Lutron is the backbone of most of the lighting and shading systems we install. It is reliable, it looks right on the wall and it lasts. What it does not have on its own is a voice that understands how people actually talk.
That is where Josh.ai comes in. Josh sits on top of a Lutron system and turns it into something you can speak to naturally, while keeping the keypads, schedules and scenes that make Lutron so dependable. Here is what that looks like in a real home and how we put it together.
Why pair Josh with Lutron
Lutron handles the hard part: dimming, shade motors, timeclocks, occupancy sensors and keypads that will still work in twenty years. Josh adds the layer people interact with most:
- Natural voice. "Bring the kitchen down a bit and open the shades halfway" works as one sentence.
- Room awareness. A Josh microphone knows which room it is in, so "lights off" affects only that room.
- One interface for everything. The same Josh app and touchscreens control lighting and shades alongside climate, music, video and cameras.
- Scenes you can describe. Ask for the lights to match a sunset or a cozy evening, and Josh chooses the levels and color temperature for you.
Clients often tell us the biggest change is that people who never touched the keypads start using the system, because asking is easier than remembering which button does what.
Keypads keep working, and get better
A common worry is that adding voice means losing buttons. It doesn't. Every Lutron keypad keeps doing exactly what it did, and we often program keypad buttons and voice requests to trigger the same scenes, so the house behaves consistently no matter how you ask.
Lutron and Josh have also brought the two together in a single keypad: physical buttons for the scenes you use every day, with Josh voice built into the same spot on the wall. For clients who want the cleanest walls possible, that means one device instead of two, without giving anything up.
Shades by voice
Shades are where voice control earns its place fastest. Nobody wants to walk to a keypad to drop a single shade by a third.
With Josh you can say:
- "Lower the shades in here halfway."
- "Close the west-facing shades, it's bright."
- "Open everything on the first floor."
Because we name every shade group during programming, Josh knows that "the west shades" means the three in the great room and the two in the dining room, not every shade in the house.
Color and color temperature
If your fixtures support tunable white or full color, Josh can describe and adjust them for you. Ask for warmer light in the evening, a brighter cooler setting for cleaning up, or a palette that matches a mood. Behind the scenes, Josh translates the description into levels Lutron can execute.
We usually pair this with a schedule: cooler, brighter light during the day and warmer light after sunset, with voice available to override it whenever you like.
Which Lutron systems work
Josh integrates with the Lutron systems we install most, including HomeWorks QS and RadioRA 3. For older Lutron installations, compatibility depends on the processor and firmware, so we confirm it during the walk-through before quoting anything.
If you have Lutron Caséta on its own, we will talk through whether adding Josh makes sense or whether the home would be better served by a larger lighting system first.
How we set it up
- Walk-through. We map every room, how it is used and which lights and shades belong together.
- Lutron programming. Scenes, keypads, timeclocks and shade presets are set up first, because they are the foundation.
- Josh programming. Rooms, devices and scenes get the names your household actually uses, so requests work immediately.
- Microphones and screens. We choose Josh Nano for rooms where technology should disappear, Josh Micro where a small visible device is fine, and Josh Touchscreens in the main living spaces.
- Hand-off. We show everyone how to use it, then refine names and scenes over the first few weeks as routines settle.
Adding Josh to an existing Lutron system
You do not need to start from scratch. If your home already has a Lutron HomeWorks or RadioRA 3 system, Josh can usually be added on top of it. In most cases that means installing Josh hardware, connecting it to your existing Lutron processor and programming the rooms and scenes, without rewiring the lighting.
The result
Lutron makes the lighting and shades excellent. Josh makes them effortless to use. Together, every person in the house can control any room by asking, while the keypads and schedules keep everything running quietly in the background.
We design and program both as a Lutron dealer and a Josh Authorized Silver Dealer. Learn more about our Lutron lighting work, see how we install Josh.ai, or book a free consultation.