Lighting Upgrades: Quick Questions, Real Answers

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Welcome to Sound Vision's Tech Talks, where we dive into trending topics and expert advice to help you make informed decisions about your home entertainment, automation, and more.
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Whether you're planning a new project or just curious about the possibilities, Tech Talks is your go-to source for staying updated on all things technology.
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Joining me in the podcast studio today, we have our design engineer Eric.
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Hello.
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And our lighting designer, Sydney.
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Hi.
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Welcome, guys.
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So, what's new, guys?
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What's going on in your life?
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Anything new or exciting happening?
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Nick and I just bought a house, so that's so exciting.
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So exciting!
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Congratulations.
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That is huge.
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Thank you.
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It's a big year for you.
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Very engagement.
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Now a new house.
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Yeah, moved here, moved to a new place, started a new job, moved in together, got engaged, bought a house.
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Getting a dog.
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It is the biggest year.
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Record year.
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This is your year.
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Literally.
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How am I supposed to follow that?
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I was gonna say, what about you, Eric?
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My wife and I have been together for 27 years.
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We already have a house.
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We already have two dogs.
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We've been living together for a very long time.
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That wins.
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You had your year.
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Now you're just living it.
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It's not a competition like a dream.
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No.
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I'm also like 30 years older than you.
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This is true.
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This is true.
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All right.
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Let's just do some rapid fire.
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Questions about lighting.
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So finish the sentence.
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Good lighting should make you feel comfortable.
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Agreed.
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I was gonna say comfortable too.
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At ease, relaxed.
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Welcomed.
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Yeah.
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The most underrated room for good lighting is it's not underrated, but the primary bathroom.
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I'm gonna go even smaller than that, and that's the primary closet.
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Ooh.
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Okay.
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That's underrated.
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Mine wasn't underrated.
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Yours was the underrated one.
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Right.
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Nobody thinks about that.
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I mean, if you're picking, this is not really my area of expertise, but if you're picking an outfit and you have terrible lighting, you technically will not know the actual color of your outfit until you get out into better lighting.
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Once you walk outside in the sun, then you're gonna be like, oh my god, who dressed me?
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Are they colorblind?
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It's less enticing if you're standing in your closet with bad lighting.
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Yeah.
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Most walk-in closets have like, you know, a couple of can lights, and it's like that's not appropriate for the number picking clothes.
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Literally, mine.
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Just one center.
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Mine, it's horrible.
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Yeah.
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I love the linear lighting on the shelves.
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Yeah.
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The closet niche kind of say, how you do all those little individual shelves and light that.
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Because every room should feel intentional.
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Yeah.
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Exactly.
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Absolutely.
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The first lighting upgrade, or as of today, the upgrade you'd want to make in your own home.
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Okay, I definitely raise my hand and none of you guys can see that.
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Yes, Sydney.
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Swapping out the recessed down lights to a DMF product instead of your just typical Edison light bulb.
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I'd swap it out to a dimmable bulb.
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I was gonna say warm dim, all that good stuff.
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Warm dim DMF 100%.
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I'm gonna take that just a step farther in my house.
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I would get rid of, and I'm going to explain this.
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I would get rid of all down lighting.
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There would be no can lights.
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And that's within reason.
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There would be some can lights, but they would be washing the wall.
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But I would have no straight down light cans anywhere in my house.
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The whole house can be lit purposely.
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And there's another word in there.
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Not purposely, but purposefully.
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There you go.
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That's the word intentionally.
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With linear lighting, accent lighting, you can light your entire house without having light just beaming down on your face.
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Especially with your glasses.
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You don't want the glare.
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No, it sucks.
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Okay, I agree with that.
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The only reason I said the downlights is the house that we just bought, it has maybe a total of 20 recessed downlight fixtures in the whole house.
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Oh wow.
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There's usually just like one center fixture, and I'm like, well, downlighting has its purpose if it's used correctly.
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I just don't like it.
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And now that I've been working in this business for a very long time, and this is the first company out of seven that I've worked for that is really intentionally designing lighting, I've now realized that I can light my entire house without having a single light in my face.
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For sure.
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Four cans and a fan.
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Classic.
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Yes.
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Shouldn't have known that was coming.
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Four cans and a fan, you know, that's most bedrooms.
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The other thing is there is a purpose to having all your lighting be straight down a hall.
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That's fine.
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But if you go into every room and every single light is symmetrical, it looks cool, but how often are people staring at your ceiling?
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Like I mean mine went down there.
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You have to have task lighting.
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So the one light over the stove should be pushed so it's lighting the stove, not lighting the back of your head.
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So if you see everything symmetrical, it's it was just no one put thought into that.
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That was check check on the build or the electricians.
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Oh, got it.
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Straight line.
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I was gonna say something that I don't see if I walk in the house and I'm like, ooh, definite work to be done is gonna be tape lighting, linear lighting.
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If it doesn't have any of it, I'm like, oh, we miss such a big point here.
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Yes, miss opportunities.
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Well, especially with like toe kick, under cabinet, like just architectural anywhere.
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Like you can literally put linear lighting like anywhere nowadays.
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Yes.
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Okay, is this a red flag or is this no big deal?
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When I turn my lights off, say some of them have dimmability, some lights shut off before others when I dim the room.
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They're not shutting off at the same time.
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Red flag, or is that just part of the core?
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Red flag.
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Red flag.
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We're walking into a house that they want to do lighting in.
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We have not touched the house, so the lighting just is what it is.
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And you walk into a kitchen, let's say, and yeah, you shut that light off, and four of the six cans go down together, the other two don't.
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My first thought is they're different bulbs.
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Somebody replaced the bulbs at some point, did not put any thought into whether they dim, what their color temperature was, any of that stuff.
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And so they look different, they dim at a different rate.
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So that's an easy fix to fix the bulbs, but at that point, we're gonna want to change the fixtures and everything.
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But if there's a control portion of it, even the control portion, you wouldn't get a different dim rate of a different bulb.
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No, let's say you had a kitchen and a dining room right next to each other in a great room scenario.
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Those are two different legs of lighting.
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And so, yes, if the control was off, those would dim at different rates.
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But if there's six cans in a kitchen, they're all one leg of lighting.
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So if one dims differently than the other, it's got nothing to do with the control, and it's got nothing to do with the wiring because they are all wired exactly the same.
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So it has to be the fixture or it has to be the bulb.
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I never even thought about that, but that's so true.
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Like, even I mean, I don't have controllable lighting in my bathroom, but I did replace two of them, and even just the simple flip of a switch two dim a little slower.
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Yeah.
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People replace bulbs, not realizing that not all bulbs are the same.
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It's you know, 300 Kelvin or it's 60 watts versus 70 watts, they're going to be different.
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It's so funny.
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We talk about that all the time here, but like anytime I'm going to replace, say, a bulb at my own home, I go to the store, all of that is out the window.
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It's why is it so stressful when you have to go replace a bulb?
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It is like say that you don't have controlled lighting in your house.
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When you go to a Home Depot or a Lowe's or whatever store you're going to to get light bulbs, it is so confusing.
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Like before I stepped into this role and before I had the knowledge that I have, I was lost in the light bulb aisle.
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I was like, What do you mean?
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What does this number mean?
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I don't know what that does.
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So to a lot of people, it's intimidating to go get a replacement light bulb.
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They just grab the first one they see.
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Well, and it's exploded in the last, you know, five to ten years.
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It used to be, yeah, you just go and you get a bulb.
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And yeah, there'd be different wattage, but most people don't care about that.
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Right.
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But now, again, there's different color temperatures that people don't understand.
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And, you know, it's like this mimics sunlight, or this does what, or whatever the case may be.
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And now you have LEDs versus non-LEDs, and you have dimmable versus non-dimmable.
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And so before there were six choices.
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Now there's 85 choices.
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And it's intimidating.
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Yes.
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And of course, you can also buy all that DIY smart lighting where I can change this with my iPhone or whatever the case may be.
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And it's like, that's all well and good for like a room, but if you're gonna do the whole house, it's just not gonna work.
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I see short circuiting happening.
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Yes.
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We can't wait to hear from you.
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I don't know what two of them actually control.
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Are we saying what we think that they would control or just red flag that they don't know what they do?
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So I guess not as much as red flag.
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Say someone came and they're like, okay, I need to upgrade my lighting.
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These are my switches, but you know, this switch in the kitchen, I don't know what they actually do.
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Not a red flag.
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That is normal.
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Very good.
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I right now have a switch in my house that I have no idea what it does.
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No, mind you, it is a rental house, so I don't care.
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It's never something that I've needed.
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So it's like I tried to find it one time and I was like, don't care.
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Moved on with my life.
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If you have a house that does not have lighting control and engraved keypads, every person on this planet has a switch somewhere in their house that they don't know what it does.
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Yes.
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I was gonna say, if the homeowner doesn't know what that switch does, my two best guesses would be one, an outlet that they don't know it's controlling, or two, a fixture that was never installed but wired for.
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Yes.
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That's a good point.
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The outlet thing.
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Because I feel like that was something growing up, like, oh, if I want to use this room, got to turn on that outlet.
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But I feel like that's been going away.
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Am I it's still there, but you're generally only going to have they're called half-hot outlets.
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And the reason why it's called half-hot is one of them is switched and the other outlet is full power all the time.
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So the thing is you could plug in there but be plugged into the wrong one.
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And that's usually only in living rooms and bedrooms, and that's for lamps.
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And generally, if the electrician is done it correctly, you will notice if you look around at your outlets that they're upside down.
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Yep.
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So there'll be one normal looking outlet and the other one will be mirrored of thought.
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I'm learning new things.
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So if you find something in your kitchen or something like that, that it's not a switched outlet, it's most likely a light that's outside, or exactly what Sydney said, there is supposed to be a chandelier or something, or a pendant that was never installed because they went from four pendants to whatever, you know, or bathroom specifically because you cannot put in the fixture prior to inspection because it will fail because it's electricity around water type situation.
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So they will add the bath chandelier after the house is complete.
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And so if they decide not to do it, yeah, you're gonna have this random switch that goes to nothing.
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Okay.
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Agree or disagree.
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I feel like you cover this, Eric, but uh most standard built new construction homes have too many recess lights.
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Agree.
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I 1000% agree.
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Yes.
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Nothing to the home builders out there, but it's just a check on the checklist.
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Yeah.
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Put recess lighting in the room, boom, done.
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Four cans and a fan, move on.
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Next room.
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Yeah, and need to get this house built.
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Yep, yep.
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By a certain deadline, yeah.
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You have a timeline to stick to, check the box.
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Agree or disagree, warm dim lighting is one of those features you don't appreciate it until you live with it or experience it.
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Agree.
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Agree.
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However, I don't live with it.
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I just work with it every day, and I want it so bad, and I cannot unsee it.
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I agree with that.
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Okay, agree or disagree.
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You can have too much automation on your system.
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True.
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100%, 1000%.
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Million percent.
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Yes.
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Like you don't need to automate your coffee maker in the morning.
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Or you don't need to automate I think people would disagree with that.
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I was gonna say, I disagree.
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I wish.
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I know what you mean.
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I'm not on a regimented schedule every morning.
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I don't want my espresso to brew at 7 a.m.
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every morning.
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My mornings look different.
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I technically could.
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You could.
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I don't, but I could.
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I don't want my toaster on my automation schedule.
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Like there are things just because you can doesn't mean you should.
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Agreed.
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That is a great statement.
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Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
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Think of other things that you can do.
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Less is more.
00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:33.039
Yes.
00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:33.840
Well, okay.
00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:42.799
These you wouldn't automate them, but refrigerators and stoves can be on your system, be on your Wi-Fi.
00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:48.320
And so technically, yes, if you're on your way home, like this would actually work for me.
00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:48.720
Yeah.
00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:50.080
I'm on my way home.
00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:52.399
I know that I have to preheat the oven.
00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:53.679
I'm already running late.
00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:57.200
So by the time I get home, now I gotta wait another 30 minutes for it to preheat.
00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:00.480
I could hit a thing on my phone that says preheat my oven to 400.
00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:03.840
So by the time I got home, it's preheated and I can just throw the thing in the oven.
00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:04.799
Okay, that's fair.
00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:13.279
That's not like an automated, like I have it scheduled every night at you know 4 30 to preheat my oven.
00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:14.799
That's just remote control.
00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:15.360
Yeah.
00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:15.679
Yeah.
00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:18.559
Like control from your phone away from the house.
00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:21.519
But yeah, automation, everybody thinks it's cool.
00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:29.519
Like, okay, yeah, I can come home and I can press this one button, and this radio station will turn on, and this light will turn on, and then the TV will turn on.
00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:33.919
And it's like, okay, do you listen to the same radio station every single day at the same time?
00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:34.799
No, you don't.
00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:36.320
So it's probably not.
00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:43.360
You know, we honestly in our houses, surprisingly, unless the customer wants it, have very little automation.
00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:51.919
There was one button that was called the signature Sydney button when I worked at partner, and it was called the Nightcap button.
00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:54.080
I think I've touched on this before.
00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:57.360
But I'm waiting for the correct project to use it here.
00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:03.039
I'm waiting for like a speakeasy room or like a really cool bar lounge situation.
00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:10.879
But I would put nightcap on and it dimmed the lights, real all recess lighting cut off, and it was just all the accent lighting turned down real dim.
00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:14.320
And then Ella Fitzgerald Radio on Pandora would come on.
00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:21.679
So it wouldn't necessarily be the same song, but same mood, and it would come on, and it was just such a good mood.
00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:22.799
It was such a vibe.
00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:24.080
Oh, I love that.
00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:25.360
Speak easy.
00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:27.679
And again, to be the other side of that.
00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:28.879
That is really cool.
00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:34.320
But again, are you doing the same thing and listening to the same thing every single night?
00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:38.799
So therein lies the problem of automation with something like that.
00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:42.240
That is a great scene, very specific to you.
00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:50.080
And again, very specific to like, okay, maybe I feel like going in there tonight and I want the lights, but I don't want the music.
00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:51.519
So for sure.
00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:59.759
You know, automation, you can get too specific, and you are not going to want to do that exact same thing every single night.
00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:02.720
And so is that button truly necessary?
00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:03.919
To some people, it is.
00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:04.319
Yeah.
00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:14.079
I've had a customer who I come home every day, I turn on ESPN and I turn on this radio station, and I want to hit this button and I want that to happen every single day.
00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:15.359
Okay, cool, man.
00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:16.400
Like perfect.
00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:16.960
We can do it.
00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:19.440
I can 1000% do that.
00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:21.680
And you know that you do it every single day.
00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:23.359
So yeah, I can make that happen.
00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:24.079
For sure.
00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:25.759
I mean, most things are possible here.
00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:26.559
Oh, absolutely.
00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:27.119
Yes.
00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:29.279
Most things are possible.
00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:38.640
But for every client that that button was put in their home or whether it was a hotel situation, it was such a fun party trick for them to show off to their friends.
00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:41.440
And they'd be like, oh my gosh, come over here and watch this.
00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:43.039
And it was really cool to see that.
00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:43.440
Yeah.
00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:51.200
I'm gonna go and go a little uh not personal here, but it we had a customer who had a sexy time button.
00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:54.000
Oh you can I'm not gonna explain it.
00:17:54.079 --> 00:17:56.079
You can imagine what a sexy button.
00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:02.079
No, I want to know what the button does.
00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:03.039
And it was engraved.
00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:04.000
It said sexy time.
00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:05.359
Oh my gosh.
00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:06.960
Well, I'm okay.
00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:08.160
That's awesome.
00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:09.279
That's really funny.
00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:11.039
But I that's lifestyle.
00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:12.960
Yeah, that's lifestyle for you.
00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:20.000
I am waiting so bad for the right client to come in for us to put like some funny name for the bathroom.
00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:21.920
Like, have some fun with it.
00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:23.200
It's not all serious.
00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:26.240
Like, we're not like let's have some fun with the buttons.
00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:27.200
Yeah, I agree.
00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:28.559
Nightcap was a funny one.
00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:29.519
Like, okay, that's cool.
00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:34.720
It's out of the ordinary, but like something funny for like a bathroom, for example.
00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:36.640
It's not a laboratory.
00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:38.720
Like, come on.
00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:40.079
It's not a water closet.
00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:40.720
Like, come on.
00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:41.680
It's the king's three.
00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:43.200
What else do you call it though?
00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:44.720
A bathroom.
00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:47.279
Right, but the water closet within the bathroom.
00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:49.920
There are some choice words I'm going to choose not to say.
00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:50.480
That'd be funny.
00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:52.720
But say would be really funny.
00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:54.559
I'm like, oh, that'd be fun.
00:18:54.799 --> 00:18:56.000
Say it, I can cut it out.
00:18:56.319 --> 00:18:58.160
No, I'm not gonna do it.
00:18:58.240 --> 00:18:58.799
It's gonna be a good thing.
00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:03.440
Water closet has always been a struggle because what else do you call it?
00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:04.079
I know.
00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:10.880
It's formal on the plans, but like, can we come up with a cooler name?
00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:14.319
I can't right now, but the contemplation room.
00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:16.720
Yeah, but that won't fit on a keypad.
00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:18.240
You're talking about my bathroom?
00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:23.359
You never name anything on a keypad, anyways, as far as rooms are concerned.
00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:25.680
It's only what the button does.
00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:30.160
So naming a room something cool, nobody would ever know.
00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:32.240
Bringing sexy back.
00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:34.000
Sexy time makes sense.
00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:35.759
It's a specific mood.
00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:37.680
Oh, that's a mood, all right.
00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:38.079
Yeah.
00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:43.680
We used to have a party button, which we've now renamed Entertain.
00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:59.519
And again, I think the problem with what Sydney is talking about is yeah, that's cool, but people nowadays are always thinking, like, well, when I sell this house, people are not like getting their forever home.
00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:00.000
That's true.
00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:07.759
Like, we literally have people who will go through all the effort to build a home and then they're selling it like six months later, and I'm like, what's exactly right?
00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:10.400
It's personalized until it's not right.
00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:17.279
You know, and so like, well, if I do this, I'm gonna have to change it, or will it affect my resale value if I have all these fun buttons?
00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:18.240
I agree.
00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:19.680
I think that's why you don't see them.
00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:26.559
Yeah, so everyone's very like, let's be vanilla for this purpose.
00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:28.720
Keypad engravings are easy to change.
00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:30.319
I was about to say just some money.
00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:31.839
That's just a button.
00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:34.000
Yeah, you can just slap that out real quick.
00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:37.759
Just like everybody looks at a paint color in a house and goes, that's terrible.
00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:38.720
Yeah, you can paint it.
00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:40.400
Yeah, it's got good bones.
00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:42.000
Come on, we can work with it.
00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:42.720
Right.
00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:45.359
Okay, agree or disagree.
00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:48.799
Most people are living with bad lighting and don't realize it.
00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:50.480
So 100% agree.
00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:51.839
Yes, agreed.
00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:52.480
Agreed.
00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:55.039
I'm gonna call out the retail stores.
00:20:55.279 --> 00:20:56.400
Let's start there.
00:20:56.720 --> 00:20:58.319
Well, not even retail.
00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:07.440
Any storefront you go into, whether you're going in to pick out your cabinetry or your countertops, that's not what they look like in real life.
00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:09.039
Like put it under the sun.
00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:10.400
That's what it looks like.
00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:15.599
When you're under bad lighting and you put it in your house and you're like, well, that's not what it looked like in the store.
00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:18.240
And then you have these unhappy clients.
00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:31.680
Why don't like high-end, and maybe they're starting to do this and I'm not aware, why don't high-end fashion retail stores have good lighting in them?
00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:39.519
Especially with like some of the price tags and the price of the beautiful pieces that have been curated for this store, you would think.
00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:41.759
They have good lighting placement.
00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:43.759
Let's not frown on that.
00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:48.400
They've got good lighting placement, but the light itself is awful.
00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:50.240
Terrible.
00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:53.200
Because they don't have a lighting designer.
00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:54.720
Exactly right.
00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:57.119
I'll go over there and introduce myself.
00:21:57.759 --> 00:21:59.759
Hey, I'm Sydney, lighting designer, and I see.
00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:03.279
And it's all money.
00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:11.359
Like, people don't grasp the concept that, oh, you want me to spend fifty thousand dollars on lighting?
00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:13.119
Like, I just needed to light my house.
00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:14.799
I just need to be able to navigate my house.
00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:16.480
There's so much more to it that.
00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:32.880
Again, the closet, the bathroom, if you're doing your makeup, if you're getting dressed, if it's horrible lighting, to go back to what Sydney said about if you go into one of those big box stores to buy cabinets, go to the paint department and go to their what are those called?
00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:34.559
Samples, the swatches or whatever.
00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:35.440
The paint swatches.
00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:39.359
Notice that those areas have different lighting above them.
00:22:39.519 --> 00:22:42.640
But when you go back to the cabinet area, is there different lighting above that?
00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:45.039
No, it's all just the giant shop lights.
00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:48.400
Because when you're looking at that sample, it's under a specific light.
00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:51.200
So it would be what would be true in your home.
00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:52.079
Right.
00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:53.759
Okay.
00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:58.319
So I'm going to throw out some scenarios where a homeowner says this to you.
00:22:58.400 --> 00:22:59.759
How do you respond?
00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:04.640
Why would I need a keypad when I already have these switches on my walls?
00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:07.680
I would approach it from an aesthetics standpoint.
00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:12.079
Like if they're redesigning the room, I'm like, okay, are you putting wallpaper on the wall?
00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:16.880
We don't want to take up all the space of your gorgeous wallpaper that you spent a large amount on.
00:23:17.119 --> 00:23:18.640
Like, let's slim it down.
00:23:18.880 --> 00:23:20.319
What functions do you want?
00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:23.839
We can slim that down to one junction box.
00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:26.240
I would approach it from aesthetics.
00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:27.440
Eric, what about you?
00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:29.839
That honestly is the only way.
00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:39.119
There's no other reason to swap out a four bank of light switches that work perfectly for a keypad, except for aesthetics.
00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:42.319
It's wall clutter, it's just cleaner.
00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:45.680
There's not really a functionality aspect to it.
00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:49.759
Like, because six switches versus a keypad, they all do the same thing.
00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:50.799
It just looks different.
00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:51.839
That's all.
00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:55.119
So aesthetics is the only way to go at that one.
00:23:55.200 --> 00:23:56.160
But it's the right way.
00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:56.400
Yeah.
00:23:56.640 --> 00:23:57.839
Well, I'm gonna jump back in.
00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:00.079
It can be from a functionality standpoint.
00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:03.440
You're like, okay, I want my room to be bright all the time.
00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:06.880
Instead of flipping four switches, it's a one button press.
00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:10.160
Or instead of curating, like, oh, I like this light at 60%.
00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:11.519
I like this lamp on.
00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:12.799
Let me go over and turn it on.
00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:14.160
One button on the wall.
00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:14.559
Yeah.
00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:15.440
That's what I was saying.
00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:17.119
The programming ability.
00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:18.160
True.
00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:23.039
I don't know if somebody would spend the money based upon that, though.
00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:31.039
Because if you've lived in the house long enough and you know what the switches do, literally I can walk up and hit four switches at the same time I could hit one keypad button.
00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:32.559
That's just me.
00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:36.000
So yes, functionality, but I don't think that's what's gonna sell it.
00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:36.640
No.
00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:39.200
And that wouldn't have been my first response.
00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:39.839
Right.
00:24:40.079 --> 00:24:41.920
To a client if they were to bring that up.
00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:47.200
It's 98% aesthetic and 2% functionality.
00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:48.079
Yes.
00:24:48.559 --> 00:24:56.400
Well, if there's anything we want listeners to take away from this episode, is that having an existing home doesn't mean that you're stuck with lighting that's already there.
00:24:56.640 --> 00:25:00.720
You don't have to renovate your home to rethink how it's lit.
00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:04.240
Anything else you guys want to add before we get out of here?
00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:05.359
I don't think so.
00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:06.160
I think I'm good.
00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:07.519
No, all good.
00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:08.559
All right.
00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:13.119
Well, thank you guys for joining me, and we hope you listeners enjoyed.
00:25:16.160 --> 00:25:18.960
Thanks for joining us for Simplifying Light through technology.
00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:23.759
To learn more about Sound Vision, visit our website at SoundvisionLakenorman.com.
00:25:23.839 --> 00:25:26.559
You can follow us on X at Soundvision LKN.
00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:30.960
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