Most people’s perceptions of the “automated” home are more akin to the Jetsons than to reality. But electricians should know that home automation is a huge money-making opportunity, on a scale they may never see again. The automated home is here, it works and your customers want it today.

In the near future, intelligence will be built into most new homes. A big opportunity right now is in the existing, or “retrofit,” market. That’s because high quality wireless products allow homeowners to connect and control their homes like never before.

I interviewed Jimmy Busby, chief technology officer for CentraLite Systems Inc., for insights about wireless technology and about opportunities for electricians to profit from wireless lighting control. CentraLite, Mobile, Ala., has manufactured “hard-wired” lighting control systems since 1997. They recently introduced a wireless system named StarLite.

According to Busby, “Because wireless systems communicate via radio frequencies (RF), there is no need to tear open walls or rewire a house. They can be installed fast, with minimal disruption, giving homeowners almost instant gratification.” RF systems are powered by existing, conventional home wiring, but do not communicate over the “powerline” like X-10, which has proven to be unreliable due to differences from house to house.

Retrofit Opportunity Stands Out

The retrofit market is very large. The U.S. Census Bureau says there are more than 110 million existing homes nationwide. Primary targets for automation are homes in the $200,000 to $1 million price range –over 18 million existing homes. As wireless products become more widely used and known, that market could include practically any existing home.

As for wireless home lighting control, “Everyone is talking about it,” said Danny Galyean, partner at Pasada, LLC in Huntsville, Ala., a distributor of home automation systems. “Unfortunately lighting control systems for existing homes have historically been unreliable or very expensive. Now that newer products like StarLite have come to market, we’re seeing a real jump in demand for these products.”

“Electrical contractors and their suppliers are obvious ones to lead and take advantage of this emerging revenue opportunity,” Busby said, “because they are familiar with replacing switches and installing electrical apparatus, and they’re recognized experts. For electricians, home automation is a logical extension of what they already know. It’s a chance to increase margins with new sales and produce new revenue from previous customers.”

Lighting Control A Good Fit

Home automation comprises four main categories:

• HVAC and home controls – from regulating temperature to turning on sprinklers.
• Home theater – from integrating TVs with stereos to building rooms with every gadget and amenity.
• Security – from simple devices that activate when a window is open or broken to motion detectors and 24-hour surveillance cameras.
• Lighting control – from replacing a single switch with a manual dimmer to systems that can command an entire house.

Of these, lighting control may offer the biggest opportunity for electricians and electrical dealers, according to CentraLite’s Busby. Installing and servicing HVAC is a mature, saturated market. Home theater requires huge investments in time to learn products and technologies. Security systems have liability issues.

“You can learn about lighting control this month and start installing it next month,” Busby said. All the training for their StarLite system is available on-line and on CD, or you can learn everything in a one-day class.

How do you convince homeowners that lighting control is an essential purchase, especially compared to “sexier” categories like home theater and security? “Think about it,” Busby said. “You may use your stereo a couple hours a day, watch a movie twice a week, or set the security system daily. But you use your lights continuously every day.”

“Once homeowners know the benefits of lighting control and how quickly they can get it,” Busby said, “they understand the value (see Benefits of Lighting Control ). Lighting control provides advanced, easy-to-see comfort and convenience. It also improves security, saves energy and increases a home’s value. That’s a lot of value for a reasonable investment.”

Evaluating Companies and Products

Beyond reliability and features (see System Considerations ), when considering lighting control, you want a system that’s easy to understand and install, simple for the homeowner to use, and affordably priced.

While homeowners are becoming increasingly interested in installing a lighting control system, they are also price conscious. “Make sales and loyal customers by bringing them the best solution for their budget,” said Busby. StarLite – with 100 programmable scenes, 50 timed events, 512 dimming levels, and support for 96 devices and 288 buttons – is robust enough, Busby says, for most installations, even large, complex ones. Its base controller operates up to 125 feet, expandable to 500 feet with signal repeaters (see diagram).

Comparison shopping will be worth your effort. Taking time to understand what’s really necessary, and what most customers can do without, will save them money and hassle.

Manufacturer’s Focus Important

Look at the dealer support and the quality of installation tools. Call some of the manufacturer’s dealers and distributors to get a feel for their knowledge, focus and responsiveness, as well as product quality.

“Product focus is important,” said Busby. “Lots of companies try to be everything to everybody. As a result, they have a lot of allegiance to what’s hot or the best seller. If you choose a company that only designs lighting control, you know where their focus is.”

A manufacturer’s web site can give you a good idea of their focus and willingness to share information. Busby says that CentraLite has everything related to their products available online, 24 hours a day, including product overviews, technical guides, programming downloads, installation instructions, testimonials, product literature and more.

Some other things to look for:

• Corporate sales support for key accounts;
• Around-the-clock technical assistance;
• Affordable demo kits;
• “Model Home” and “Builder Home” programs; and
• On site corporate and manufacturer training.

Installation Tools Essential

High quality installer tools cannot be over-emphasized; they’ll save you labor and time on every job. Good analysis software lets you identify problems and install systems faster. Look for intuitive software with an easy-to-understand graphical user interface (GUI). Make sure devices provide useful feedback that takes guesswork out of installations.

“Good tools make all the difference,” says Busby. “Knowing the quality of your links during the installation lets you make adjustments to create an optimum network that works reliably immediately. That means fewer trips to the site and happier customers.” For example, knowing the signal strength, or how much current a dimmer is drawing, lets you judge whether a signal repeater is needed for best performance.

Helpful computer wizards – “how-to” programs that run on top of the installation software – provide step-by-step guidance and feedback.

The best systems offer hands-free, voice-activated configuration, a huge time and labor saver. “Voice programming lets one person do the job that used to require two,” says Busby. Using a wireless headset, you can speak commands to configure each dimmer and see the results instantly. For example, you might say “Turn on dimmer #1. Set dim to 85%. Set soft-on rate to 5 seconds. Set soft-off to 2 seconds.”

System Considerations

Your customers are counting on you to lead them through the maze of features and options. With a little research, you can deliver solutions with noticeable value and room to grow later. Be sure the system is easily expandable, so homeowners can add more rooms, areas and features. That means happy customers and future business for you.

Sooner or later, almost everyone wants to turn certain lights off at sunrise and on at sunset, or program lights to go on and off randomly while they’re on vacation. To do that, they’ll need an astronomical clock, so look for systems that include one in the base price, not as an expensive add-on.

Make sure the controller includes RS232 ports, Ethernet and USB. That means upgraded firmware is fast and easy to download without replacing chips, and that system configuration can be stored offsite and easily reloaded if necessary, like after a power failure. Look for devices that can handle 800 watts, so you’ll be able to control the heaviest loads with a wide safety margin.

Overload detection and prevention automatically dims the loads on the system when necessary. Look for dimmers with self-regulating internal temperature control that report a lot of information to the base controller, including power consumption, signal strength and light level. These features let homeowners know when bulbs burn out and when an additional dimmer or repeater is needed. Finally, make sure the software can compile data and display it in an easy-to-understand graphical format.

Interference – Is Wireless Ready?

Many electricians are skeptical about RF because they fear interference will inhibit system performance. More powerful components and better software have eliminated those concerns. According to Busby, by operating at 2.4 gigahertz and using 16-channel frequency hopping, CentraLite’s wireless system performs efficiently – even in complex environments like offices with dozens of computers and other devices, and in apartments or condos with multiple, low power versions running in close proximity.

Integration – Understanding Protocols & Standards

As you investigate wireless, you’ll be bombarded with information about integration, “mesh” networks and emerging standards like Zigbee, Z-Wave and California’s Title 24 energy standards. “Having your security, HVAC, home theater and lighting all controlled by one system sounds wonderful,” says Busby, “and CentraLite is carefully following those developments. But if you go to the home center and buy a Zigbee thermostat that starts turning on all the house lights at midnight, it can be hard to determine the problem; and a very unhappy homeowner is going to think that the lighting system is defective.”

“Our system provides seamless interconnectivity with a variety of home automation products to extend its usefulness, and it could be totally Zigbee and Z-Wave compliant tomorrow,” Busby said, “but those protocols are new and evolving, so we’re going to study them some more.” It’s better, he says, to look for the best performing lighting system, then make sure it has an “open” design so it can connect to other systems and accommodate future developments.

Getting Started In Lighting Control

Installing wireless dimmers is simple, just like replacing a light switch, so consider things like how long the manufacturer has been in business, whether they specialize in lighting and how easy the system is to understand, install and use. To find out if lighting control is right for you, Busby recommends visiting a manufacturer’s web site to get a feel for them and see what tools and service are available to help you. Then it’s a good idea to talk with a few of the manufacturer’s dealers and, if possible, a homeowner who has one of their systems.

“One of the easiest ways to get started is to install it in your own home first,” Busby said. “That way you can learn all the features just by going about your normal life.” With wireless, you can start small, just two or three rooms, and add more dimmers whenever you’re ready – just like your customers will. “That’s an easy way to get comfortable with the technology and its capabilities before offering it to your customers,” Busby said.