Jakelay Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 Wondering if anyone has a general rule of thumb that you use when looking at programming time for C4 keypads and switches. I'm considering just having our installer put in a bunch of them for us and I'm trying to determine if it makes more sense to separate the programming cost out since the quote seems really high with that included. I do realize that you can do A LOT with the keypads so of course I would expect those to be more variable and expensive for the programming but still trying to get an idea about what is usually estimated on those and the dimmers and switches. Even curious about just how much programming to expect for an Aux switch at one end of a 3 way. I know there are LED considerations, setting up the scenes, etc. so of course I'm not expecting it to be free, just wondering how to get a gut feel if it makes more sense to separate out the programming since most of the spots are going to be pretty easy. Mostly we'll be doing lighting scenes without a ton of dimming, a few keypad selections for a video source/lighting for movie time and a music button or two. Even the fan control programming seems very high considering it should be a fairly standard setup (I know - famous last words). Not looking to do anything too fancy on initial setup - probably all the same color LEDs, etc. Basic dimming function (which looks pretty easy to set up in Composer from what I've seen). The only reason we need so many switches is because I want everything to match on the faceplates and we have a bunch of 3 ways that we have to address. Dealer has each dimmer/switch type with the installation cost that was sent to me initially so I know what that breaks down to for the cost for the actual switch with the installation. The programming is by room, not switch, and it looks like they are planning on about 1 hour per switch for programming. That's the part that seems high but I have no reference point so just trying to plan a little. Any input from the experts would be appreciated. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfh Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 Have the dealer install whatever physical switches / keypads you want and ID them to the system but do no programming. Get an HE license and do any of the programming you want yourself. Basic lighting controls are about as easy to do as you can get. On switches in general - when we finished our basement we put in too many. It was wired up as if we had no automation. And now that voice automation is simple to do, I’d probably have even fewer switches and keypads. if I were to do it all over again I would put in mostly Keypad dimmers but significantly fewer physical switches altogether (thinking of them as generally emergency use). With motion detectors and voice automation we rarely use physical switches for lights any more and don’t use keypad keys anywhere as much as we used to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakelay Posted June 25, 2020 Author Share Posted June 25, 2020 Good suggestions - thanks! Unfortunately, if we put switches and keypads in our priority areas, we have a bunch of 3 ways that necessitate replacing those with Aux switches and if we don’t match up the other switches they won’t look right. If we were starting from scratch, easier situation for sure but this is existing construction so it’s ending up a lot pricier than I had hoped. I am going to install some motion detectors though. I’ve been using them with our Hue setup and like the functionality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cshepard Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 2 hours ago, Jakelay said: The only reason we need so many switches is because I want everything to match on the faceplates and we have a bunch of 3 ways that we have to address. Thanks! C4 sells a dumb replacement switch in 10-packs if you just want to make everything look the same but don’t need every switch to be controllable. C4-MSW-10PK-WH, MSRP $60.00 for 10 switches. l3anks, PorterTX and Pounce 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakelay Posted June 25, 2020 Author Share Posted June 25, 2020 40 minutes ago, cshepard said: C4 sells a dumb replacement switch in 10-packs if you just want to make everything look the same but don’t need every switch to be controllable. C4-MSW-10PK-WH, MSRP $60.00 for 10 switches. Wow - that’s interesting! So could those be wired like normal switches/toggles in a 3 way setup? I have a bunch of switches I don’t need to automate at all and this would be a huge money saver in those areas where manual on/off is all I need but want the switches to match in those face plates. This would really keep the costs down for those multi gangs where I really only need a keypad dimmer and non integrated switches on the rest of that gang if I could use these as each end of a 3/4 way. Quick math is thousands since I can think of about 12-14 switches that don’t need to be anything more than regular dumb switches but don’t want to mix match with hardware store switches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cshepard Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 Yes to your first paragraph. With regards to your second paragraph, no, if you want to control a light that is on a 3-way, you need a dimmer or keypad dimmer at the main location, and an aux keypad on the other side. The dumb switches I mentioned are only to keep non-controlled switches looking the same as your other C4 lighting devices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakelay Posted June 25, 2020 Author Share Posted June 25, 2020 Right - sorry, probably worded that incorrectly. I do have a slew of switches that I really don’t need to automate. Just wanted to match for visual aesthetics, but what is frustrating is that it’s super costly to pay for dimmers and switches when they aren’t really needed so this would work really well. We already use Hue (just white lights) in most areas we would convert a lot of those switches to C4 so I know which lights I want to automate now and which ones we will likely not need to control through C4. If we use these mechanical switches now, I can get the look right everywhere and save a bunch on the initial install since I hadn’t planned on lighting at all as it’s quite expensive. Then, if we want to convert some of those later we can do that but at least we’d have matching switches in the meantime, Now I just need to get some new, dimmable LED bulbs to replace all of those Hue zones. . . This was a super helpful tip - really appreciate it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PorterTX Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 On 6/24/2020 at 9:39 PM, cshepard said: C4 sells a dumb replacement switch in 10-packs if you just want to make everything look the same but don’t need every switch to be controllable. C4-MSW-10PK-WH, MSRP $60.00 for 10 switches. Did not know that either! Learn something new everyday.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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