Other lighting-control manufacturers have, or are working on, solutions that can exploit the proprietary wiring scheme that LiteTouch uses for power and communications.

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Vantage, a division of Legrand, has always prided itself on a flexible wiring architecture that requires only two wires between the keypads and the controller. As such, the Vantage InFusion lighting system can replace a LiteTouch system out-of-the-box, using the existing wires behind a customer’s walls.

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In fact, Vantage lately has been promoting a “LiteTouch Retrofit Insert” package to woo affected LiteTouch customers. The only thing that makes the new iteration different from current InFusion models is a reconfiguration of the dimmer modules to fit nicely into existing LiteTouch enclosures.

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Vantage’s own enclosures accommodate up to 48 dimmable loads in four modules. To suit LiteTouch cans, Vantage developed a configuration that supports up to 36 loads in three modules – just the right size for a LiteTouch enclosure. If you have several LiteTouch enclosures packed side-by-side on a wall, it will be relatively painless (to the installer, not your pocketbook) to pull out the LiteTouch modules and install the Vantage modules in their place.

Of note: Vantage powers the low-voltage keypads via its standard controller, so no special power modules are needed for that. That’s nice.

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Vantage advertises the three-module “insert” and a standard Vantage controller for $4,000, but dimmer/relay modules (up to $2,000 each for 12 dimming loads) are required on top of that, as well as brand new keypads for the entire house. And then of course there are labor costs for both electricians and low-voltage integrators.

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In other words, the customer is buying an entirely new system, except for the original prewire.