Can anyone guide me towards some information regarding Lutron or similar whole house lighting, specifically the how to. I am building a new house pretty soon and I want to install the system but I want to get more info before I do. Also I know having multiple posts on one subject can be annoying so if you can direct me to similar posts, I'd appreciate it.

Is it 4 conductor 22 ga. Wire from keypads to controller and 120 from load to controller? Seems like way too much product and install. The better way to me to do it would be to install keypads instead of conventional switches and then run control wire from keypad to controller??

How many keypads can there be? How many touch panels can there be?

Can roll up shutters be considered blinds?

Can 3rd party loads like lights in a ventilation hood be integrated into the lighting system?

Can Lutron or similar talk to Whole home "smart house" controllers like Crestron and Control4?

Just some of the many questions I have... Thanks.

Here is a sample install sheet for one of Lutron products:

http://www.lutron.com/techInfo/SpecSheets/032092EAa200001.pdf

Note that there is a power (12V) and a communications channel. I didn't see it mentioned what to use. If it were me, I might consider 2 cables. One thermostat wire and one cat 5.

The communication COULD be RS485 which MUST be daisy chained with a termination resistor. I know of a company, if I can find it, that makes a system that allows RS485 to be run home-run style.

If you bought that piece, you could probably do what you want. Home run wiring is always preferred though.

I think there draperay controllers are a separate system

For my brief read, I noticed that the minimum wattage is 25 W. This isn't good when LED lighting and CFL
S are in the picture now. Incadesent bulbs are do to be phased out not too far in the future.

The RS232 port is used for automation control. You would have to check with the automation controller company to see if they can talk to it. Rs232 makes it possible. RS232 is old technology now.