Palladiom Wire-Free Shade system compatibility

I just sat through the 20 minute corporate video of Lutron's innovation which honestly was really short on substance and high on self-back-patting and didn't see any mention of the new Palladiom shade compatibility. I am looking at the FAQ now and it says:

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This wire-free shading solution uses Lutron's patented ClearConnect RF for communication. It works seamlessly with Homeworks with QSX processors, RA2 Select, and Caseta PRO. These shades can also be operated independent of a system, using a Pico remote control

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Is this the complete list? Are you telling me that Lutron's newest and greatest shade can be used with a $120 Caseta Pro bridge but not an existing Homeworks QS or a Radio Ra2 system?!? Seriously?!?!?!

Shades are already confusing enough to deal with for non-shade dealers- I mean I couldn't even order a pico remote with a picture of a shade on it. There are also a lot of shade dealers that only do shades and leave the integration with the rest of the system for the lighting automation guys (that's me) so why make things even harder by having a shade that's advertised as the newest and greatest and leave two of the flagship and current systems out of it? What possible explanation can there be for that?

That is correct. The Wire-Free Palladiom shades work with the Caseta Pro, the Ra2 Select, and the Homeworks QSX systems. They won't work with the Homeworks QS HQP6 processor, nor the Radio Ra2 RR-MAIN-REP Main Repeater.

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Originally Posted by Brian W.

That is correct. The Wire-Free Palladiom shades work with the Caseta Pro, the Ra2 Select, and the Homeworks QSX systems. They won't work with the Homeworks QS HQP6 processor, nor the Radio Ra2 RR-MAIN-REP Main Repeater.

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Thanks for clarifying. Is there any technical reason for this? It's still just a clear connect device after all so while the compatible devices seem newer, it's just a really really hard sell to tell a QS or Ra2 customer that "yeah, I know your neighbor with Caseta got this, but your 3 year old $50,000 system just isn't sophisticated enough for this shade"

Unfortunately, I don't have an explanation as to why we release products for one system vs. another system. It may have something to do with how those three systems communicate vs how HWQS and Ra2 communicate.

For those reading this Post I strongly urge you to reach out to your reps and Lutron. While I'm all for moving towards better technology being able to "Retrofit" to older systems is also important. I too was initially very excited about the Wire Free Palladium until I read about its compatible platforms (Caset, RA2 Select and QSX).

Ironically I have an existing customer who loved the look versus Triathalon and would have had an easy sale. Additonally I am completing a $70K plus Illuminations to QS Upgrade where the sale would be easy.

Perhaps Lutron will develop a "Link Translator License or re-engineer the Palladium to be backward compatible to QS. There's probably more margin for all in compatability versus selling a whole new upgrade to DIN Rail and QSX.

Yeah since Lutron bought Ketra, it seems like every move they're making is hostile towards existing systems and dealers who don't only install new construction. This is a dangerous path. I used to sell Vantage Controls systems as well and serviced dozens of older and existing systems with happy customers. Once Legrand bought them and brought in their people, all they saw was the dollar signs of new installation and got rid of a lot of very good Vantage dealers who kept their older systems going and upgrading them as needed. They thought by being hostile towards service oriented dealers that it would result in pressure selling brand new systems to existing customers but the opposite happened. Those customers either went with Lutron, Crestron, or kept their systems going through ebay parts. Now they are unhappy and will never buy Vantage again.

I'm afraid the same thing will happen to existing Lutron customers. I have one house with 7 RPM panels and a Series 8 processor. Sooner or later that processor will die and I will be in a very bad spot of having explain to them that they have to replace all 7 panels with din rail modules, and replace all their keypads because QSX which is the only system that gets love from Lutron now is leaving them behind. Will they say "Oh yeah, here is a check for a $100,000 go for it!" or will they ask "wait, why do we have to replace the panels?" Rich people didn't get rich by being dumb with their money. I have another brand new Radio Ra2 customer who has 20 wired RF shades and wants to add more in spots which weren't wired. If her shade guy isn't aware and sells them these new shades and then leaves the job, I will be the one who has to tell her "yeah your brand new Radio Ra2 system that you have 180 devices on and you've spent a fortune on can't do this one simple shade...maybe add a 2nd Caseta system to the house?".

I don't know why Lutron puts us in these bad spots. I love the products but I hate that marketing is taking over engineering.

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Originally Posted by DavidGroves

For those reading this Post I strongly urge you to reach out to your reps and Lutron. While I'm all for moving towards better technology being able to "Retrofit" to older systems is also important. I too was initially very excited about the Wire Free Palladium until I read about its compatible platforms (Caset, RA2 Select and QSX).

Ironically I have an existing customer who loved the look versus Triathalon and would have had an easy sale. Additonally I am completing a $70K plus Illuminations to QS Upgrade where the sale would be easy.

Perhaps Lutron will develop a "Link Translator License or re-engineer the Palladium to be backward compatible to QS. There's probably more margin for all in compatability versus selling a whole new upgrade to DIN Rail and QSX.

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It is really appreciated to warn those who read this article, thank you for the ideas you have given.

The Palladiom Wire Free shades are now compatible with Homeworks QS systems that are running v15.13.0 or higher firmware on the processors.