From Conventional to LOXONE Lighting

Video tutorial · 4:38 min

From Conventional to LOXONE Lighting

Prefer to read? You’ll find everything from the video below as a written guide with images and a summary. Go to the guide ↓

Written guide

You install light every day. So what really changes with LOXONE lighting? This guide looks at what stays, what’s new and what to watch out for.

01What stays: your craft

As an electrician, you plan circuits, build the panel, pull cables and mount lights. You test, measure and document to standard. All of that stays: LOXONE builds on your craft.

02Conventional vs. LOXONE, side by side

Here’s a picture you know by heart: a mains cable from the electrical panel, a breaker, another mains cable to the switch. The switch closes the phase, and the light comes on.

Want to switch from two places? Then it’s a three-way circuit with extra wires. Three places? Add a four-way switch. Every switching point means more cable and more thought in the planning.

Conventional light circuit: 230 V from the panel through two three-way switches and a four-way switch to the light, with 3 switching points needing 4 extra wires
Conventional: three switching points mean extra wires and a four-way switch

Now put a LOXONE light right next to it. The electrical panel is still there, the cable still runs to the light, and the switch is still on the wall. Same rooms, same places.

And switching from two or three places? With LOXONE, you simply connect another switch to the same Tree Cable, no extra wiring needed. Often, you won’t need that extra switch at all: a presence sensor turns the light on and off automatically, based on presence and brightness. If you want a different mood, just adjust it in the app. The light is smart, so it comes on wherever you are.

Side by side: conventional circuit with three-way and four-way switches versus LOXONE with one Tree cable, a switch and a presence sensor
Conventional circuit vs. LOXONE with a switch and a presence sensor

03New: 24 V from the panel

With LOXONE, the mains voltage ends in the electrical panel. There, a LOXONE power supply turns it into 24 V DC, and that’s what runs to the light. For you, this means the mains voltage work you know stays in the panel. In the room, you work with 24 V.

230 V AC ends in the panel, where the LOXONE power supply converts it to 24 V DC for the light; at 24 V the current is about ten times higher, so voltage drop matters
Mains voltage ends in the panel, 24 V DC runs to the light
Watch out for voltage drop. For the same power, the current at 24 V is almost ten times higher than at mains voltage, so cable length and load matter far more. Before you pull the cable, check three things:

  • How many lights hang on one line?
  • How long is that line?
  • Where is the power fed in?

04New: one Tree Cable

Instead of a mains cable, you pull one LOXONE Tree Cable. It carries power and data together: orange/white is your 24 V supply, green/white is the Tree communication. That’s the whole color code.

Wires of the LOXONE Tree cable: orange/white low-power supply, orange/white power wires 1.5 mm² for LED spots and dimmers, green/white Tree data line, green sheath
Power and data in one cable

You can branch out like a tree, from light to light and from switch to switch. Any layout works except one: no closed loop. Fewer cables, fewer wires, less to get wrong.

Learn more: All details on cables, wire pairs and topology are in Wiring Essentials.

05New: switching in software

In a conventional circuit, the switch physically closes the circuit. With LOXONE, the switch on the wall is a Tree device too. It sends a signal, and the Miniserver, the brain of the building, decides what the light does.

So: no three-way circuits, no four-way switches. Which button controls which light is set in software, and you can change it later without touching a single wire.

Switching in software: a Tree switch sends a signal to the Miniserver, which switches lights 1 and 2
One button, lights 1 and 2: assigned in software

And everything else? Your protective measures, your panel layout, your measurements and your documentation: that stays your craft.

06What you leave behind

What you leave behind is just as important:

  • No more three-way and four-way switches.
  • No extra wires between switching points.
  • No separate dimmers in the panel.
  • No extra control protocols and interfaces: If you’ve been wiring third-party lights to LOXONE until now, these disappear when you use LOXONE lights.

You’re not starting from zero. You’re adding three things to what you already do every day, and leaving a few behind.

SummaryThree steps to LOXONE lighting

  • 1  24 V from the panel
  • 2  One Tree Cable for power and data
  • 3  Switching in software

That’s it. Three steps, and you’re on the other side.

Want to know more? Check out our LOXONE Essentials tutorials: Wiring Essentials, Distribution Board Essentials and Commissioning Essentials.