I have a house built in 1960. The original owner was an electrician and installed a Touch Plate system that works via low voltage wires and relays. If I can figure out how, I will attach an image of the switchboard in my attic; it is a nightmare. This is not a comment on the system itself. I'm sure these things aren't designed to work for 50 years and the company had nothing to do with the installation mess.
But we have constant problems with the relays getting stuck which then means either lights don't turn on or are stuck on and can't be turned off :(
So yes, I realize I am on a Lutron board and not Touch Plate. Here's why. We contacted Touch Plate about how to fix our house. They referred us to various local dealers. We asked 10 companies to fix it. Only 4 said they would try and only 1 came up with a solution. That solution is to install the Caseta system. So now I'm investigating it. I find much to compliment the system and the company and the support of legacy products. So kuddos to you.
Here's the thing. I don't really want smart lights. I'm not against them; I just don't care. All I want is lights that work, reliably. I plan to live in this house at least 20 years, probably more.I don't want to be in this position EVER again. Baring things that might go wrong in a normally and competently wired house, I don't want to spend any money or time on maintaining a fancier system. But the Caseta upgrade is 1/3 the cost of re-wiring the house and removing the Touch Plate system.
So I would welcome any comments about:
1. Guaranteed support and parts availability for this system? After guaranteed period, how long are legacy parts generally accessible; i.e., how old is the oldest Lutron system I could have today and not be worried about getting parts?
2. Is the lifecycle date set? Do you know when or about when, this system will be obsolete? When did the system first hit the market?
3. What is the relative cost to upgrade vs. install? So if I install this system and in 15 years have to upgrade to the next system, is an upgrade usually about the same cost? About half cost? Obviously there are many factors, so just ballpark.
4. Anyone have a similar situation and what was your experience?