Radio Controlled Home Lighting

By Mark J. Donovan

As the cell phone has become ubiquitous in our lives, other wireless technology products are now beginning to pervade our homes. Wireless routers and radio controlled home lighting systems are primary examples of the wireless phenomenon.

Many techno-savvy homeowners have already installed wireless routers within their homes to connect to the Internet and network computers, printers, and gaming equipment together.

Radio controlled products such as electric garage door openers have also been around for years. However, much more sophisticated radio controlled home building products are right around the corner from becoming standard features within our homes.

Radio controlled home lighting systems are a good example of the inexorable march of wireless technology. There are a number of manufacturers selling some very exciting radio controlled home lighting systems that enable virtually all of your home lights to be controlled by 1 or 2 master controllers (be it wall mounted or remote controllers).

Some of the benefits associated with radio controlled home lighting, include the ability to turn on or off all, or a portion of, a home’s lights by a single control button either located on a wall or via a remote hand set. In addition, remote controlled home lighting systems frequently employ dimmer switches that replace older switches within the home, thus allowing the ability to set or control the brightness of lighting in each room within the home.

Radio controlled home lighting systems can also be turned on/off from your car, just like your standard garage door opener. Thus, you no longer need to walk into a dark house when you arrive home in the middle of the night.

Radio controlled home lighting systems can easily be installed in both new and old home construction as no rewiring is required. Typically light switches are replaced with Dimmers that have built-in transceivers in them that communicate with a master controller and one or more repeaters that are strategically positioned within the home. Also, some manufacturers offer light dimmers that can be plugged right into existing outlets. Some master controllers are powered via batteries, so no AC wiring is required.

Radio controlled home lighting systems can also be integrated into existing home security systems.

The cost of radio controlled home lighting systems can vary as it is dependent upon how many light dimmers are required, the size of the home (which impacts the number of repeaters that may be required) and the types of master controllers employed. See smarthome.com or Lutron.com for more information on features and pricing.