Lutron Becomes Smithsonian American History Museum Contributor

Lutron Electronics last week became an official contributor to the Smithsonian American History Museum collection. According to Harold Wallace, associate curator of the Smithsonian’s electricity collection, the 11 Lutron artifacts on display are “raw materials of history” in a collection that represents “what people 100-150 years from now will need to know about our culture when they study us."

The 11 Lutron artifacts span the company’s 45-plus-year history and range from an early model of the Capri residential dimmer switch that launched Lutron in 1964, to advanced programmable dimming systems encompassing multiple switches, to motorized shade control for managing natural light. Joel Spira, Lutron’s 83-year-old founder, chairman and director of research, formally presented the items to the museum. Among his 266 design patents and 226 utility patents is one for the solid-state dimmer, which Spira invented in 1959 out of his New York apartment.

The idea for the dimmer stemmed from a milk-bottle-sized hydrogen thyratron that was used to switch radar on and off during Spira’s stint with the Navy in World War II, he said. Years later, he was shown a silicon-controlled rectifier that accomplished the same means of controlling electrical power from a device the size of a pea, he said. He decided to adapt that capability for use in a light switch that would fit into a box in the wall, he said. “I was quite surprised to see that it worked,” he said, “because when you're an engineer you're mostly involved with things that don’t work."

The range of Lutron artifacts typify the evolution of lighting control from a convenience and ambience-oriented feature at the outset to its role today in energy conservation. After inventing the category of residential dimming, Lutron later devised networked lighting systems, whole-house lighting control and wireless lighting control.

Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., on hand at the Smithsonian to celebrate the donations from Lutron, which is based in his district in Coopersburg, Pa., said the inventions represent “some of the most noteworthy technological advancements and energy-saving inventions in the history of electric lighting.” Dent said Lutron products save the nation 10 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually, accounting for some $1 billion in utility cost savings, which he described as “efficiency and conservation at its best.” By installing two dimmers in place of two standard light switches in every home in the U.S.,"additional potential savings could exceed $1 billion in electricity costs and close to 25 billion pounds of carbon dioxide or CO2 emissions,” he said. The CO2 savings would equal taking a million cars off the road, Dent said, citing Lutron estimates.

According to the Smithsonian’s Wallace, most of the museum’s lighting collection represents objects from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Items in the current collection include experimental Edison light bulbs, a 1908 Dim-A-Lite socket dimmer from Wirt Co., a 1945 GE push-button wall switch and a Philips IQ Dimmer incandescent lamp from 1995. The Lutron collection includes a point-of-purchase display from the early 1960s showing an elegantly dressed woman next to a Capri dimmer to hint at the romantic benefits of lighting control.

While energy savings likely were not a marketing mantra of dimmers in the 1960s, Spira has always been intrigued by their energy-saving potential, he said. “We're very pleased with the impact of these devices on the environment.” Lutron’s mission is to expand its control technology for lighting, IT and HVAC systems to reduce the amount of electricity required to operate them, he said. At a time when there’s a rush to build alternative energy sources, “it’s a lot cheaper to save electricity than it is to generate it,” he said. Lutron also wants to reduce electrical demand through occupancy sensors and by reducing phantom energy waste, he said.

Other Lutron artifacts, including Spira’s personal notebook, will be part of the museum’s collection but not on public display for now, curator Wallace said. Candidates for exhibition must go through a five-year approval process before being selected for a public showcase, he said.