Your Lutron installer is gone.
HomeWorks or RadioRA, and the company that programmed it has closed, retired or stopped answering. The lights still work — until a keypad needs changing. Lutron dealer since 1999. We take these over.
Programming is priced per item from $49, and there is no charge for asking whether something is possible.
Why a Lutron system is harder to hand over
Lighting control is unusually dependent on the person who programmed it. The processor holds a database describing every load, keypad button, scene and timeclock event in the building — and unlike a plug-in device, none of it is guessable from the outside. A keypad button does what the database says it does, and nothing else.
That is why so many owners find that nobody will touch their system. Picking up an unfamiliar Lutron database means reading somebody else's work carefully before changing one line of it, and that is unpaid time most companies would rather spend on a new installation.
Reading other people's Lutron databases is a large part of what we do. It is the oldest skill in this company.
What we do, and where it stands
Read and document what you have
We read what your processor reports about itself (its rooms, loads, keypads and what each button does) and give you a plain list. On HomeWorks QS we also back the programming up twice and check both copies against the system. Most owners have never been given this, and it is the thing that makes every later decision cheap.
Reprogram keypads and scenes
Re-label a button, change what a scene does, fix the one that has been wrong since the day it was commissioned. Priced per item from $49. We quote it today; making the change from here is the last piece we are finishing, and nothing is charged until it can run.
Fix timeclocks and astronomic events
Lights coming on at the wrong hour after a time change, or a schedule nobody can find. Usually a timeclock event written years ago and never revisited.
Reconnect the app and integrations
App access that stopped working, or a link to a Control4 or AV system that broke when something else on the network changed.
What we'll tell you up front
We need a way to reach the processor
No connection, no remote work — by anyone, not just us. Our free Ixome Connection app runs on a Windows computer in your home that stays on, on the same network as the processor. It reads the system, and on HomeWorks QS it takes the backup we make before any change; Windows asks you before anything is installed. On a current system (HomeWorks QSX, RadioRA 3) you can also share it to us from your own Lutron app — Settings, Help, Remote Assistance from Installer — and where it asks for the installer's email, type vince@smarthometheaters.com. Those two keep their programming in Lutron's cloud, and we have not built the way to back that up yet, so we can price that work but not start it. If your house genuinely cannot support any of this, we will say so instead of taking your money.
Some Lutron work needs hands in the room
Replacing a dead dimmer, re-engraving keypads, anything in the panel. We can plan it, price it and program around it, but we will not pretend a physical device can be swapped over the internet.
Very old processors have limits
Some early generations cannot do everything a current one can, and no amount of programming changes that. We will tell you where your ceiling is and what moving past it would actually buy you.
Your database is yours
Any copy we take is yours, and we hand it over whenever you ask. If you later find a local dealer you like, you go with the file in your hand — which is deliberately the opposite of how most people end up on this page.
What Lutron owners ask
My Lutron dealer is out of business. Can anyone else program my system?+
Yes. The database on your processor is readable by any Lutron dealer with proper access — it is not locked to the company that wrote it. The reason people struggle to find help is that reading somebody else's programming is unpaid, careful work that most installers would rather not take on. It is a large part of what we do.
Do you work on HomeWorks and RadioRA both?+
We read and price HomeWorks QS and QSX and RadioRA 2 and RA3. HomeWorks QS is the one we can back up today. Which generation you have changes what is possible and what it costs, so the model number is the first thing we ask for.
Can a keypad be reprogrammed without anyone coming out?+
The programming, yes: it is a change to the database, not the wall, so nobody needs to be in the room. We quote it today; making the change from here is the last piece we are finishing. If the button also needs different words on it, the engraved insert is a physical part and has to be ordered and fitted.
My lights come on at the wrong time and I cannot find the setting.+
That is almost always a timeclock event in the database rather than anything you can reach from a wall or an app. It was written when the system was commissioned and never revisited. Finding and fixing it is ordinary programming work.
Is my Lutron system too old to be worth keeping?+
Usually not. Lutron hardware is unusually long-lived, and a system that feels dated is often just programmed the way somebody wanted it a decade ago. We would rather re-program what you own than sell you a panel you do not need.
Do you have to become my dealer?+
For most programming work, no. Some manufacturer-side operations do need us listed, and when a job needs that we tell you before you spend anything and it is your decision.
How long have you actually been doing Lutron?+
Since 1999. Lutron is where this company started, and it is the platform behind most of the reason we can pick up other people's systems at all.
What does it cost?+
Programming is priced per item from $49, and you see an itemized quote before anything runs. On a working system we can reach, software work is charged only when it succeeds. For Lutron, the change itself is not switched on yet, so nothing is charged until it is. There is no charge for asking whether something is possible.
Tell us what your lights stopped doing.
Processor model, roughly when it was installed, and what you need changed. You'll get an itemized quote with real prices — and an honest answer about what needs somebody standing in the room.
Control4 as well as Lutron? · Have us watch your Lutron processor every night