plan for a new house

[NateS]

I'm building a new house and have some questions about Lutron. I'm considering Lutra QSX + Ketra lights + josh.ai. I will talk to an installer in time, but I want to be well prepared. Installers don't always have comprehensive knowledge, especially when doing something a little outside the usual. Color and time of day Automatically changing all the light colors based on the time of day is mandatory for me. It appears Lutron QSX + Ketra lights can do that, though the details are fuzzy. To be clear, all the light colors and brightness can be based on the time of day? Lights that are already on should change very slowly, over the course of hours. For lights that are off, when turned on they should use the color and brightness based on the time of day. I'm familiar with Hue in a small space, but it doesn't seem a good fit for a large, new house. With my Hue setup, I use a Raspbee2 instead of a Hue bridge. I wrote my own software to get events from the Raspbee when switches and motion events occur. My software sends commands to the Raspbee to control the lights. I did this so I am not limited by trying to configure my automation using restrictive mobile apps and ridiculous IFTTT setups. API access How are the Lutron APIs? For example, with the Raspbee (deconz) there are REST endpoints, so getting a list of lights and sending commands is easy. There is a websocket for getting switch and motion events. How does it work with Lutron? I realize probably not many people wants to interface with Lutron via APIs, but this is very important to me so I can get the exact behavior I want. This will be an expensive system and I should have full control over it. It's also a fun hobby for me. If Lutron doesn't provide APIs like I want, can it be done through 3rd parties? For example, maybe I can interface with josh.ai and have it interface with Lutron. This wouldn't be ideal though. Number of lights As the plans are currently, I will have about 150 lights, plus HVAC, plus 7 shades. Likely it'll be a few more lights than that plus a few more devices. It looks like I'll need 2 QSX processors, is that right? Any tips or other considerations I should think about would be helpful! Edit: why does this forum not show my newlines?!

[NateS]

I see now that this forum gets about one post a month. I'm a bit bummed this is such a ghost town. Plus the forum software wrecking post formatting is quite shoddy (also uses the default vBulletin icon). Not impressive, Lutron!

[johnmax]

Yes the forum software is crap. If you want new lines you have to put the br tag at the end (and wrap the tag with < and > ), and then if you preview your post then submit it loses the tags- so just use the tags and dont preview just hit submit.

For your API question it is not publicly released yet. As it is major integration companies like Crestron are just getting modules ready for its dealers so it would appear Lutron is not putting much effort into the DIY hobbyists who want to tie in to their system. At this time Control4 , Josh AI, URC, ELAN and Crestron have drivers so if you wanted to go with Josh you may be able to get what you need.

[thomod]

Nate-Though I'm relatively new to Ketra, we have just convinced a developer to do a very similar system in one of his new houses with QSX, Ketra and josh.ai. It's a 7,000SF house that should have a roof on in the next 2 weeks so we need to finish our design quickly. I'd be happy to keep you abreast of our progress as we work through all aspects of this system if you're interested.-Eric

[NateS]

@johnmax Thanks. The guys at Josh aren't willing to discuss integration with a homeowner. I've asked a dealer to talk to them on my behalf. It's unbelievable these companies only cater to those who are content with whatever a dealer sets up. That may have worked in the past, but newer generations are much more savvy. If I'm going to hardwire Josh in my house, I need to know what it can and can't do. Drowning me in marketing materials and refusing to talk to me just makes it unlikely I'll choose that solution.

@thomod That would be great! This forum doesn't have private messages (I really hate this forum) but you can reach me at: misc@n4te.com