Lutron HomeWorks vs RadioRA 3: Which Fits Your Toronto Home?

If you are planning lighting control for a Toronto home, the choice usually comes down to two Lutron systems: HomeWorks and RadioRA 3. Both control lights, shades and scenes from keypads, the Lutron app and voice assistants. The difference is how far you want to take it — and what stage your house is at.

The short answer

• Renovating or building a large custom home, and want every room, shade and keypad designed as one system? HomeWorks.
• Upgrading an existing home without opening walls, room by room or all at once? RadioRA 3.

If you are not sure, that is normal. We decide it together on site, after we see the house and how you live in it.

Lutron HomeWorks: the flagship

HomeWorks is Lutron's top system, built for large and custom homes. It can run on wired and wireless controls together, which makes it the natural choice when walls are open during a new build or a major renovation. It offers Lutron's widest range of keypad designs and finishes, including Palladiom, and it runs lighting, motorized shades and scenes as one design. HomeWorks is sold and programmed only through Lutron-certified installers.

Lutron RadioRA 3: the retrofit system

RadioRA 3 is wireless. Dimmers and keypads replace your existing switches, so most homes can be upgraded without opening walls. It is the newer replacement for RadioRA 2, it handles anything from a few rooms to a whole house, and it is a strong fit for finished homes in Rosedale, Forest Hill and Midtown where nobody wants drywall dust.

What matters more than the system

• Design first. Good scenes come from planning how each room is used: morning, entertaining, evening, away.
• The electrical behind it. Lighting control is only as good as the wiring, the panel and the load planning underneath it. We are a licensed electrical contractor and a certified Lutron HomeWorks, RadioRA and Palladiom installer, so one crew does both — no electrician and integrator blaming each other.
• One visit, the whole house. During your Lutron site visit, our master electrician also checks your panel capacity, EV-charger readiness and outdoor lighting, so your lighting, power and charging are planned together.

Can you mix them or upgrade later?

Many homes start with RadioRA 3 in the main living areas and add rooms over time. If you are planning a major renovation, it is worth deciding before the walls close, because that is when HomeWorks' wired options cost the least to install.