Lutron In Energy-Savings Message at Home Depot Workshop
Lutron sponsored a Home Depot workshop Thursday at a Home Depot store in New York on how to install a dimmer switch. The event was part of a series of Do It Herself workshops Home Depot operates monthly throughout its stores for female homeowners. The workshop drew more than 50 people, a combination of Lutron employees, press covering the event and Home Depot customers who signed up for the workshop. According to Paul Lobo, vice president-retail business at Lutron, Home Depot averages six attendees at the Do It Herself workshops, but the Lutron event “far exceeded” expectations. Through the sponsorship, Lutron hopes to boost awareness of the energy savings made possible with lighting control products, Lobo said.
The event coincided with the launch of Lutron’s Maestro C.L dimmer switch and occupancy sensor ($54), which the company says can save up to 60 percent on energy usage -- or $10 annually -- on utility bills, depending on dimming level. Lutron launched the C.L series in 2010 to offer homeowners a way to “reliably control” dimmable compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and dimmable light emitting diodes (LEDs). The dimmer switch controls incandescent, halogen, dimmable CFL and dimmable LED bulbs and includes “ambient light detection,” Lutron said. The sensor detects subjects up to 30 feet away and distinguishes from “fine motion,” which ensures lights won’t inadvertently go off while a person is reading or watching television, Lutron said.
The New York event was co-hosted by Tom Kraeutler and Leslie Segrete, hosts of radio home improvement show “The Money Pit” who told participants that choosing energy-saving lights such as CFLs and LEDs can be problematic due to technology incompatibilities. They said Lutron customer service personnel are on-call 24/7 to answer questions about which bulbs will work with Lutron lighting products when called “even from the aisle of a Home Depot.” While Home Depot staffers focused primarily on wiring and electrical issues during the installation segment, audience questions revolved primarily around technology-related issues, including the range of the occupancy sensor, how to set the timer and how to program a vacancy setting.
The sponsorship didn’t include a financial component, Lobo said, but Lutron provided simple demonstration junction boxes built into wood and drywall structures for all 2,000 Home Depot stores. Lutron sent local reps to 15 Home Depot stores to assist with the workshops, and Home Depot staffers conducted the demonstrations in other stores. Attendees were given a 20 percent discount coupon for a Lutron product if they purchased one on the day of the event, Lobo said.