ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Home Automation and Dimming Systems

With all of the control technology available these days, how have you EC’s been selling these systems to your clients (Residential or Commercial). What works and what does not work?

Short of people not being able to afford such a system, what are your experiences?

Also curious about:

Where does the EC’s job end and the “ Stereo Guy’s “ Job begin. Or is it the other way around? It is my understanding that on high-end residential Jobs it is often the AV guy that manages to sell a Dimming System to a owner, while the electrician just watches and wonders?

Any input is highly appreciated

Fred

We are in the position of being primarily involved in the custom home market, and my short experience over here has found that the homeowners tend to prefer the "Stereo Guys" sticking to home audio and theater, and leaving the high voltage side to us.

We mostly use either Litetouch or GE-Smart equipment for lighting control, depending on the situation, and other than some supply problems when Smart was bought out by GE earlier this year, there is not much negative feedback to report.

I was in Minneapolis a couple of months ago for the CEDIA convention, and was actually quite surprised at the number of Electricians taking datacomms and other low voltage courses, and most of the guys I spoke to felt this was an upcoming market with some great potential for our trade.

Only time will tell...