Smart Lighting Installation
Lutron Caseta, RadioRA, and keypad-based smart lighting across every room — dimmers, scenes, motion sensors, motorized shades, and scheduled automations tied to time of day, sunset, and occupancy.
Lighting Scenes, Dimmers, Keypads & Shade Control
Smart lighting is the highest-impact smart-home upgrade in most Bergen County homes — it makes lights work the way you actually live. We install Lutron Caseta (simple), RadioRA 3 (premium), keypad-based systems, and other reliable retrofit and control platforms with scenes, motion, and integration to shades and thermostats. We recommend the system based on home layout, wiring condition, budget, and how many rooms need control. Done properly, switches look cleaner than traditional, not more cluttered.
- Lutron Caseta, RadioRA 3, and Vantage systems
- Wireless dimmers, keypads, and pico remotes
- Motion and occupancy sensors
- Scene control (Welcome, Movie, Goodnight)
- Motorized shade integration
- Voice and app control (Alexa, Google, Siri)
Serving Bergen County homeowners across Englewood, Tenafly, Fort Lee, Ridgewood, Paramus, Teaneck, Hackensack, Closter, Fair Lawn, and Bergenfield — plus every town in between.
Smart Lighting in Practice
Smart lighting becomes useful when scenes match the way you actually live in the house.
- Goodnight scene shuts down main living areas in one tap.
- Welcome scene brings up entry, hallway, and kitchen lights when you arrive.
- Movie scene dims sconces and lowers shades for the media room.
- Vacation schedule creates an occupancy simulation while you’re away.
- Motion sensors handle laundry rooms, closets, hallways, garages, and mudrooms.
- Keypads reduce wall clutter in kitchens, great rooms, and primary suites.
Smart Lighting Guides
Decisions that determine whether the project lasts and feels right.
Platform Selection
- Lutron (Caseta, RadioRA) is the reliability benchmark and plays with every ecosystem; Hue leads for color; Control4 and KNX serve whole-house integration projects.
- The platform decision is a ten-year commitment — switches, keypads, and habits all build on it, so it gets made before the first dimmer is bought.
- Mixed-platform houses become app-juggling houses; one platform, extended deliberately, stays livable.
- Platform choice also decides the dimming quality ceiling — flicker-free low-end dimming is where cheap systems show themselves.
- Local-processing platforms keep scenes running through internet outages — the reliability line worth asking about.
Planning a project like this? Get an estimate.
Switch & Dimmer Strategy
- Smart switches control the fixture for everyone — guests, kids, the wall-switch reflex — and never go offline because someone flipped the switch.
- Smart bulbs earn their place for color-tuning in lamps and fixtures where the switch stays on.
- The hybrid rule: switches for the architecture, bulbs for the accents — and never both fighting over one circuit.
- Keypads replace banks of switches at main entries — five circuits, one clean plate, labeled scenes.
- Retrofit dimmers preserve existing fixtures — smart control doesn't require new cans.
Planning a project like this? Get an estimate.
Scenes & Schedules
- Lead times depend on crew scheduling, material availability, weather, and inspection turnaround.
- Most projects sequence: demo (1–3 days), rough trades (3–7 days), inspections, rebuild + finish (2–6 weeks depending on scope).
- Cabinet, custom-stone, and specialty finish lead times can exceed 8 weeks — order timing locked at contract.
- Scenes map to how evenings actually run — cooking, dinner, movie, goodnight — not to individual fixtures.
- Vacation mode replays real usage patterns; the lived-in look beats a timer's mechanical schedule.
Planning a project like this? Get an estimate.
Neutral Wire & Load Compatibility
- Most smart switches need a neutral; older switch boxes without one need a rewire or a different device strategy.
- LED dimmer compatibility and minimum-load issues cause flicker when ignored — we match drivers to bulbs before install day.
- Licensed electricians handle multi-way conversions and panel-side work when circuits change.
- Box fill and ganged-dimmer heat derating are the physical constraints electricians check before the order is placed.
- ELV and MLV fixture loads need matching dimmer types — mismatches buzz, flicker, and die early.
Planning a project like this? Get an estimate.
Outdoor & Landscape
- Path, step, and uplighting run on weather-rated smart controls with sunset-to-sunrise automation that never needs remembering.
- Scene control ties landscape lighting to the indoor system — one goodnight command darkens the property.
- Dock, pool, and gathering-zone lighting get their own zones; the yard has rooms too.
- Astronomic clock control follows actual sunset year-round — no seasonal reprogramming.
- Warm-dim exterior scenes handle late evenings; full brightness stays one tap away for arrivals and deliveries.
Planning a project like this? Get an estimate.
Cost & Timeline Guide
- Device count and whether you rewire or use retrofit controls set cost more than app branding.
- Multi-way circuits, dimmer compatibility, and panel capacity show up after the first walk-through.
- Electrical permit when circuits change; install can be days to a couple of weeks by house size.
- Room-by-room rollouts work: start where evenings happen, extend the platform outward as budget allows.
- Keypads and multi-way rework carry the labor cost; single-switch swaps are quick wins electricians batch.
Planning a project like this? Get an estimate.
Your Smart Lighting Installation Process
Consultation
We walk the home, review existing switch locations and lighting loads, discuss scenes you actually want, and confirm whether the house needs a simple retrofit or a rewired system.
Scope & materials
We finalize system (Caseta vs RadioRA vs keypad-based), switch-by-switch device list, keypad engraving, scene programming, and integration with shades, audio, thermostats.
Build
Crew installs switches, keypads, hub, sensors, and any new wiring required; programs scenes and schedules; trains household on use.
Final walkthrough
Walkthrough of every scene with the family, fine-tune dim levels and schedules, handoff documentation.
Frequently Asked Questions
For 2026 in Bergen County, Caseta retrofits (10-20 dimmers + pico remotes) run $2,500–$7,000 installed. RadioRA 3 whole-home systems with keypads, sensors, and shade integration run $15,000–$60,000+. Pricing and timelines are planning ranges.
Caseta is wireless, retrofit-friendly, and handles ~50 devices — best for most Bergen County homes. RadioRA 3 scales to whole-home with engraved keypads, sensors, and integrations — best for new builds and premium retrofits. Vantage/Crestron for ultra-high-end custom.
Caseta dimmers work in most existing switch boxes without rewiring. Keypad systems sometimes require new low-voltage runs. We confirm during the walkthrough.
Caseta retrofit: 1–3 days. RadioRA keypad system: 5–10 days including programming. Whole-home ultra-premium systems: 2–4 weeks.
Yes. Bergen Restoration is a registered New Jersey Home Improvement Contractor (NJHIC# 13VH08865500) with commercial general liability and workers' compensation coverage. Documentation is available on request, and homeowners should verify credentials before hiring any contractor.
Switches, almost always — they keep every wall control working normally for guests, survive bulb swaps, and scale across the house. Bulbs make sense for lamps and rentals.
A scene sets several rooms with one press — 'evening' warms and dims the first floor, 'goodnight' shuts everything down. Used daily they're the whole point; the gimmick is color-cycling you'll never touch.
Quality smart dimmers pair with compatible LEDs without flicker — mismatched pairs are where buzzing and shimmer come from. We spec both sides so they behave.
Yes — porch, landscape, and security lighting on schedules and motion triggers, dawn-dusk aware. Outside lights that manage themselves are the feature owners say they'd never give back.
Every switch keeps working as a normal switch — that's non-negotiable in our installs. Automation is a layer on top of wiring done right, never a dependency.
Retrofit smart switches need a neutral in the box, which most Bergen County homes past the 1980s have; older boxes have options too. During a renovation is the cheapest moment to modernize the boxes properly.
Part of our Smart Home Installation service family.
Get Your Estimate
Reach us by phone or email and tell us about your smart lighting project. We’ll follow up with the next best step for your home.
Commercial general liability and workers’ compensation coverage. Documentation available on request.
Let's Talk About Your Project
Tell us what you have in mind — we'll follow up with a plan.