Lutron Installer in London
RadioRA 3 · HomeWorks QSX · RA2 Select
Choosing a Lutron Installer in London
Lutron is the most specified lighting control brand in high-end London property, which means there are a great many people who will tell you they install it. Far fewer can actually programme it. The hardware is genuinely straightforward to wire; the difference between a Lutron system that feels magical and one that quietly annoys you for fifteen years sits almost entirely in the commissioning. Two installers can fit identical equipment in the same house and hand over systems that behave completely differently, because one spent two days on a circuit schedule and the other spent two hours in the software before the decorators arrived.
We have been a Lutron dealer since 2014 and now hold Platinum Partner status, the highest tier in the UK residential programme. That is not a marketing badge: it is what gives us access to the Palladiom keypad range and bespoke finishes, priority technical escalation with Lutron UK, and the ability to register your system for full manufacturer warranty. It also means we programme HomeWorks QSX in-house and hold the software licences to maintain it. When we hand over a system, the client is registered as the site owner with us as the installing partner, so the configuration file exists in two places rather than one bloke's laptop.
Most of what we do is not new build. Roughly two-thirds of our Lutron work is retrofit into Kensington and Chelsea townhouses, Mayfair apartments and period villas across Hampstead, where the priority is doing a great deal without opening any walls. RadioRA 3 keypads are battery powered, so a control point can go anywhere you want one. Dimmers fit existing back boxes. The result is whole-home scene control in a Grade II listed drawing room with no plasterwork disturbed and nothing to reverse if you ever sell. We also install wired HomeWorks QSX panels in new builds and major renovations across St Albans, Weybridge and the Cotswolds, where a proper wired backbone is the right long-term answer.
Everything you need is on this page: what the three Lutron tiers actually cost, what an installation involves stage by stage, the credentials to check before you sign, and how we programme and support the finished system. If you are still deciding whether Lutron is the right platform at all, start from our lighting control systems overview, which puts Lutron alongside Rako and the other platforms we install.
Still the Standard
Lutron invented the solid-state dimmer in 1961 and has spent the sixty years since refining the one thing that matters most: the quality of the dimming itself. A Lutron dimmer does not buzz, does not flicker at 2%, and does not pop when you nudge it off the bottom. It fades smoothly from full to black, which sounds like a small thing until you live with a system that does not. That matters in a London property because of the variety of loads you end up controlling — warm-dim LEDs in the drawing room, halogen in a listed chandelier, LED tape under the kitchen island and a dimmable lamp circuit on the consoles. Lutron commissions every circuit individually, so each one performs properly rather than being averaged into mediocrity.
Keypads are where clients actually meet the system, and Lutron is still the only manufacturer who treats them as furniture. The Palladiom range is machined from solid metal with glass or metal faceplates, engraved to your interior designer's typeface, available from matte white through antique bronze to bespoke colour matching. SeeTouch keypads in the RA3 range offer a cleaner, more architectural face for contemporary interiors. In Mayfair and Belgravia we routinely engrave scene names in the same face as the joinery, so nothing on the wall looks like it arrived from an electronics shop.
The other half of the value is shading and integration. Sivoia and Palladiom shades and curtain tracks live on the same Clear Connect network as the lighting, so one button can bring the blinds down, dim the room and start the evening scene in a single action. Beyond that, a properly programmed system talks to the rest of the house: arm the alarm and lights drop to a low pathway, start the projector and the room dims to 5% with the shades closed. Our shading systems page covers the blind hardware side.
Which Lutron System We Install
Three tiers, one platform. The right answer depends on whether you are retrofitting a flat or designing a wired backbone into a build.
RadioRA 3
Most specifiedOur default for London houses and flats. Clear Connect Type A wireless, around 200 devices, battery-powered keypads that go anywhere, and full integration with Sivoia shading on the same network. It is a retrofit-friendly system that still programmes deeply, and it is the right answer for the majority of four to six bedroom properties. Commissioning is done in Lutron Designer from a laptop, with a processor on the network and a repeater where signal demands it. Typical full-house installation: three to five days on site plus two days of programming.
HomeWorks QSX
Wired flagshipThe wired system, and the one that wants to be designed into a build rather than added afterwards. Panels sit in a plant room, devices run on a dedicated bus, and the platform scales to thousands of devices across multiple buildings. Critically for designers, QSX is the only route to the full Palladiom keypad range: machined metal, glass faceplates, engraved to your interior designer's typeface, finished to a sample. We programme QSX in-house, and we are often brought onto a project by the interior designer or architect precisely because the previous electrician could install the hardware but not commission it properly.
RA2 Select
Flats & single floorsThe entry point, and genuinely good rather than a compromise. Up to 99 devices on a single repeater, app-led control, wireless keypads and a simple programming model. For a lateral apartment in Belgravia or a single floor of a townhouse, it delivers scene control and shading without the cost of a full RA3 deployment. Fitted in a day for a typical four-circuit room, or two to three days for a whole flat.
What a Lutron Install Involves
Five stages, in this order, every time. Skipping any one of them is how a five-figure system ends up with a keypad in the wrong place.
Survey and load audit
We walk the property room by room, record every circuit, and test what is actually on each one. LED tape, dimmable drivers, halogen chandeliers and metal-halide garden fittings all need different dimming profiles, and the survey is where we find the ones that will cause trouble later.
Circuit schedule and specification
You get a written schedule listing each circuit, the dimmer type that suits it, the keypad positions, and the scenes you want. This is the document your electrician, joiner and interior designer work from, and it is what stops keypads ending up in the wrong place on the wall.
First fix and wiring
Where a wired HomeWorks backbone is being installed, this happens alongside the building works: panels positioned, cabling pulled, keypad back boxes set at the right heights. On wireless RA3 and RA2 Select retrofits there is often no first fix at all, which is why period properties can be upgraded without opening a single wall.
Commissioning in Lutron Designer
The part most installers rush. Circuits are assigned, minimum and maximum trim levels set for each load, fade rates tuned per room, keypads mapped and engraved, and scenes built and walked through. We adjust levels in the room with the actual furniture in place, because a drawing-room scene that reads 40% on paper can look wrong once the curtains are up.
Handover and documentation
We hand over a labelled keypad guide, a circuit schedule and login details for the app, then walk you through the system in the house rather than emailing a PDF. Your installer profile, warranty registration and the programme file stay with our office, so if you sell the property or extend the system in three years, the original configuration is still there.
Projects We Have Programmed
What to Ask Any Lutron Installer
Four questions that separate a genuine Lutron partner from a general electrician who has bought a dimmer.
Platinum Partner status
The top tier of Lutron's UK residential programme. It unlocks Palladiom keypads and bespoke finishes, priority technical escalation with Lutron UK, and full manufacturer warranty registration.
In-house programmers
We programme HomeWorks QSX ourselves rather than subcontracting it. Programming is the difference between a system that works and a system that feels effortless.
18th Edition electricians
Our team holds current 18th Edition wiring regulations and Part P competence, so the electrical side of the install is signed off properly rather than handed to a third party.
Aftercare that answers
Lutron systems rarely fail, but when a keypad goes dark or a processor needs replacing, you want the firm that installed it. We hold spares and respond directly.
One warning worth passing on. A surprising number of Lutron systems we are asked to fix were installed by a general electrician on a lowest-quote basis and never registered with Lutron at all. There is no warranty, no software access and often no circuit schedule, so the client is stuck with a system that half works. If you are comparing quotes, ask each installer for their dealer tier, whether they programme in-house, and who will hold the programme file. Those three answers tell you far more than the price.
Where We Install
Lutron Installer FAQs
How much does a Lutron installer cost in the UK?
Lutron installation is usually quoted as a single fixed price for supply, installation and programming rather than a day rate, because the commissioning is the part that genuinely determines whether the system works. As a guide, a single-room RA2 Select installation with four circuits and a keypad lands around £2,000 to £3,500 fitted. A whole-house RadioRA 3 system in a four-bedroom home typically runs £9,000 to £20,000, depending on circuit count, keypad specification and whether shading is included. HomeWorks QSX on a larger property starts around £40,000 once wired panels, Palladiom keypads and multi-room programming are accounted for. Labour and programming are itemised separately from hardware on every quote we issue, so you can see what you are paying for.
Do I need a certified Lutron installer, or can any electrician fit it?
Any competent electrician can physically mount a Lutron dimmer, but that is not where the system succeeds or fails. RadioRA 3 and HomeWorks QSX need commissioning in Lutron Designer software by a trained programmer: circuits have to be assigned, dimming curves set per load type, keypads engraved and mapped, and scenes built and tested room by room. HomeWorks QSX software is not publicly licensed at all, so only a dealer can programme it. An unregistered installation also has no manufacturer warranty support, and no route to Lutron technical help when something goes wrong two years later. We are a Lutron Platinum Partner, which is the highest dealer tier in the UK programme.
What is the difference between Lutron RA2 Select and RadioRA 3?
RA2 Select is the entry point into the Lutron ecosystem. It is a wireless, app-led system that supports up to 99 devices on a single repeater, controlled from the Lutron app with simple keypads and Siri, Alexa or Google voice control. RadioRA 3 uses the same Clear Connect Type A wireless technology but adds the SeeTouch and Palladiom keypad ranges, significantly more devices, and much deeper keypad programming. RA2 Select is ideal for a flat or a floor-by-floor retrofit. RadioRA 3 is what we specify for a whole townhouse or family home where keypads, scenes and shading need to work together properly.
Should I choose RadioRA 3 or HomeWorks QSX?
The decision usually comes down to scale, keypad design and whether you want a wired backbone. RadioRA 3 is wireless and brilliantly capable in most homes up to roughly 200 devices. HomeWorks QSX runs on a dedicated wired panel, supports thousands of devices across multiple buildings, and unlocks the Palladiom keypad range with glass, metal and custom finishes. If your project has a plant room, a dedicated lighting panel schedule and a designer insisting on Palladiom, you want QSX. If it does not, RadioRA 3 will do the same job for considerably less.
Can Lutron be installed in a period property without chasing walls?
Yes. Clear Connect wireless dimmers and keypads can be surface-mounted or fitted into existing back boxes, and keypads are battery-powered, so a control point can go anywhere you want one without a single new cable. In listed and conservation-area properties across Kensington, Hampstead and Notting Hill we regularly replace tired dimmer switches with Lutron dimmers wired into the existing circuit, then add wireless keypads beside beds, at doors and on landings. No chasing, no new plasterwork, no heritage consent headaches.
Can Lutron control my blinds and curtains as well as lighting?
Yes, and this is where the system earns its money. Lutron Sivoia and Palladiom shading run on the same Clear Connect network as the lighting, so a single keypad button can raise the blinds, dim the room and start the evening scene at once. We integrate Roman, roller, Venetian and curtain tracks, and align shading groups with the sun path so the house looks after itself through the day. Our shading systems page covers the hardware side in detail.
How long does a Lutron installation take?
A single-room RA2 Select retrofit is usually a one-day job once the hardware is on site. A whole-house RadioRA 3 installation in a four-bedroom property typically takes three to five days of first-fix and fitting, plus a further day or two of programming and commissioning once the decorators are finished. HomeWorks QSX on a large property runs alongside the build: panel installation and wiring happen at first fix, device fitting at second fix, and commissioning after the final clean. We build a programming phase into the schedule after snagging, because scene levels need to be judged under the actual lighting conditions in the finished room.
Can you take over a Lutron system another installer abandoned?
Yes, and this is a surprisingly large part of our work. The most common scenario is a system that was installed but never properly commissioned, so keypads control the wrong circuits, scenes are missing, or dimming steps visibly at low levels. Another is a project where the original installer has stopped trading and the client has no software access. We audit the existing processor and device inventory, register the system with Lutron where possible, and re-programme it from the keypads outward. If the hardware is sound, this is often a fraction of the cost of replacing the system.
Do I need to be a Lutron dealer to buy the equipment?
For HomeWorks QSX, yes: the system is dealer-programmed and the software is not publicly licensed. RA2 Select and RadioRA 3 hardware is available through distribution, but the systems still need commissioning by a Lutron-trained programmer to work well, and warranty support sits with the installing dealer. Vertex AV holds Platinum Partner status, which means access to Palladiom and custom finishes, in-house programming, and warranty registration in your own name.
Which areas do you cover as a Lutron installer?
We install and programme Lutron systems across London and the Home Counties. In London we work throughout Kensington, Chelsea, Mayfair, Belgravia, Knightsbridge, Notting Hill, Hampstead and Canary Wharf. In Hertfordshire we cover St Albans, Harpenden, Radlett, Rickmansworth, Potters Bar and Cuffley. In Surrey we look after Guildford, Weybridge, Cobham, Ascot and the Wentworth Estate. We also take on projects in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Gloucestershire, the Cotswolds and Cheshire. Our workshop and stores are in Watford, which keeps travel time reasonable for most of these areas.
Need a Lutron Installer?
Book a survey. We will audit your circuits, recommend the right tier and quote installation, programming and hardware as separate lines.