It might be difficult to pinpoint the exact origins of the smart home industry, but there is a good case to be made that the market's origins date back to 1959, when Lutron introduced lighting dimmers.
Joel Spira, co-founder of Lutron, shared CE professional In 2010, after several months of trial-and-error experimentation, he finally developed a circuit design that would revolutionize the way people light living spaces.
“I plugged it into the circuit and 'bang,' it went out. “That annoyed me a little, so I didn’t do anything all day to figure out what I did wrong,” remembers Spira CE professional.
“So I tried again the next day and after an hour it was gone. There were six solid months where I blew a $300 transistor every day. But I only burned through one a day because we couldn’t afford anything anymore.”
Spira's persistence would jump-start today's growing smart home industry, and looking back at the origins of light dimmers, Ed Blair, president of Lutron Electronics, explains that Lutron's co-founder knew he was on to something impactful. But he probably didn't realize how important his invention would become.
“If we had asked Joel Spira again, he probably wouldn't have imagined what lighting control would become,” Blair suggests. “He had an idea what would become of light dimmers. It was a new concept and the emotions the product evoked were an indication that he was on to something.”
Evolution lighting dimmers drive smart home innovations
According to Blair, Lutron's development of whole-house lighting control systems dates back to the 1980s. In 1990, the company introduced its NeTwork whole-house lighting control system and a few years later, in 1993, the company launched its Serena motorized shading system and its more advanced GRAFIK Eye solution, which became a popular means of controlling lighting in environments such as at home there was theater.
Later, as the 1990s came to a close, Lutron announced its RadioRA bidirectional, RF-based whole-house lighting control system in 1997.
“We have been involved in the learning and pioneering work in the smart home sector over the last 30 years,” says Blair.
“The other advantage of the standalone dimmer was the quality. When we developed the wireless products, we needed the highest reliability in wireless connectivity. There were some powerline products, but they were not reliable products. Even when we used Clear Connect, an RF protocol, it complied with the FCC specification and so we were able to ensure wireless communication.”
If someone pokes around the Lutron facilities these days, they may find older light dimmers that use the original designs of this early product. However, he goes on to say that dimmers, like everything else driven by modern technology, have evolved to keep up with the latest market demands.
“Over the years the products have evolved. How do you dim a fluorescent lamp or compact fluorescent lamp in the early 2000s? The development of these lighting products has led to an evolution,” notes Blair.
“The original dimmer had about 20 components, and today's lighting dimmers probably have over 100 components and contain a microprocessor with software that was never required in the original products. The Caseta line would probably have more than or close to 200 components, the Diva is the starting point and has about 100 components, and it is the number one dimmer in the world.”
Foreshadowing the rise of lighting fixtures for integrators
Lutron's president explains that the company has learned some important lessons from advancing its lighting dimmers that are driving its product development. Blair explains that over the years the company has learned how products can impact home environments and that Lutron has learned how to improve those environments to make the home environment more comfortable for residents.
This was exemplified by a move that foreshadowed arguably the smart home industry's biggest trend in recent years, when Lutron acquired advanced lighting company Ketra in 2018.
At the time, Blair noted, “Light source manufacturing is clearly very new to Lutron. It will make a huge difference to our dealers.” Looking back on the Ketra acquisition today, Blair emphasizes that owning the Ketra brand gives the company complete autonomy over the home environment.
“I think the acquisition of Ketra and the advancement of the technology six years ago was a necessary factor in allowing Lutron to control the visual environment to create elegant and pleasant lighting environments,” he asserts.
“We have come a long way with automated shading and the ability to bring natural light in and bring it outside. So in order for us to really control and create the complete environment that we needed to control and create magical spaces, we had to control the entire lighting offering.”
The lighting phase of smart home is still at an early stage of development
Looking at the current smart home market, where light dimmers and lighting controls are fitting into the landscape, Blair says the market is still in the early stages of development. He takes a step back to take a big-picture view of the smart home industry, and lighting in particular, and emphasizes that the opportunities for integrators to increase their lighting revenues will continue to increase over time.
With light dimmers as a starting point, sales of advanced smart home systems that include lighting controls and lighting fixtures could potentially increase in the next few years. Blair claims that smart home penetration of lighting systems is still at a low level.
He says that while Lutron isn't sold on the specific benefits of indoor lighting, such as: B. the ability to provide circadian lighting, the overall benefit that these solutions provide is simply that they provide the opportunity to create more comfortable living environments.
“We see that [lighting control] as a great opportunity for the entire industry. As I mentioned, while they are successful, their adoption is relatively low, even in luxury properties. The lighting control category is becoming broader – today we sell a lot of occupancy sensors – and we sell other smart solutions,” adds Blair.
“We try to make sure we have everything for the ultra-luxury to mid-range market. In the shade category we aim to offer everything from Palladium to Triathlon Select, which offers a limited number of fabrics. We support retailers and consumers as they enter these new categories. One of the biggest obstacles for integrators is fear of launching. Once an integrator does their first work with RadioRA or sunglasses, they tend to develop other products.”