Lutron has been one of our top-selling brands ever since we became a distributor back in 2004. We wanted to celebrate our last 15 years of partnership and recognize them as one of our favorite brands, by paying homage to them here. And to further commemorate, we recently dropped by their New York Residential Experience Center, located in the heart of East Midtown’s interior design district, to check out the latest products from the lighting control experts. This area of Manhattan is home to over 100 independent design showrooms, with Lutron nestled in among other luxury interior design and decorative arts brands. Walking in, we’re reminded why Lutron really is the best of the best. The space is beyond gorgeous, and mimics a posh New York City apartment equipped with a variety of Lutron products that incorporate innovative smart-home technology. An immersive experience of shade and lighting control follows; one that makes us want to pack our bags and take up residence.
But let’s rewind for a moment. The Lutron story is an interesting one. Fascinated by the idea of light manipulation, a young physicist named Joel Spira set out to create the first solid-state device that would allow people to adjust light levels with their own lighting at home. That was during the 1950s, and the only lighting controls around were the ones used for stage lighting in theatres. They were bulky and expensive and the whole idea of being able to achieve home-dimming capability was very radical for the time. When the next decade rolled around, Spira had not only successfully designed the first at-home dimmer, but he and his wife went on to incorporate Lutron Electronics.
You probably remember those early dimmers; the round ones that rotated and are still found on many dining room walls. Over the years, their products have evolved alongside advancements in technology. These days it’s all about the smart lighting; the need for instant connectivity through apps and controls. In 2008, Lutron built its own patented Clear Connect RF technology and has utilized it for all of their smart lighting systems. Growing out of that very first home dimmer, Lutron now offers over 15,000 products, and we got the chance to see how some of them work during our visit to the experience center.
RA2 Select
Aside from the model residence, the remainder of the Lutron showroom’s 4500 ft2 includes space for meetings, trainings and design sessions. The latest smart systems are installed throughout, including our best-selling Lutron RA2 Select. With RA2 Select, any home or budget can enjoy personalized smart lighting and shade control. The comfort and convenience of the system is something we experienced firsthand at the showroom. The features made the space feel more amplified, and definitely more luxurious than the average home. We were able to set scenes, create mood lighting and control blackout curtains, shades and blinds. The RA2 Select also gives you the ability to tie your smart lighting in with conditional triggers – meaning you can set the lights to dim at a particular time of day, or adjust to match changes in music. And it has voice command functionality when paired with the smart home systems of Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomeKit, Nest and Sonos.
The RA2 Select is what we can only describe as the ‘middle of the road’; in that it sits comfortably in between Lutron’s existing Caséta Wireless and RadioRA 2 lines. Not to label either of the other lines as lesser or better, but to compare the systems, which each have their own special functions and features. We won’t get into every distinguishing detail of these three systems, but to summarize, where Caséta Wireless supports 50 devices and RadioRA 2 handles up to 200, RA2 Select caps off at 100 devices per project. For local lighting controls, it uses Maestro-style dimmers and switches (same as RadioRA 2), and for keypads and zone controls it’s limited to Pico (same as Caséta). RA2 Select’s support for auxiliary repeaters lies also in the middle, at four; RadioRA 2 can manage eight and Caséta none. RA2 Select can support occupancy sensors as well. By placing itself in the middle of the spectrum, we’re not surprised at RA2 Select’s growing popularity among DIY-ers and contractors alike.
The Select’s Main Repeater (a small IP-connected device that can be easily hidden) controls your lights and shades from anywhere in the world via the Lutron app. Enjoy the added convenience and peace of mind while you stay in control of your home, even while you’re not there. RA2 Select uses the same Lutron mobile app used to set up Caséta, which is in contrast, much more user-friendly and faster than the Essentials desktop app that supports RadioRA 2. We appreciate that adding a dimmer, switch, or lamp module on the app is really straightforward. Follow the instructions to pair your device, then select its room and lighting type, for example: Living Room>Ceiling Lights>Main. You can also opt for more specific applications like accent lighting, decorative lighting or task lighting. Or, place a versatile Pico Remote virtually anywhere for control throughout the home. The Pico Remote is available as a keypad, for scene control or as a remote for individual light and shade control. Easily schedule lights to automatically adjust at certain times throughout the day from your smartphone or tablet, using the app. Enjoy using voice command when you pair RA2 Select with your compatible smart home system.
We like that the RA2 Select is more of a modest system. Should you get the urge to upgrade later on, the same dimmers and switches will still work, which is a great value. These systems are designed specifically for this type of add-on and customization. For anyone looking to get their feet wet with smart lighting, we suggest the Lutron RA2 Select Starter Kit. 
The RA2 Starter Kit includes one main repeater, two Maestro LED dimmers, one Pico ‘Any Room’ scene keypad, one Pico wallbox adapter, and a set of three Claro wallplates. We guarantee that once you get integrated, you’ll soon want lighting controls in every room of the house.
We want to end by thanking Lutron for letting us into their home, and for their support for PROLIGHTING over the last 15 years. We look forward to seeing what exciting things they’ll come up with next. Search by brand from our homepage to shop our entire line of Lutron dimmers, switches and lighting control products. Beautifully crafted, innovative design, and engineered to stay that way.
PROLIGHTING is an Authorized Distributor of Lutron Electronics.
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