Lighting control
that replaces the switch bank

What does lighting control change?

The switch bank goes, every circuit dims, and the lights start responding to the rest of the house. A single engraved keypad by the door replaces three or four switches: "Cook", "Dine", "Entertain", "Off". Each button sets several circuits to levels you chose during the walkthrough. Lights follow schedules and the sun, so the porch and landscape come on at sunset and the hall drops to 5 percent after 10 p.m.

They also answer other systems. An Ajax alarm brings every exterior light to full, a door opening after dark lights the entry, and "Away" moves lights through the evening so the house looks occupied. A smart bulb from the store responds to an app; lighting control responds to the house. It is one of the six systems on the residential hub and shares a controller with shades, audio and security.

Control4 or Lutron?

Control4 when lighting is part of a whole-home system, Lutron when lighting is the project. Control4 dimmers and Lux keypads sit on the same controller as shades, audio and the alarm, so one scene can touch all of them. Lux keypads come in metal faceplate finishes with backlit, laser-engraved buttons, so a guest can read "Movie" in the dark. Lutron RadioRA 3 and Caseta are lighting systems first, with dependable dimmers and a Control4 driver when you want them inside the larger system later.

Both platforms use adaptive phase dimmers that replace the switches in your wall and drive LED, incandescent, halogen and low-voltage loads up to 600 W per dimmer. For a room or two without a controller, Ajax LightSwitch is a wireless touch switch on the same Jeweller radio as the alarm, in eight colors, that ties lighting to arming with no new wire. We are a Control4 Authorized Dealer, listed on Control4's integrator map, and the platform detail is on the Control4 page.

What does circadian lighting do?

It shifts the color of the light through the day so a room reads as morning at 7 a.m. and as evening at 9 p.m. Tunable fixtures move from about 2700 K at breakfast to 5000 K at midday and down to 2200 K after dinner, on a schedule tied to sunrise and sunset that runs without anyone touching a switch.

We program it into the primary suite, the kitchen and the home office, where you spend the most waking hours, and leave accent circuits static. The long version is in circadian lighting explained, and the fixture side is in Control4 lighting control with Colorbeam.

Does lighting control need new wiring?

Usually not. Dimmers use the line-voltage wiring already in the wall, and a keypad takes over an existing switch box. Two situations call for cable. Centralized lighting, for new construction and large remodels, moves every dimmer to a panel in the mechanical room and leaves the wall boxes holding low-voltage keypads, which frees the interior designer from gang-box clutter. Landscape and eave lighting needs a low-voltage run to the transformer and a relay the controller can see, which is covered on outdoor living. Everything else, including Ajax LightSwitch and the Control4 wireless line, retrofits in a day per floor.

A new build has a third option: PoE lighting, where every fixture runs from the network rack over Cat6 and there is no 120-volt wiring at the fixture. It is covered in whole-home PoE lighting.

What drives the cost?

Circuit count, keypad count, fixture type and whether dimming is centralized. A main floor with twelve circuits, three keypads and a touch screen is a different job from a whole house with a lighting panel and tunable fixtures in every room. As of September 2026, Ajax LightSwitch from about $99 and Control4 Lux keypads from about $200 for the device alone; dimmers, installation and programming are quoted per room, and every proposal is a fixed price before work begins.

Adding lighting to a house that already has a Control4 controller costs less than starting from zero, because the controller and network are paid for. Ranges for whole-home projects are on smart home installation cost, and the instant quote gives you a number in a few minutes.

How does the installation go?

Walk-through, fixed proposal, install, programming, then a walkthrough with you at the keypads. On the walk-through we map every circuit, decide where each keypad belongs and which scenes fit your routine. Our own team swaps the dimmers, mounts the keypads, engraves the buttons and programs each scene, then walks the house with you after dark until the levels feel right. You get a 90-day workmanship warranty, support at published rates, and the optional CURATOR remote care plan, which covers remote fixes without a visit, with small scene tweaks on Plus and Complete.

Try the outdoor lighting visualizer

Upload a photo of your house and preview permanent roofline lighting on it before you book. The outdoor lighting visualizer runs in the browser and takes about a minute.

Where do we install lighting control?

South King County and Pierce County, from 415 Railroad Ave S in Kent: Kent, Renton, Tukwila, Federal Way, Auburn, Covington and Maple Valley, Tacoma, Puyallup, Sumner, Bonney Lake, Tehaleh, University Place and Gig Harbor. Olympic Peninsula by appointment. Rivas Group, LLC dba Rivas Technology Group holds WA electrical contractor license RIVASGL799DR, active, bonded and insured1, is BBB accredited with an A+ rating, and is rated 5.0 from 49 Google reviews. Lighting is one part of smart home automation; the security hub covers the alarm the lights respond to.