Engineering, Implementing, And Supporting Luxury Smart Homes Throughout The Hamptons

It comes as no surprise to anyone in the home automation market that maintaining older homes and adding new technology to past projects can be extremely challenging.  This recently upgraded 18,000 square foot home in one of East Hampton, New York’s most exclusive neighborhoods was one of those homes in desperate need of modernization. 

 

Originally built in 2004, the outdated lighting control system was suffering both hardware and software failures.  Not only was this endlessly frustrating for the client to use, but even simple repairs quickly turned into lessons in hunting down obsolete replacement parts.  It was time for an overhaul and retrofitting a Lutron Homeworks QS system was an easy choice.

 

Using Lutron’s customized retrofit sub plate solution allowed the team at Automated Ideas and Solutions to install a total of 56 dimming, switching, and relay remote power modules into the 12 existing dimming panels without having to do extensive rewiring.  With more than 220 lighting loads to reconnect, the labor alone could have exceeded the project’s budget.

 

The old keypads, some with venerable handwritten stickers for labels, and others with buttons lost long ago to a hungry vacuum cleaner, were finally retired.  The existing in-wall low voltage wiring was reworked, and 67 new SeeTouch keypads were installed, providing a clean appearance, simple interface, and easy to read engraved buttons.  Extra attention was paid to those new engravings, as the client’s needs and habits had changed quite a bit over the years, and the engravings needed to reflect those changes.

 

With the equipment installation complete and the lights back on, it was time to impress.  The clients were already accustomed to living with a lighting control system on a daily basis, so replicating the old system’s basic functionality was to be expected.  What they weren’t expecting were the many features they hadn’t experienced before and didn’t know were possible.

 

The client’s mobile devices were connected in a few seconds.  Within a few minutes, they were exploring their new Lutron system’s more advanced features.  By the end of the day, they had mastered remote monitoring and control, geofencing, and were able to create and modify their own scenes.  Thanks to their new Lutron Homeworks QS system and it’s Connect Bridge, their home had made a sudden transformation to become a smart home worthy of 2018 and beyond.