Individual switches can be overridden at the specific switch(es) by turning it (them) on/ off.

A quick blurb ...

There are several competing systems for home automation - Z-Wave, Zigbee, Lutron's Radio RA, X-10/ Insteon.

Lutron's solution works better than X-10/ Insteon (as do Z-Wave and Zigbee). However, it is a proprietary system that is promoted solely by Lutron.

Z-Wave is another proprietary RF based home automation system, but which has been licensed to other companies - GE, Leviton, ... The downside is that switches from vendor A may work better than those from vendor B/ C.

Zigbee is an IEEE standard. It utilizes mesh networking to enhance signal reliability. There are a number of vendors, each of which have some market share.

At this stage, it is likely that designers will promote Lutron over Zigbee since it is a single vendor with a comprehensive solution.

We put in the Lutron Graphic Eye in a remodel almost decade ago and loved it so much that we insisted that it be a part of the contract on our new construction six years ago. We have been very happy with it. To save money, we actually did a combination of Graphic Eye in the living areas where we cared about scenes and Aurora in the areas (front rooms, exterior lights) that we really only wanted remote one touch on/off lighting for. We have a down stairs master/mother-in-law suite for my elderly mother who did not want programmable lighting, should have done it anyway but didn't to save money. We are now redoing this space and are currently considering Lutron's Spacer lighting. My biggest regret was not getting the shades throughout the house wired to work with the lighting. If we ever do new construction again we would do Lutron, including shades through the whole house. I also like the that they have custom colors for outlets and switches.

Hello Chris, Since you seem to like the concept of lighting control and you state that this will be your forever home, the investment in a good system will not only pay you back in energy savings, but also enhance your living and lifestyle every single day and night. The convenience becomes hard to live without once you've had it.

I've designed and programmed Lutron systems for many years. Any good programmer is going to give you individual buttons to control local lighting circuits as well as include those circuits in scenes. Thus, you can manually turn on any individual light/circuit with a simple button press, while not turning on an entire scene.

Lutron is the most reliable system there is. I have systems going back to 1992, and all of them still work perfectly. With something as critical as the lighting inside and outside your home, you need that kind of reliability.

If I can be of any assistance, please feel free to contact me directly.