Ecosystem for large residence- what to watch for, tips?

[Brian(J)]

Just about to embark on the first of what I assume will be many Ecosystem/QS projects, in USA, S. Korea, Indonesia. Quite large projects. Fixtures will be Lucifer, Aculux, Speciality Lighting, Zumtobel, Erco, etc.
I thought I would read through the postings but so far there isn't much here and I'm hoping to get some background info.

Thanks all,

Brian(J)

[mcignarella]

What kind of information are you looking for ? Will these be Residential or Commercial projects ?

[Brian(J)]

These will very nice residential projects in the 12k to 50k sf range mostly in the western US but some scattered around the states and in Seoul, and one in Jakarta. I'm the lighting designer but used to design and program Vantage Qlink systems and get pulled pretty deep into the controls side. I won't be installing or maintaining these but want to understand them as much as I can.
My interest is in any issues or problems, and their solutions. For example I understand that the AFCI tripping issue with many systems does not occur with ecosystem, which is good. I also understand that power failure and transition to a gen-set can cause lights to come on and stay on, which I want to understand better.
Questions:
What do you like the least?
What is at the top of the list Lutron should fix?
How good is the dimming performance at the bottom of the range, in the 0 to 5% zone?
Are some engines better than others?
Flicker? Popcorning?
Failure rate of the drivers?

Those kinds of questions.

Thanks for you reply,

Brian

[mcignarella]

These will very nice residential projects in the 12k to 50k sf range mostly in the western US but some scattered around the states and in Seoul, and one in Jakarta.
Understood same here except we stay in the USA

Okay I was asking to make sure they are not commercial projects because there may be other Lutron systems to look at if they were.

I'm the lighting designer but used to design and program Vantage Qlink systems and get pulled deep into the controls side. I won't be installing or maintaining these but want to understand them as much as I can.

Understood learning and understanding the system is key to design for sure.


My interest is in any issues or problems, and their solutions. For example, I understand that the AFCI tripping issue with many systems does not occur with ecosystem, which is good.

That is somewhat true but it’s not because it is ECO it is because of the design similar to DALI. The dimming is done within the driver its self not thru an RPM or local control.


I also understand that power failure and transition to a gen-set can cause lights to come on and stay on, which I want to understand better.

I use Lutron ECO a lot and have yet to run into this issue. I would venture to guess this is not related to it being ECO but a different issue in the design and I believe that could be resolved either by testing or programing

Questions:
What do you like the least?

Availability of fixtures with Lutron Eco Drivers. Almost all High-End Fixture Manufactures offer Lutron ECO driver. However, there are some manufacturers who don’t and wont. When that happens I usually experiment on my own and have our shop replaces the drivers on the fixtures ourselves. Voiding warranty is always fun on a 1000.00 recessed light.

In programing, you are handling each driver instead of a zone gets a little cumbersome but once you learn it the flexibility is worth the little extra time.

Most installers don’t understand how it works and the pre-wire confuses them.



What is at the top of the list Lutron should fix?

They need to offer a wireless Power Pac for eco


How good is the dimming performance at the bottom of the range, in the 0 to 5% zone?
Are some engines better than others?

If you use a Lutron HiLume driver and depending on Light down to 1% however If you use a Lutron HiLume Fade to Black driver then it really does just Fade to 0 I use them and they work remarkably

I find that the Lutron drivers do work great but for example when using Osram LED tape they offer some stuff the dims really well. It really is trial and error with fixtures.


Flicker? Popcorning?
I have yet to have any issue but I do a lot of testing prior to installation with fixtures and drivers

Failure rate of the drivers?
I haven’t had any yet