MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICES

Peter Broome, Director at UK smart lighting controls manufacturer, Rako shines a light on getting it right.

The nature of home, and how we now live within it, has changed dramatically in recent years. The home is now a multi-functional space which allows different family members to work, play, educate and entertain or be entertained - often all at the same time. Deploying smart home technology in an intelligent way can add much needed flexibility to these spaces, making them suitable for different purposes and creating different moods and environments.

As lighting is a big part of the building infrastructure it is only natural that it is one of the first elements to consider when specifying smart home applications. Lighting design has also become a serious consideration when creating a new home or upgrading existing rooms.

This has driven investment in lighting control technology that can deliver the right ambience, together with the levels of comfort and convenience that people now see they need, want or will require in the future for multi-functional spaces. With this investment, homeowners have turned to integrators to help make this technology experience as easy to use, reliable and enjoyable as possible.

As each home and client are unique, so are the lighting control challenges. That is why it is important for integrators to offer choice and flexibility to their clients when it comes to product selection.

In the first instance, it’s important to understand whether a wired or wireless lighting control system is the right choice for the project or whether it is a hybrid combination of the two.

A wired system requires cabling and can cause disruption in an existing building whilst also incurring more costs. Whereas a wireless system is cheaper and easier to install. These options need to be considered from the outset and it is helpful to work with a manufacturer, like Rako, who can offer the same keypad design for wireless and wired systems, meaning there is no compromise on the finish.

Keypad flexibility is an important lighting control trend. Integrators need to make sure they can deliver the functionality and simplicity of an operation that’s right for their project and their clients. Our recently launched Modular keypads are designed to offer that high degree of versatility, including a choice of control options and finishes that set them apart from the competition.

This brings us on to aesthetics and keypad design. New keypad designs offer different button sizes which can be combined in multiple ways to create custom button layouts, perfectly tailored to an installation.

Again, with the Rako Modular range, each keypad is designed to offer a premium quality aesthetic with the user experience optimised by a comforting, robust and tactile button press. All Modular keypads are available with black buttons and seven hand-finished metal surrounds - satin chrome, polished chrome, antique brass, polished brass, matt black, matt bronze and matt white.

Every client also now expects to be able to use their phone to control everything and the recently enhanced Rako HUB interface is a key, feature-rich enabler of that benefit.

The demands of consumers may have changed but these new higher expectations provide integrators with an opportunity to deliver high quality and flexible lighting control solutions for their clients.

Personalised wireless smart lighting and shade control.

RA2 Select and HomeWorks QS from Lutron is a smart home control system like no other. It’s simple and easy to set-up, delivering a personalised whole-home experience that is easily expandable. Seamlessly controlling your intelligent lighting and shades, using the free Lutron control app for your smartphone or tablet, it also integrates with your audio visual solutions. And it does all of this while saving you energy.

For more information on Lutron call the industry experts RGB on +44 (0) 1488 73366 or visit www.rgbcomms.co.uk

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