Programming scenes with Control4 and Lutron shades
by TechSavvyHomeowner• 7 replies• 22002 views
Hey everyone, I'm working on setting up some automated scenes in my home that combine Control4 lighting control with my Lutron Palladiom shades. I've got a Control4 EA-5 controller and about 12 Palladiom wired shades throughout the main living areas.
My goal is to create a "Movie Time" scene that dims the lights to 20%, closes all the shades in the media room completely, and maybe even triggers my Sonos to start playing. I also want a "Good Morning" scene that opens the bedroom shades gradually over 15 minutes while slowly bringing up the lights.
The integration between Control4 and the Lutron system is already working - I can control individual shades from the Control4 app. But I'm struggling with the programming side of creating these complex scenes with timed shade movements.
Specifically, I have a few questions:
1. Is there a way to program gradual shade opening over a set time period, or do shades just go to a position at one speed?
2. How do you handle the delay between sending commands to multiple shades so they don't all try to move at once?
3. Any tips for triggering scenes based on sunrise/sunset times that adjust throughout the year?
My dealer set up the basic integration but charges $150/hour for programming and I'd like to understand more about what's possible before I bring them back. Thanks in advance!
Replies
PalladiomOwner26210 hours ago
I have a similar setup and went through this exact process last year. For the gradual morning wake-up, what I did was create a macro that sends the shades to 25% open, waits 5 minutes, then 50%, waits 5 more minutes, etc. It's not perfectly smooth but it works well enough. The Palladiom shades themselves don't support variable speed control - they just go to the position you tell them at their standard speed.
For staggering multiple shades, I add 2-second delays between each shade command in the programming. This prevents overwhelming the Lutron processor and also looks more intentional, like a wave effect across the room. Your dealer should be able to set this up pretty quickly if you explain exactly what you want.
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Control4Enthusiast26234 hours ago
Good news - Control4 has excellent astronomical clock integration built in. You can set triggers based on sunrise/sunset with offsets (like 30 minutes before sunset). For the gradual shade movement, that's trickier since Palladiom shades move at a fixed speed - you'd need to program intermediate positions with delays between them.
LutronFanatic25898 hours ago
Just a heads up - make sure your Control4 is talking to the Lutron system via the proper integration protocol. If it's using the Lutron Connect Bridge, you'll have more limitations than if it's direct IP control to a RadioRA 3 or HomeWorks processor.
TechSavvyHomeowner25658 hours ago
Thanks all! @PalladiomOwner that macro approach makes sense. I didn't realize the shades couldn't do variable speeds natively. @LutronFanatic - I believe it's going through a HomeWorks QSX processor, so hopefully that gives me full control?
HighEndIntegrator25202 hours ago
QSX is perfect for this. You actually have two options: program the scenes in HomeWorks itself and just trigger them from Control4, or program everything in Control4. I usually recommend the former for shade-heavy scenes because the QSX handles the timing more reliably. Then Control4 just sends a single "activate scene" command.
AutomationPro202025130 hours ago
One thing to add - for your Movie Time scene, consider adding a 1-2 second delay after the shades start closing before dimming the lights. Looks way more polished than everything happening simultaneously.
SmartShadeMaster25010 hours ago
Agree with the staged timing approach. Also, don't forget you can use the shade's preset positions (like favorite settings) programmed directly into the Palladiom system. Sometimes that's cleaner than sending specific percentage values from Control4 every time.
