHUMAN system is Vantage lighting control, which provides full color control and precise dimming of a wide range of color-tunable lighting fixtures from Vantage’s leading manufacturer partners. Users can let LHUMAN do the work for them — automatically adjusting their home’s light throughout the day, fully synchronized to the natural daylight from the sun — while making changes on the fly with pre-set scenes that deliver the appropriate color temperature and intensity to meet their current activity, need, or mood.
Savant
Savant, in partnership with architectural lighting manufacturer, USAI Lighting, has added 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.
Crestron
The Crestron Cameo Universal Wireless Dimmers are a smart and cost-effective lighting control option that offers residential systems integrators the flexibility to design lighting projects before the load types have been defined. Cameo dimmers auto-select the ideal dimming voltage for LED, incandescent, and magnetic or electronic low-voltage connections, so integrators no longer need to stress over what lighting fixtures will be in a home.
Working natively with the Crestron Home app, Cameo Universal Wireless Dimmers are feature-rich with advanced flicker reduction for LED loads, customizable dim curves, reliable inifiNET EX wireless mesh communication, and include robust protection against miswiring, short circuits, and MLV saturation. Available in 12 Cameo designer styles and colors, the dimmers also offer customizable button layouts and engraving at a competitive price.
